X-Men Writer Chris Claremont Thinks Idris Elba Should Play Bishop

If Chris Claremont were to get his way, Idris Elba would be picking up another Marvel role before [...]

If Chris Claremont were to get his way, Idris Elba would be picking up another Marvel role before too long. The legendary Uncanny X-Men scribe took to Facebook to reveal some thoughts on another character Elba could play — and it's more than likely bound to make X-Men fans excited.

According to Claremont, the writer thinks Elba is the picture-perfect actor to play Bishop, the time-traveling mutant first introduced in the 1990s.

"Dang! I mean, *Dang!* Just saw the Hobbs & Shaw trailer," Claremont says in a post on his social media. "Aside from the fact that they'd make a great F&F team-up cross-over with John Wick, the total revelation is Idris Elba as, wait for it, the Bad Guy. I'm sorry, I find myself rooting for him because, well, he's him."

"And speaking purely from my X-perspective, he is *so* totally perfect for (my vision of) Bishop!" the writer continues. "Not to mention 007, bit that's *so* another path entirely. Perhaps he could team-up with the Rock but if so who the heck could the studio find to prove a decent adversary? This could turn out to be a *very* enticing cinema summer …"

The character's only appeared in live-action once so far, as Omar Sy played the time-traveling character in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Of course, Elba just finished his role as the Asgardians gatekeeper Heimdall, as he was killed off in Avengers: Infinity War. After appearing as the character five times in a growing role — Elba is more than likely done with the MCU.

With the impending Disney/Fox deal set to close by the middle of the year, it's pretty unlikely the actor will be able to play Bishop — though weirder things have happened. In fact, Elba previous revealed he wants to play a bigger superhero while on the press tour for Thor: Ragnarok.

"I like that I have a little part in Thor. I'm neither movie star or day player. It allows me to do other things I love… I wish I was more present in the Marvel family. I like what I have, but I also wish that I had a bigger character in the Marvel universe. It's been great, but I kinda think I need a bit more. I want to be a superhero. I like the idea of that."

-----

Have you subscribed to ComicBook Nation, the official Podcast of ComicBook.com yet? Check it out by clicking here or listen below.

In this latest episode, we react to the major Batman movie news that just dropped; talk wrestling with a WWE Royal Rumble recap; and defend geek culture from celebrity political pundit Bill Maher, after he took shots at Stan Lee's legacy!

29comments