Marvel’s New X-Men Are Here. You Should Be Excited.

Getty Images/MH Illustration/Marvel Comics/Jason Speakman8 min readTHERE’S AN EXCITEMENT around the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s new take on X-Men that the superhero mega-franchise hasn’t had in what seems like damn near a decade. Maybe it’s the fact that the movie was soft-launched by the introduction of Sadie Sink as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, a crowd-pleasing movie on its way to record box office numbers. Maybe it’s the fact that the upcoming movie is being directed by Jake Schreier, who was behind the camera for Marvel’s best movie of the last several years in Thunderbolts—a fun, scrappy, heart-filled superhero romp that invoked the feelings of superhero movies from decades past. Or maybe it’s just the fact that people love the X-Men. And at this point, it does feel like we’ve gone long enough without them on our big screens that there’s genuine excitement around not only getting them back, but getting them back with an entirely new flavor.By the time the MCU’s as-of-now-untitled X-Men movie hits theaters on May 5, 2028, it will have been nearly a decade since the last movie to properly focus on the entire world surrounding Marvel’s most famous mutants (Dark Phoenix came out in June 2019, and, frankly, the less said about that one the better). And while the Fox-produced X-Men films were a wildly up-and-down endeavor, there was enough good along the ride to get even non-comic readers and non-animated series watchers deeply, deeply invested.It’s likely that a lot will change in the time between now and then. Marvel will release both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and at the very least, the former will feature a group of past X-Men (including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, and James Marsden’s Cyclops, among others). It’s not going out on too much of a limb to assume that some universe-altering events might happen in those films, and we could be perfectly set up for a new world in the MCU where a brand new take on the X-Men is front and center.And there’s a lot of reason to be excited for that. At 2026’s D23 event, where Disney shows off many of its most valued projects, the principal cast was revealed publicly for the first time. If the train was already on the tracks for this new X-Men film (which will also feature a script co-written by Schreier’s Beef collaborator Lee Sung Jin), this stellar cast filled with exciting newcomers, established veterans, and major stars keeps it moving a little faster and a little smoother. We have real reason to be excited about this.Below, we get into the main cast members announced, who they’re playing, and why you can be hopeful they’re going to knock it out of the park.Sadie Sink as Jean Grey Jesse Grant//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen her before: You know her best as Max from Stranger Things, but she also appeared alongside Brendan Fraser in The Whale, and in 2025 was nominated for a Tony for her appearance in the play John Proctor is the Villain (which will soon have its own big-screen adaptation, in which she’ll also star). Most recently, of course, she starred in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where she appeared for the first time as Jean Grey.Why she’s the right pick: Sink might just be the best young actor from the entire Stranger Things cast. She’s proven through her projects that she can handle a wide range of complex emotions, and has the charisma to play characters in both a likable and unlikable range—vital pieces of the Jean Grey character. Plus, if you saw Brand New Day, how could you not already be sold?Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles XavierMatt Winkelmeyer//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen him before: Abbott has been all over the place. After his original breakthrough role came as Charlie on Girls, he’s since appeared in movies of just about every genre. He gives a heartbreaking performance in James White. It takes a brave soul to watch his horror It Comes at Night in the dark. Possessor, from director Brandon Cronenberg (son of David), is an absolutely awesome bonkers violent thriller ride. He plays a cartoonishly evil villain to perfection in Poor Things, and got a shot at a monster movie in last year’s Wolf Man. He stars alongside his current partner, Aubrey Plaza, in Black Bear, a Covid-era hidden gem that invokes the films of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavettes. He had his own Tony-nominated role this year, playing Biff on Broadway in the latest revival of Death of a Salesman. Why he’s the right pick: Abbott very well might be the best actor in this entire cast. Through his 15-ish years in the business, he’s shown he can play just about anything. But the closest thing to what he’ll have to do as Professor X might be in his leading role on Hulu’s adaptation of Catch-22, where he played Yossarian. As the lead in the famed war farce, Abbott played a man who had to do his best to keep himself—and everyone else—together in a world full of truly unique and one-of-a-kind characters. That sounds pretty close to X-Men to me!Samara Weaving as Emma FrostMatt Winkelmeyer//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen her before: Weaving has been all over the place in the last several years, but has been particularly well known for her work in the horror genre, leading two very fun and very bloody Ready or Not movies to go along with two The Babysitter movies for Netflix. