When the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched in 2008, we never thought the day would come when the X-Men would enter the MCU. While the X-Men were a Marvel property, the rights to the characters had been sold to 20th Century Fox years before the MCU launched, which prevented Marvel from utilizing some of the most popular comic book characters in its collection.
That all changed when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019. Suddenly the impossible became possible. It was no longer just a dream to see the Avengers and X-Men sharing the screen together.
After the acquisition of 20th Century Fox, fans have been eagerly awaiting Marvel’s plans for the X-Men, and Marvel has definitely made us wait. But that wait has more than proven to be worth it. Rather than racing to cast the X-Men for the MCU, Marvel has played the franchise’s greatest hits by bringing iconic actors from the 20th Century Fox X-Men films into the MCU.
It’s been amazing getting to see so many beloved actors return to bring their X-Men characters into the MCU, and fans are counting down the day until even more familiar faces return in Avengers: Doomsday.Still, while it’s been amazing to see the X-Men of the past returning, fans are eager to see the new generation of X-Men enter the mix.
Marvel has been slowly building to the X-Men’s arrival and took a major first step in Spider-Man: Brand New Daywith Sadie Sink making her debut as Jean Grey. This marked the beginning of the mutant era ahead, and casting reports have been coming in hot as Marvel has worked to assemble the new team of X-Men. Unfortunately, it seems the studio has hit a major setback and is already having to replace one key member of the planned ensemble.
Charles Melton has reportedly dropped out of the X-Men movie
Following the debut of Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Marvel has been working to lock down the cast for its X-Men movie, which will feature several of the original X-Men heroes from the comic. Samara Weaving and Kit Connor have reportedly been cast as Emma Frost and Cyclops, respectively, and Marvel has been working to finalize deals with several other actors, including Riverdalealum Charles Melton.
For months, Melton has been attached to the X-Men project as Marvel Studios’ top choice for Dr. Hank McCoy, aka Beast. Countless insiders have reported Melton’s casting as all but a done deal, but unfortunately it seems that discussions have fallen through.
Trusted insider Daniel Richtman reports that Melton passed on the role, news that has taken many by surprise as some insiders indicated he had already closed a deal to star as Beast. Instead, it seems that Melton walked for unknown reasons, which leaves Marvel without a key player and will force the studio to go back to the drawing board to make an offer to another actor in the running for the character.
Now, this is just a rumor, and Richtman has been wrong before. Most recently, he was adamant Marvel was in final talks with Cooper Hoffman for the role of Cyclops before Connor was reportedly cast in the role. There is a chance that Melton is still attached to the project, but there is just as good a chance he has walked away, and that’s a major problem for Marvel. In fact, it has the studio reportedly looking to change up its original plans for announcing the X-Men cast.
Marvel is considering delaying the X-Men cast announcement now
With Melton apparently walking away from the table, Marvel Studiosis spiraling and considering delaying the cast announcement, which it had planned for D23. According to Richtman, Marvel Studios was expected to announce the full X-Men cast at D23, but that may no longer happen after Melton’s reported exit.
If Marvel indeed abandons its plans to announce the X-Men cast at D23, it will be a massive blow to the studio but also to the fans. While we sympathize with Marvel wanting to have the full cast assembled for the announcement, it feels like a major miss not to announce the cast at D23 just because one actor pulled out of the project.
Sure, it’s not optimal to have to announce a character or two outside of the full cast reveal, but Marvel has already assembled several key players for the X-Men movie, and it would be nice to see those actors finally confirmed. You have to imagine that the announcement of the X-Men cast was something Disney was looking to use as a wow moment for its Studio Showcase at D23, and if they were unable to pull the cast announcement off, you would have to wonder how they’d fill the time at the presentation and what they could bring to replace the X-Men cast reveal.
With D23 just days away, we’ll find out whether Marvel indeed backs out of announcing the X-Men cast as originally planned. Hopefully that will not be the case, but with Marvel, you really never know what to expect—which is honestly part of the fun.
