‘X-Men’ unveils Inde Navarrette, Adam Driver as part of star-studded cast at D23 Showcase
The “X-Men” are finally coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige unveiled the cast alongside Sadie Sink, who will reprise her role as Jean Grey, and director Jake Schreier, during Disney’s D23 Showcase event in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday.
Inde Navarrette, who starred in the horror hit “Obsession,” will take on the role of Rogue and “Star Wars” actor Adam Driver will play Nathaniel Millbury, an alias for the mutant villain Mister Sinister.
The rest of the newly announced cast includes Broadway’s “& Juliet” star Maya Boyd as Storm, “Heartstopper” star Kit Connor as Cyclops, Jean’s love interest, while “Wolfman” star Christopher Abbott is set as Professor X and “Ready or Not” star Samara Weaving is Emma Frost.
Sink made her debut as Jean Grey in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in July.
“They just met backstage for the very first time,” Feige said, adding that the cast announced Friday is not the complete lineup.
Driver didn’t attend the event, but he appeared via video from an empty Pinewood Studios outside London rather than joining the cast onstage.
“When Kevin [Feige] told me to show up for X-Men, I assumed he meant on set,” Driver said. “So instead of being there in California, I’m here at Pinewood on this very lonely soundstage.
“Kevin and I have been talking for years about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I think we’ve finally found the perfect film at the perfect time, with characters I feel very deeply about.”
“So I’m very excited to be playing Mag … Nope. Even better. Nathaniel Milbury. So I’ll be right here, waiting for everybody to show up,” Driver added.
The X-Men were introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1963 Marvel Comics series “The X-Men,” with Professor X leading Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel and Iceman against Magneto.
The franchise made its big-screen debut with 2000’s “X-Men,” starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Halle Berry as Storm, James Marsden as Cyclops and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey.
Disney secured the movie rights to the X-Men in its $71.3 billion acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019.
Marvel has since brought several mutants into the MCU, including Stewart’s Professor X in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and Jackman’s Wolverine in “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Several stars from the original X-Men films are also set to appear in “Avengers: Doomsday,” including Stewart, McKellen, Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Alan Cumming and Kelsey Grammer.
Channing Tatum, who played Gambit in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” is also part of the cast.
The new “X-Men” is scheduled for release on May 5, 2028.
