New ‘X-Men’ Cast Members And Stars Who Played Their Roles Before Them

Adam Driver, Inde Navarette, Sadie Sink and Christopher Abbott are among new stars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s live-action reboot of “X-Men,” contributing to the legacy of the casts who starred as the mutants before them.

Navarrette, Sink and Abbott — along with Samara Weaving, Kit Connor and Maya Boyd were the new cast members introduced by Marvel President Kevin Feige at the D23 convention Friday night in Anaheim, Calif., while Driver was introduced via video.

Directed by Thunderbolts* filmmaker Jake Schreier, the new X-Men film is pegged for a May 5, 2028, release. Some of the reveals weren’t surprises, including Sink’s Jean Grey, who was already introduced in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, while recent reports already indicated Weaving would be playing Emma Frost and Connor would be donning the visor as Scott Summers/Cyclops.

Given that reports surfaced that Navarrette — one of the stars of the summer horror blockbuster Obsession — had met with Marvel and expressed a desire to play Mystique, the only real surprises about her casting came with the announcement that she would be playing Rogue.

As such, the night’s biggest reveals came with the announcements that Boyd will be playing Storm, while Driver — who previously embodied Kylo Ren/Ben Solo for Disney’s Star Wars franchise— would take on the villainous role of Mr. Sinister. Feige said in a recent interview with the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he’s been asking Driver to join the MCU, but he has always turned them down.

Here’s a rundown of the actors starring in the MCU’s X-Men reboot and the stars who have played the roles before them.

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Before Inde Navarrette accepted the role of Rogue in the new X-Men film, the power-absorbing mutant was played by Anna Paquin in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

Paquin’s scenes were cut from X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) but were restored in one of the home entertainment versions of the film, X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut.

Prior to Sadie Sink playing the role of Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Famke Janssen played the empath/telepath in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), The Wolverine (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

X-Men: The Last Stand also included a scene featuring a young Jean, played by Haley Ramm, while Sophie Turner played the young Jean in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019).

Heartstopper star Kit Connor’s version of Cyclops was preceded by James Marsden’s turn as the laser-eyed mutant in X-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Marsden is reprising the role in the upcoming MCU film Avengers: Doomsday.

Meanwhile, Tim Pocock appeared as Cyclops in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), while Tye Sheridan played him in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) and appeared in an uncredited turn as the character in Deadpool 2 (2018).