X-Men Reboot: Actors Campaign for Iconic Marvel Roles

Remember when actors used to pretend to be above comic book movies? These days, they campaign for them like they’re running for office.

Nowhere are the hustings more crowded than Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot, where — in interviews, press junkets and red carpet chats ­— seemingly half of Hollywood has publicly raised a hand for one mutant or another. Keke Palmer has been lobbying to play Rogue, repeatedly telling interviewers she wants the part. Cynthia Erivo has called Storm a dream role; Jodie Turner-Smith and Kirby Howell-Baptiste have publicly volunteered for weather-control duty, as well. Taron Egerton has repeatedly expressed interest in inheriting Wolverine’s claws from Hugh Jackman, while Dacre Montgomery has floated himself for Cyclops.

Some of this campaigning appears to be working — or at least getting a few meetings on the schedule. Inde Navarrette recently confirmed she’d met with X-Men director Jake Schreier after revealing Mystique is the mutant she’d most like to play, though rumor has also linked her to Rogue.

Of course, no campaign would be complete without a few polls. Thanks to Kalshi, fans can now track the X-Men frontrunners in real time. According to an analysis by The Action Network, Jacob Elordi’s chances have climbed from 24 percent in late July to 96 percent, while Sadie Sink — already cast as Jean Grey — rather academically tops Kalshi’s ticket at 98 percent (presumably she’ll get the other 2 percent when filming begins?). The leaderboard gets a little weirder from there, with Jackman still pulling 43 percent despite publicly retiring from the role, and Denzel Washington somehow polling at 30 percent, rumor has it to play Magneto. 

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This story appeared in the Aug. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.