It’s official! The newest cast of X-Men is here. Who would play our favorite mutants was heavily speculated after rumors that they’d soon make their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Disney’s purchase of the film rights from 20th Century Fox.
Just last month, we got our biggest tie to the MCU mutants in Spider-Man: Brand New Day with the introduction of telekinetic Jean Grey, played by Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink. Sink helped make the big announcement at D23 last Sunday. To get you up to speed, Christopher Abbott is Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving is Emma Frost, Kit Connor is Cyclops, Inde Navarrette is Rogue, Maya Boyd is Storm, and Adam Driver is Mr. Sinister.
There has been an abundance of reactions to the new cast. While some couldn’t be happier, some are questioning it. Comic book forums have been a popular hub for live-action fan casting for years now, so the internet was always going to have strong opinions on who would ultimately take up the mantle.
So What is Fancasting?
From book-to-film adaptations to remakes, fan casting online is serious business. Fan casting is the practice of fans coming up with and discussing which actors they would like to play their favorite characters in upcoming or hypothetical films. Popular fancast picks often come from an actor’s physical resemblance to the character’s description, artwork, or a previous actor’s portrayal.
Sometimes major studios catch on to online chatter. A few popular fancasts gained so much traction that they were realized, including John Krasinski as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Kathryn Hahn as Mother Gothel in the upcoming live-action Tangled film, and Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket in the next installment of the Hunger Games series, Sunrise on the Reaping. Most fancasts are fun, light entertainment meant to drive engagement and create a viral moment. However, fans can become toxic once an actor is actually chosen for a role.
Racist Backlash to a Casting is Disturbingly Common
Feeling disappointed that a specific fancast wasn’t chosen is fine to some degree. This can quickly become problematic, though, when the basis of that disappointment is solely that an actor doesn’t match the physical descriptors fans expected for the live-action version of the character.
In 2022, Percy Jackson and the Olympians actress Leah Jeffries faced racist backlash and harassment after being cast as Annabeth Chase. Similarly, in 2019, Halle Bailey’s casting as Ariel in 2023’s The Little Mermaid sparked immense pushback, leading to the Twitter hashtag, “#NotMyAriel.”
This goes back even further with the casting of Amandla Stenberg as Rue in the first Hunger Games movie when she was just 12 years old. The book never even describes Rue as white. Readers implicitly assigned that to her, evidently because the implication that Rue is Black would’ve hindered their ability to connect and even empathize with her. Social media users spewed blatantly racist dialogue. Some even said that after they learned Rue would be played by a Black girl, the character’s death would be “less sad” to them. The response to the casting in 2012 served as an illuminating look into racial biases within fandom.
The X-Men and Fan Expectations
Sometimes, fans assume their expectations for what a film should look like override the creative vision of those making it. Three cast members in particular have the internet buzzing.
Rogue
Navarrette, hot off the success and praise for her performance as Nikki in supernatural horror Obsession, is having an incredible year. One would think fans would see it that way too: going from an indie horror to landing a role in the most lucrative superhero franchise right now. However, some are already calling her “overexposed” due to her rapid success.
Actors experience a level of parasocialism from the public when their rise to superstardom seems too fast. Fans want to see more of them, but when they do, they turn on them, almost as if these fans prefer they stick to one genre and only go after the gigs they want and expect them to. On top of that, Navarrette is facing typical reactions, with some saying she’s too short to play Rogue and others worrying the film won’t stay true to Rogue’s Southern roots as Navarrette is of Mexican and Australian descent. In the 2000s X-Men trilogy, Canadian actress Anna Paquin played the role, and the film omitted Rogue’s Southern accent.
Professor X
Fans are also apprehensive about Abbott’s upcoming portrayal of Professor X. First portrayed by a 60 year old Patrick Stewart in 2000, Abbott is only 40. However, this choice aligns with what Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said about the film. “X-Men, as it was in the comics, will be a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie,” said Feige. Abbott’s age makes more sense with this younger cast of mutants, most of whom are in their mid-20s.
Storm
The live-action Storms have a complex history with Black fans. In the comics, Storm (Ororo Munroe) was born in Harlem, New York, and raised in Cairo, Egypt, later living in Kenya. The previous films largely gloss over this.
Though fans still love past iterations portrayed by Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp, they’ve long wanted a dark-skinned actress to play Storm next. Sinners’ Jayme Lawson and Poor Things’ Suzy Bemba were popular picks before Boyd was confirmed. Though Boyd’s casting has sparked discussions about colorism and whether Boyd is dark enough, reactions have been predominantly positive. This marks the & Juliet star’s debut film role.
We Should Avoid Reactive Behavior
In 2006, Heath Ledger’s casting as the Joker was met with apprehension, as was Michael Keaton’s Batman in the 1980s. Heavy speculation about casting is nothing new and yet we’ve seen beloved performances follow.
What many fans tend to forget is that an actor’s job is to act. Just because they don’t look how we expect them to out of costume doesn’t mean they won’t deliver. Our immediate instinct is to react, and sometimes that takes the form of outrage and disapproval. Some of this stems from nostalgia or a deep connection to a character; however, it’s not fair to judge a performance prematurely based on something so arbitrary.
We should give this newer cast a chance, be patient, and see this for what it is: the MCU’s opportunity to deliver a fresh take on one of Marvel’s most famous teams.
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