Sometimes missing the MCU role pays off — ask X-Men’s Professor X runner-up
Tom Pelphrey nearly became Professor X in Marvel’s first X-Men outing — and he’s now touting a rather funny upside to missing out.
Marvel are making good on their promise to drag the X-Men into the MCU, and after enough leaks and fan theories to last us a lifetime, we’ve finally been handed something concrete: a proper cast list, with actual names, and the usual swirl of casting drama. Some of it is even quite funny, if you’re a fan of behind-the-scenes nerves (or, put more bluntly, actors taking the mick out of themselves).
A New Professor X (and Almost Tom Pelphrey)
Inde Navarrette is in as Rogue, Kit Connor’s got the Cyclops gig, and Sadie Sink is officially Jean Grey. All the focus, though, is on who’s next in line for Professor X. If you’ve been following, you’ll remember Tom Pelphrey (yes, him from Ozark, Iron Fist, and everywhere else) was in the mix at one point. He almost became Marvel’s new wheelchair-bound telepath. Didn’t happen, but Pelphrey seems relieved more than anything. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he joked about the prospect of going bald for the role:
“I’ve also got a fat head. I have a watermelon. I was like, ‘If we’re even going to have this conversation, go into your AI image generator and look at me with a shaved head. That alone could be horrifying enough.’ I’m not kidding.”
That means instead, the slot’s gone to Christopher Abbott. He’s set to play Professor X in Marvel’s upcoming X-Men debut, following in the footsteps of James McAvoy and Sir Patrick Stewart – Stewart, by the way, is still popping up as the character in other corners of the MCU, including a cameo due later this year in Avengers: Doomsday.
Cast, Creative Team, and MCU Plans
Shooting straight – here’s how things are stacking up right now:
- Christopher Abbott as Professor X
- Sadie Sink as Jean Grey (the worst-kept secret in Marvel casting for months, finally confirmed after her Spider-Man: Brand New Day appearance)
- Kit Connor as Cyclops
- Inde Navarrette as Rogue
Directing duties go to Jake Schreier, hot off all that praise for Thunderbolts. Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear) are down to write the script, which suggests Marvel are actually interested in a bit of style for once.
The announcement came out of D23, nestled right between several other Marvel reveals, because of course they couldn’t help themselves. We also got news that Ryan Gosling will be the MCU’s Ghost Rider – a bit of a left-field pick – and that Black Panther III is locked in for 2028, now with David Jonsson stepping into the suit after Chadwick Boseman. All three – X-Men, Ghost Rider, Black Panther III – are pencilled in for 2028, in case you like your cinematic universes meticulously scheduled.
X-Men, Ghost Rider, and Black Panther III are all set as Marvel’s trio of 2028 releases.
Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey connection was made official here, after she showed up as a ‘super-secret’ character in the most recent Spider-Man outing, just to give fans another reason to go wild over release calendars and continuity. No sign yet of how the classic X-Men storylines will be adapted, or if we’re getting yellow unitards or last-minute reshoots, but you can almost bet on it.