Thus far, we’ve only been given a handful of confirmed characters and the actors cast in those roles for the upcoming MCU reboot of the X-Men. Among them are Storm, Rogue, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Professor X, Emma Frost, and Nathaniel Milbury, an alias for longtime X-Men villain Mr. Sinister. And most recently, Gen V‘s Asa Germann has been confirmed to join the team as Angel. Now, obviously, other characters are either yet to be added or yet to be announced, but considering the characters we have now, it’s easy to point to a possible plot based solely on what we know so far.
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Since we don’t really know where any of the above characters are, geographically speaking or in the wider MCU storyline, except for Jean Grey, it seems obvious to start with her and what we’ve already seen. We last saw her in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, in which she played the fake-out villain, antagonistic solely because she was a scared “kid” trying to find her sister, who had been taken by the Department of Damage Control (DODC) because of her mutant abilities. But that movie also showed us a side of Jean Grey that, given the roles we know Sadie Sink has played in the past, might have a good reason to point to a storyline in which Grey is angry, lost, and searching for a place to belong.
What Jean Grey’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day Appearance Tells Us About the X-Men Reboot
So where is the story going from here? At the end of Spider-Man: Brand New Day she’s literally on a bus out of NYC, it’s safe to assume that’s our starting point – or some time after (not before). So, how do the characters that have already been cast add to this foundation? At least four of them hint at what we might expect in the upcoming X-Men film, specifically: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Professor X, and Mr. Sinister.
Emma Frost is typically a member of the villainous Hellfire Club, so it’s certainly possible they’ll play a role. Additionally, while the film is an X-Men movie, Professor X’s appearance doesn’t necessarily mean that the team will arrive already formed into the group we know – working at a school educating and raising young mutants in a world that hates and fears them. It’s more likely that we’ll see the beginning of that. That said, on paper, this sounds too much like the setup for X-Men: First Class – which centered around the formation of the team juxtaposed against the temptations of the Hellfire Club (which included Emma Frost as a main character). Still, the actors that have been cast so far for the reboot are in their twenties, hardly the age of grizzled X-Men veterans. So it will be interesting to see how the MCU navigates a fresh start without telling that same story.
In the comics, Cyclops is canonically the first official member of the X-Men to be recruited, with Jean Grey an early addition. Considering those roots, and that Mr. Sinister and the Hellfire Club could appear, it’s likely that Grey meets Cyclops (or some of the other mutants) in transition – not as someone who is already established as an X-Men hero. Maybe she runs into another mutant, perhaps Emma Frost, who directs her to a sanctuary for mutants; a safe place where she won’t be alone. Remember, prior to this, Jean only had her sister – and mutants weren’t exactly known to the world yet, so finding a place to belong, especially after everything she’s been through, would certainly make sense for the character.
How Mister Sinister Could Setup Both The X-Men & The Brotherhood of Mutants
If Jean and other mutants have been recently outed to the world, and are in search of safety, that opens the door for Mister Sinister to recruit mutants, under the guise of sanctuary, for his own nefarious testing.
Considering that Mr. Sinister was announced as Nathan Millbury during the announcement, it’s easy to assume that at this juncture Milbury begins the story using his alias – either powerless or hiding his own abilities, in order to gather test subjects (his typical modus operandi). In the comics, Sinister often has an obsession with Jean Grey and Cyclops – so that could setup how the pair become close – working together to escape or defeat Sinister. From there, the plot present Professor X has the safe landing place many of the mutants have been trying to find – where they can live “normal” lives and learn to control their powers.
Which X-Men Heroes (& Villains) Will Appear in the First Movie
We could also see Sinister’s actions as a catalyst for the formation of Xavier’s X-Men and, by contrast, The Brotherhood of Mutants: the discovery of mutant genocide serving as a micro-narrative for the macro storyline playing out across the post-Doom MCU. It’s certainly an event that could serve as a dividing line, setting a course for an overarching story in which mutants struggle for their own place in the wider MCU.
Given the cast announced so far, we should expect to see an X-Men roster closer to the original team of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, and Beast, with Rogue, Storm, and maybe a few other characters rounding out the initial group – setting up a new team that will probably be centered much in the way The Avengers were for the first ten years of the MCU.
In full, the story could set up the major forces leading forward and deal with the ramifications of a world suddenly overrun by mutants, one that uses an intimate story of a few oppressed individuals seeking a safe community, deciding where they stand and where they want to stand in a world that largely hates and fears them.
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