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed crime film Carolina Caroline earlier this year, which is worth your time.Why she’s the right pick: While Emma Frost has previously been portrayed in live-action twice before (with January Jones playing the role in X-Men: First Class and a sort-of Emma appearing in X-Men Origins: Wolverine), neither have really done a full dive into her nuanced, complex story as a mutant who rides the line between hero and villain and eventually becomes a proper hero and team leader. Weaving is capable of playing the sinister, but is purely likable enough to win anyone over. Just watch her opening in Scream 6 to see how quickly you can join her side! Kit Connor as Scott Summers/CyclopsMatt Winkelmeyer//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen him before: Connor is a relative newcomer to the film industry, although he’s been at it in smaller roles for a while now too; he even played a young Elton John in 2019’s Rocketman. But most of his fans likely know him from Netflix’s coming-of-age romance series Heartstopper, where he starred alongside fellow Marvel star Joe Locke (who plays Billy/Wiccan). Connor also played a great role in Warfare, the 2025 film from co-directors Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland depicting an operation in the Iraq war gone terribly awry; He appeared in that film alongside fellow Marvel stars Joseph Quinn (who plays Johnny Storm), Will Poulter (who plays Adam Warlock), and Michael Gandolfini (who played Daredevil’s Daniel Blake).Why he’s the right pick: Connor is really good at playing the earnest, front-and-center guy—vital pieces of playing Scott Summers/Cyclops, who, at his best, is the X-Men’s rational team leader. But perhaps more importantly, his casting feels like a classic case of Marvel getting ahead of someone who’s going to blow up in the time between now and when the movie comes out; later this year, he’ll appear in A Long Winter from writer-director Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers), and in 2028, only a few months before X-Men hits theaters, he’ll lead Alex Garland’s take on the acclaimed video game Elden Ring. Connor could be riding a great wave of new fame into his MCU debut.Inde Navarrette as Rogue Matt Winkelmeyer//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen her before: While Inde Navarrette has been working for the better part of a decade now—she appeared as a recurring character in Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and was a series regular in the CW’s Superman & Lois—she’s the woman of the moment in 2026 for her standout role in Curry Barker’s horror film Obsession. The movie won critical acclaim (94% on Rotten Tomatoes), and has grossed nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office (against a $750,000 budget), making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. And her big, bravura performance as Nikki in that film is a major reason for its success.Why she’s the right pick: Rogue has been a difficult character for past X-Men films to get right. While she was a key piece of the original X-Men (2000) story as played by Anna Paquin, that version of Rogue, while played well, became more of a damsel in distress and runaway character for Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to protect, as compared to the badass character from the comics and animated series filled with spunk and positive energy. Navarrette is relatively early in her big screen career, but if she showed anything in Obsession, it’s that she has the power to absolutely dominate an entire frame (despite her small stature). And Marvel is certainly striking while the iron is hot, casting-wise, as Navarrette has been mentioned as someone who could potentially even earn an Oscar nomination for Obsession (though, writing in August, that still very much remains to be seen). As long as she can figure out Rogue’s famous southern twang—we need some “Sugah’s” being dropped in this movie, and being dropped well!—it could be a home run.Maya Boyd as StormMatt Winkelmeyer//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen her before: Unless you’re a Broadway aficionado, you have not. Boyd has starred in Merrily We Roll Along (alongside Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe), & Juliet, and was just recently in the revival of the August Wilson play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. 2028’s X-Men will likely mark her cinematic debut (unless she gets cast in something that releases before then).Why she’s the right pick: I’m usually a sucker for these kinds of out-of-nowhere castings, because it means the performer absolutely crushed it in their audition. There’s no reason, otherwise, to cast them! The last time an X-Men movie cast a relative unknown out of the theater scene, it was a guy by the name of Hugh Jackman. Just food for thought! Boyd 100 percent looks the part of Storm, and Schreier previously cast the likes of Lewis Pullman as Sentry in Thunderbolts—which turned out pretty damn well. We can trust the process on this one.Adam Driver as Nathaniel Millbury (aka Mister Sinister) Laurent KOFFEL//Getty ImagesWhere you’ve seen him before: Where to begin? Martin Scorsese has called Adam Driver the “finest actor of his generation,” and he’s proven that over the last 15 years in films both massive (the Star Wars sequel trilogy, where he played Kylo Ren/Ben Solo) and small (working with brilliant auteur directors like Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Mann, Francis Ford Coppola, Noah Baumbach, Joel and Ethan Coen, Spike Lee, and countless more). He’ll next appear in Paper Tiger, a crime film from director James Gray that buzz has suggested could earn Driver his third Oscar nomination.Why he’s the right pick: Again, where to begin? Driver has supposedly been in conversations about roles with Marvel Studios countless times through the years, and now he’s finally landed on Nathaniel Millbury, aka Mister Sinister. Sinister is, in essence, an evil mad scientist and a frequent adversary of the X-Men, and in recent years the character has evolved into an animated, over-the-top, absurd, evil villain, in the most entertaining best possible way. Anyone who’s ever seen Girls knows that Driver can ride the line between psychotic and hilarious better than anyone. Anyone who’s seen Marriage Story knows that he can blow up with the best of them. And anyone who’s seen him in Star Wars knows there’s basically no one better at playing a big franchise villain. His casting is a 100% home run.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.