The rumor mill is once again churning in regards to the impending arrival of mutants into the MCU after Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. While the members of Fox’s X-Men team will be the main squad to appear in the upcoming Avengers films, the X-Men will reportedly be a focus in the next phase of the MCU and potential casting rumors have been on fire ever since. We’ve seen quite a few interesting names tossed out, including Giancarlo Esposito as Charles Xavier or Denzel Washington as Magneto. We even have it pretty much confirmed that Hugh Jackman is Marvel’s Wolverine for the time being, but all of the casting is unofficial at this point.
A former name that was in the running for an X-Men role before the Fox merger was complete is Elle Fanning, currently making waves in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and potentially appearing as Jean Grey when the X-Men make their true MCU debut. According to Jeff Sneider on the Hot Mic podcast with John Rocha, Fanning is back in the running with other names like Margaret Qualley, Daisy Edgar Jones, and Sadie Sink being mentioned. According to Sneider, the Predator: Badlands actress is back on the list to play Jean Grey with the new class of X-Men in the MCU.
Fanning had originally been up for the role in X-Men: Apocalypse before Sophie Turner won it, reportedly due to the wide difference in their respective social media followings. Turner would ultimately edge out Fanning despite the Game of Thrones star calling her the better actress.
“I did try out for…I’m not going to say what it was, but I didn’t get a part once for something big because – it might not have just been this reason, but this was the feedback that I heard – was because I didn’t have enough Instagram followers at the time,” Fanning told the Happy Sad Confused Podcast in May 2023. “So that was a little like…I firmly don’t believe in not getting a part [for that]. It was for a bigger thing, a franchise thing.”
Turner also seemingly confirmed this piece of trivia behind X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, saying: “I auditioned for a project and it was between me and another girl who is a far better actress than I am, far better, but I had the followers, so I got the job. It’s not right, but it is part of the movie industry now.”
Marvel head Kevin Feige has stated in past interviews that the company is working off a 10-year plan featuring Marvel’s mutants, with some even referring to the future phase of the MCU as the “Mutant Saga,” which builds upon the Multiverse and Infinity Sagas that preceded it. We’ll have to wait until next year to get our first real taste of mutants teaming up with the heroes of the current MCU.
For now, do you like the potential cast of the future X-Men projects? Should the next phase focus on mutants or is there room for more? Let us know in the comments.
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