Marvel fans are celebrating the latest X-Men casting rumors, which suggest that Star Wars sequel trilogy standout Adam Driver will play a new incarnation of Magneto.
Famously played by Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen (the latter of which will reprise the role one more time in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday), Magneto is a key member of the X-Men universe and a pivotal casting for Marvel to get right as it looks to a new generation of actors to take on the comics’ familiar characters.
Discussion of Driver playing Magneto has been fuelled on social media by high profile Marvel tipster MyTimetoShineHello and DC source ApcHorseman, who was the first to correctly claim Scarlett Johansson had joined The Batman Part 2 and that Josh Brolin had been offered the role of Hal Jordan in Lanterns.
“He carried sequel trilogy,” wrote Marvel fan merscever in a lengthy reddit thread discussing Driver as Magneto. “He can carry mcu reboot.” “Well I suppose he got plenty of practice in his Star Wars trilogy gesturing with his hands and acting like he’s telekinetically controlling metal objects,” noted sidv81. “If the rest of the X-Men castings are at this caliber, sign me up,” added Kazrules.
X-Men casting reports are now hotting up as Marvel begins work on its fresh, “youth-oriented” reboot that’s set to debut following 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. The project is being led by Thunderbolts/The New Avengers director Jake Schreier, and is seen as a lynchpin of Marvel’s next saga.
Of course, there is already widespread belief among fans that we’ve already seen the casting of one new X-Men character — as many are convinced that Sadie Sink’s secret role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be revealed as Jean Grey. Last week, Obsession star Inde Navarette set tongues wagging when she revealed that she recently met with Jake Schreier and was interested in a Marvel role, prompting Marvel fans to begin discussing which member of the mutant team she will likely play (Mystique?).
While Schreier’s movie isn’t expected until 2028 at the earliest, it’s clear Marvel already as its eyes on the MCU’s future following the end of its current Multiverse Saga, which is set to be bookended by Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. These movies will not only cap off the MCU’s current, rather uneven era, but also bring in legacy characters from the Fox X-Men universe in a final send-off.
All of this paves the way for the next incarnation of X-Men to feel completely different, while also presumably able to fit naturally into the MCU’s continuity. Marvel previously confirmed that Avengers: Secret Wars would act as something of a “reset” for the MCU (don’t call it a reboot), allowing its universe to feature fresh versions of classic characters — such as the X-Men — interacting with the surviving members of its main cast. Could we see Driver as Magneto in Secret Wars? And could Marvel begin confirming X-Men cast members as early as this Comic-Con? We don’t have long to find out.
Image credit: Aurore Marechal/Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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