Marvel’s New X-Men Cast Is Perfect – Here’s Why

There’s a level of excitement around the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new take on X-Men that the superhero franchise hasn't generated in quite some time.

Maybe it’s because the film was effectively soft-launched with the introduction of Sadie Sink as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a crowd-pleasing adventure heading towards record box-office numbers.

Maybe it’s the fact that the upcoming film is being directed by Jake Schreier, who was behind the camera for one of Marvel’s strongest films of recent years in Thunderbolts – a fun, scrappy superhero film with plenty of heart.

Or maybe people just really love the X-Men.

By the time the MCU’s currently untitled X-Men film arrives in cinemas on 5 May 2028, it will have been almost a decade since the last film to properly focus on Marvel’s most famous mutants. Dark Phoenix came out in June 2019 and, frankly, the less said about that one the better.

The Fox-produced X-Men films were wildly inconsistent, but at their best they gave even those who'd never picked up a comic or watched the animated series plenty of reasons to become invested in these characters.

A lot could change between now and 2028. Marvel will release both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, with the former featuring several past X-Men stars, including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto and James Marsden’s Cyclops.

Given the MCU's fondness for universe-altering events, it's reasonable to expect those films to help lay the groundwork for this new incarnation of the X-Men.

And we now know who'll be playing them.

At Disney's 2026 D23 event, the principal cast was publicly revealed for the first time. Schreier's Beef collaborator Lee Sung Jin is also co-writing the script, while the cast brings together exciting newcomers, established names and some major stars.

Here's who has been announced, who they're playing and why their casting has caught our attention.

Sadie Sink as Jean Grey

Where you’ve seen her before: You'll know Sink best as Max from Stranger Things, but she also appeared alongside Brendan Fraser in The Whale and was nominated for a Tony in 2025 for her performance in John Proctor is the Villain, which is also being adapted for the big screen.

Most recently, of course, she appeared in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, making her first appearance as Jean Grey.

Why she’s the right pick: Sink has proved across her projects that she can handle complex emotional material while bringing plenty of charisma to characters who aren't always straightforwardly likeable – both useful qualities when you're playing Jean Grey.

And if you saw Brand New Day, you've already had your first glimpse of what she can do with the character.

Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier

Where you’ve seen him before: Abbott's breakthrough role came as Charlie in Girls, and he's since appeared across just about every genre imaginable.

He delivered a heartbreaking performance in James White, entered horror territory with It Comes at Night and Brandon Cronenberg's Possessor, played a cartoonishly unpleasant villain in Poor Things and took on a monster movie with Wolf Man.

He also stars alongside his partner Aubrey Plaza in Black Bear, while this year he earned a Tony nomination for playing Biff in the latest Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman.

Why he’s the right pick: Abbott might be the strongest actor in this cast. Across roughly 15 years in the business, he's shown an impressive amount of range.

Perhaps the closest comparison to Professor X is his leading role as Yossarian in Hulu's adaptation of Catch-22, where he played a man desperately trying to hold himself – and everyone around him – together in a world populated by some very unusual characters.

That doesn't sound a million miles away from leading the X-Men.

Samara Weaving as Emma Frost

Where you’ve seen her before: Weaving has become particularly well known for her work in horror, leading two very fun and very bloody Ready or Not films alongside Netflix's two The Babysitter films.

She also appeared in the critically acclaimed crime film Carolina Caroline earlier this year.

Why she’s the right pick: Emma Frost has appeared in live action before – most notably with January Jones playing her in X-Men: First Class – but the films have never fully explored one of the character's most interesting qualities: her journey from someone who operates somewhere between hero and villain to a genuine hero and X-Men leader.

Weaving has proved she can play sinister convincingly while remaining charismatic enough to win an audience over. Just watch the opening of Scream 6.

Kit Connor as Scott Summers/Cyclops

Where you’ve seen him before: Connor is still relatively new to major film roles, although he's been acting for years. He even played a young Elton John in 2019's Rocketman.

Most viewers will know him from Netflix's coming-of-age series Heartstopper, where he stars alongside fellow Marvel actor Joe Locke, who plays Billy/Wiccan.

Connor also appeared in Warfare, the 2025 modern war film from co-directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland.

His career is only getting bigger. Later this year, he'll appear in Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter, while in 2028 he'll lead Alex Garland's adaptation of acclaimed video game Elden Ring.

Why he’s the right pick: Connor is particularly good at playing earnest, dependable characters – vital qualities for Scott Summers, who at his best is the X-Men's rational team leader.

His casting also feels like a classic example of Marvel getting in early on an actor whose profile could be considerably bigger by the time the film arrives.

Inde Navarrette as Rogue

Where you’ve seen her before: Navarrette has been acting for the better part of a decade, appearing as a recurring character in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why and as a series regular in Superman & Lois.

But her breakout moment arrived in 2026 with Curry Barker's horror film Obsession.

The film received widespread critical acclaim and has grossed nearly $500 million worldwide against a reported $750,000 budget, making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. Navarrette's performance as Nikki is a major part of its success.

Why she’s the right pick: Rogue has proved a difficult character for previous X-Men films to get right.

Anna Paquin's version was central to 2000's X-Men, but the character was positioned largely as someone for Wolverine to protect rather than the powerful, confident Rogue familiar from the comics and animated series.

Navarrette is still relatively early in her film career, but Obsession showed that she can command the screen.

Now she just needs to nail Rogue's famous Southern accent.

Maya Boyd as Storm

Where you’ve seen her before: Unless you're a Broadway regular, you probably haven't.

Boyd has appeared in Merrily We Roll Along alongside Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, & Juliet and the recent revival of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

Unless another film arrives first, 2028's X-Men is likely to mark her cinematic debut.

Why she’s the right pick: There's something particularly exciting about an unexpected piece of casting like this. Boyd doesn't arrive with a long film CV or an established screen persona, meaning we'll be seeing something genuinely new.

It's also worth remembering that the last time an X-Men film plucked a relative unknown from the theatre world, his name was Hugh Jackman.

Schreier has form here, too. Casting Lewis Pullman as Sentry in Thunderbolts turned out rather well.

Adam Driver as Nathaniel Millbury, aka Mister Sinister

Where you’ve seen him before: Where to begin?

Martin Scorsese has called Adam Driver the ‘finest actor of his generation’, and over the past 15 years he's built one of the most varied careers in Hollywood.

At one end there's the Star Wars sequel trilogy, where he played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. At the other is a remarkable list of collaborations with directors including Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Mann, Francis Ford Coppola, Noah Baumbach, Joel and Ethan Coen and Spike Lee.

He'll next appear in James Gray's crime film Paper Tiger, which has already generated awards buzz.

Why he’s the right pick: Driver has reportedly been linked with Marvel roles several times over the years, but Mister Sinister might be an especially good fit.

Nathaniel Essex is essentially an evil geneticist and long-standing X-Men adversary who, in more recent comics, has evolved into an increasingly theatrical, eccentric and frequently very funny villain.

Anyone who's watched Girls knows Driver can move between intimidating and hilarious. Marriage Story demonstrated just how explosive he can be. And Star Wars already proved he's more than capable of carrying the villainous side of a major franchise.

On paper, it's difficult to imagine a much better fit.

Evan Romano

Culture Editor

Evan is the culture editor for Men's Health, with bylines in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine, and VICE. He loves weird movies, watches too much TV, and listens to music more often than he doesn't.