Agents of SHIELD alum makes a play for MCU comeback in X-Men reboot

So, Marvel's finally pressing ahead with its proper X-Men film now the Multiverse Saga's winding down. After all the multiverse antics—like Patrick Stewart popping up again as Professor X in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' and Deadpool dragging Hugh Jackman's Wolverine along for 'Deadpool and Wolverine'—it looks like the baton will soon pass to a whole new gang of mutants. First, though, we've got a few more old faces returning for things like 'Avengers: Doomsday' and, almost certainly, 'Avengers: Secret Wars' before Marvel does a proper reset.

Curiously, as far as anyone knows, not a single actor has been officially cast as an X-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's new line-up. Yes, Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel has been retconned as a mutant, but that's about it in terms of fresh meat.

Who's behind the camera?

Behind the scenes, Jake Schreier (the bloke directing 'Thunderbolts*') is set to helm the X-Men movie, and they're bringing in Michael Lesslie, the guy who wrote 'Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes', to bang out the script. So, that could go any which way, really.

The endless speculation – and a familiar face throws her hat in

Endless rumour-mongering has swirled for years about who’ll slip on the yellow spandex, with names like Daniel Radcliffe for Wolverine (which, let’s be honest, makes precisely zero sense to me) and Glen Powell for Cyclops being tossed about with cheerful abandon. Now, out of nowhere, Adrianne Palicki has stepped forward and outright campaigned for a role—specifically, everyone’s favourite power-draining Southern belle, Rogue.

"Also, if anybody wants to campaign for me playing Rogue, that would be cool, too. It's my bucket list. It's my bucket list, the last one on my bucket list."

That came up during a SpaceCon panel in San Antonio—she was talking about her stint as Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird) back on 'Agents of SHIELD' seasons 2 and 3. And you know, fair play: she actually said it straight to the crowd, rather than the usual coy Hollywood hinting.

Palicki's superhero CV

In case you need a refresher, Palicki’s been orbiting the superhero genre for years:

• She had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as a fake Supergirl in 'Smallville' (series three finale, if you’re an anorak about it)
• She was cast as Diana Prince for NBC's notorious 'Wonder Woman' pilot (the one nobody saw, but that did feature Pedro Pascal, who’s since cropped up everywhere)
• Played Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird in 'Agents of SHIELD' (seasons 2-3, and yes, she was supposed to get that spin-off, 'Marvel's Most Wanted', which never saw the light of day)

There's no denying she'd be an intriguing choice for Rogue, considering the character's all about sass, super strength, and accidentally draining the life from anyone she touches. Only issue: word on the grapevine is Marvel wants to cast a younger crew of actors as their next-gen mutants. At 43, Palicki’s probably on the older side for Rogue (considering how Marvel likes to lock people into decade-long contracts), but I wouldn’t rule her out from popping up elsewhere in the MCU. She’s also made it clear she’d be well up for returning as Mockingbird, if they ever get that off the ground.

If you fancy reminding yourself, 'Agents of SHIELD' (all seven series) is sitting on Disney+ right now. The X-Men movie proper is still in very early development—no filming dates, no release window, not even a logo yet.