Oscar-nominated actor Adam Driver, Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and Obsession breakout Inde Navarrette have been cast in the new X-Men reboot.
Marvel chief Kevin Feige unveiled the new set of actors on Friday at the Disney fan convention D23, according to a report in Variety.
Sink, 24, has landed the part of Jean Grey, the boundlessly powerful psychic and telekinetic who at times assumes the nefarious alter ego Dark Phoenix.
Jean was played by Famke Janssen in the beloved 2000 film X-Men, in which Hugh Jackman immortalized the role of Wolverine.
Meanwhile Driver, 42, is playing the villainous eugenicist Dr Nathaniel Essex, aka Mister Sinister, who has previously never been committed to live-action cinema.
Navarrette, 25, has been tapped to portray Rogue, who siphons off other people’s energy by touching them and was played in the 2000 version by Anna Paquin.
(from left) X-Men reboot director Jake Schreier is pictured at D23 in Anaheim with his cast Maya Boyd, Sadie Sink, Christopher Abbott, Samara Weaving, Kit Connor and Inde Navarrette
Oscar-nominated actor Adam Driver, who is pictured at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has also been tapped to play the villainous Mr Sinister
Girls heartthrob Christopher Abbott, 40, will feature as Charles Xavier, the wheelchair-bound psychic who as Professor X assembles the titular squadron of mutants.
In the 2000 movie X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer, Professor X was played by Patrick Stewart, while his nemesis Erik Lehnsherr, whose ability to manipulate metal earned him the sobriquet Magneto, was embodied by Ian McKellen.
The new reboot has also cast Heartstopper star Kit Connor, 22, as Scott Summers, known as Cyclops because of the lasers that shoot uncontrollably from his eyes unless he keeps a special set of sunglasses on at all times.
James Marsden became a star in the original 2000 X-Men as Cyclops, who is shown to be locked in a love triangle involving Wolverine and Jean.
In the new version, Samara Weaving will play Emma Frost, a psychic who can assume diamond form, while Maya Boyd will feature as Storm, the weather-controlling mutant unforgettably portrayed by Halle Berry in the original cast.
Directed by Jake Schreier, whose previous work includes Thunderbolts*, the new X-Men movie is scheduled for release on May 5, 2028.
The 2000 movie X-Men dramatically expanded the comic book franchise’s global popularity and resulted in two sequels, the 2003 picture X2: X-Men United, also directed by Singer, and 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, helmed by Brett Ratne.
In the original trilogy, Rebecca Romijn played the shape-shifter Mystique, Kelsey Grammer stepped into the role of Beast and Alan Cumming played Nightcrawler.
Sink, 24, has landed the part of Jean Grey, the boundlessly powerful psychic and telekinetic who at times assumes the nefarious alter ego Dark Phoenix
Jean was played by Famke Janssen in the beloved 2000 film X-Men, in which Hugh Jackman immortalized the role of Wolverine
Navarrette, 25, has been tapped to portray Rogue, who siphons off other people’s energy by touching them and was played in the 2000 version by Anna Paquin
(fron left) The original cast of Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman are pictured in X2: X-Men United
(from left) James Flemyng, Nicholas Hoult, January Jones, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon are pictured for X-Men: First Class
Jackman became an international household name in that cycle of pictures as Wolverine, a role he most recently reprised in the 2024 film Deadpool & Wolverine, starring Ryan Reynolds in his final blockbuster before the It Ends with Us scandal.
In 2011, the franchise was revived for a set of prequel films fronted by a younger cast that began with Matthew Vaughn’s picture X-Men: First Class.
James McAvoy starred as Professor X, with Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, January Jones as Emma Frost and Kevin Bacon as the antagonistic Sebastian Shaw.
In the 2014 follow-up X-Men: Days of Future Past, the old and new casts collided in a time-travel plot that proved to be catnip to the fanbase.
Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner was added to that cast for the 2019 picture Dark Phoenix, which emerged as a titanic flop at the box office.
This year’s upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe picture Avengers: Doomsday, starring Robert Downey Jr as Dr Doom, will feature several of the original 2000 cast.
Among them are Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer and Alan Cumming.
