The X-Cast
The X-Men films are back. Here's the first look we have cast.
So, the first around of X-Men casting is out.
Now, I generally don’t care about the X-Men. I liked X2, Wolverine: Origins,1 and The Wolverine out of ... 14 films? Depending on if you count the Deadpool movies?
So even if it's good, you'd need a hell of a roster to knock my socks off—cast or characters.
I need a six foot Rogue.
A very Catholic and German Nightcrawler.
And a Wolverine who ... really should have been Christian Kane a decade ago.
Oh Hell, could you have imagine a 1990s Vanessa Williams as Storm?
So, who they got?
Sadie Sink as Jean Grey... yeah, we know.
Kit Connor as Cyclops, whoever that is.
Christopher Abbott as Xavier, Maya Boyd as Storm ... again, who?
Samara Weaving ... as Emma Frost?
Okay. That’s cool…
But…
Now, hear me out.
I enjoyed Samara in Ready or Not. I did.
She’s one of those actresses where I really wanted to see her in more films (that I want to watch).
But Ready or Not was SEVEN YEARS AGO.
She is 34. Kit Connor and Sadie Sink are in their early 20s. And what I know of Emma Frost and Cyclops would make this ... ahem… icky. Love triangle icky.
Also, it's kind of like Vanessa Kirby—I like her, but she's 39. (Seriously, how many careers did COVID and DEI kneecap?)
Adam Driver as Mister Sinister...
Like Samara Weaving, I want to see Adam Driver in more things. He was the only good standout in those Kathleen Kennedy movies that no one will ever discuss. Thankfully, he seems to have had a halfway decent career thus far. He just hasn’t been in many things I wanted to see. (Except for 65. It was surprisingly good.)
And being over 6'5" makes him great villain material.
And in that photo, he looks like Mister Sinister already.
So, accepted.
Inde Navarrette as ... Rogue.
Now, from what I've seen on Obsession, she is a brilliant actress.
From what I've seen of her online, she seems like an adorable young lady with a good head on her shoulder..
But she's five feet tall (same as my issue with Anna Paquin).
And ... um, she’s 24 years old. Are they keeping Channing Tatum as Gambit? Because again, a little icky. (I also really don't want her pidgeon-holed for the rest of her career. So I hope she's allowed other roles.)
All in all, at best, I might watch this on television.
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Yes, I liked Origins. I clearly have no taste.
They *shouldn't* be putting Emma and Cyclops together here. That was an early 2000s relationship meant to derail Scott and Jean's marriage (again). Given they are "going back to basics" and making the X-Men teens in their own MCU movie (as opposed to the adult versions appearing in *Doomsday*), we *shouldn't* see Emma as anything other than a dominatrix for the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. Which would mean the ick was part of the point: she's best as a villainess trying to seduce and destroy men, making Scott a viable target no matter how young he is compared to her.
I will not be holding my breath that they will do this, mind you, but if we are very, very lucky that is what we will get. Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister.... :pinches bridge of nose: Dang it, why can't that man land a part I actually want to *watch*? Sinister is scary as crud. The "nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure" type. Darn it, they couldn't cast him as - I don't know, maybe Magneto? I'd watch him as Magneto. GAH.
Channing Tatum as Gambit is showing up in *Doomsday.* A version of Gambit appearing with the teen X-Men in their own movie depends on if Marvel is FINALLY going to put the Southern Belle and Ragin' Cajun together on the silver screen. I won't hold my breath for them to do that, either. I turned in my X-Fan card somewhere in the mid-2000s based on what they were doing in the comics and haven't really looked back past the occasional "I need this for research" or clicking on the headlines when something "new" broke through the noise.
Admittedly, if Rogue steals Carol's powers here, I *might* be convinced to look up that hypothetical clip....
Well, Marsden Cyclops and Tatum Gambit are big pieces of the Doomsday marketing and we know Marsden is getting replaced, so I think Tatum Gambit is not making it out. I bet they reveal the casting for him, Xavier, and more after Doomsday to build excitement. Rumor about the plot being a multiverse killing spree back this up.
If I were the Mouse, I'd cast one of the actors from Off-Campus (girly romance trash show) as Gambit. Right age, right audience appeal. But if I were the Mouse, I wouldn't have had the Jedi Academy slaughtered off-screen so I could milk that concept for cash for decades, so what do I know.