Famke Janssen Says Marvel Never Asked Her Back as Jean Grey for Avengers: Doomsday, So Why Leave Her Out?

Famke Janssen has said point blank that Marvel Studios never asked her to return as Jean Grey in Avengers: Doomsday. I find that answer rather surprising. That would seem weird, because Marvel is putting together a classic X-Men timeline for the film. There are some good reasons Marvel might pass on her character in particular, with the caveat that she could just be lying.

The Latest Doomsday Cast List Was Light on Legacy Cameos

At the time of writing, the odds looked good for another round of cast announcements for Avengers: Doomsday. One industry insider was saying that AGBO and Marvel Studios were lining that round up right then. I had also gone through a comprehensive list leaked about seven months earlier by industry insider Jeff Sneider, which included 33 more actors and characters' names.

That list was extremely light on the legacy cameos that made up a majority of the first round of announcements. What it did include were characters we logically expected to see, or characters it would be harder to make the movie without. Monica Rambeau, who is in the X-Men timeline, is one we suspect will be seen.

Because the list was so light on legacy names, it raises a question. Is Marvel Studios done with the legacy cameo parade that seems to be pervasive throughout the Multiverse Saga, or is it storing those cameos up for Secret Wars?

Famke Janssen Told Entertainment Weekly Marvel Never Asked Her to Return as Jean Grey

In an interview that week, Entertainment Weekly asked Janssen point blank whether she was returning for Avengers: Doomsday, Secret Wars, or the end of the Multiverse Saga. She said Marvel Studios never asked her to return as Jean Grey in Doomsday, and then added: "I should be flattered, I suppose, that this character has resonated with people. It's been so long, but it's nice that people are still talking about her."

Of all the legacy actors we have been discussing as possible returning X-Men, Jean Grey has been noticeably absent from most of the lists. We have seen Halle Berry's Storm and some others, but we really have not seen Jean Grey. As I see it, there are two options. Either she is telling the truth, or she is not.

Jean Grey's Telekinesis Might Not Read Well on Screen

If you believe her, and she seemed sincere, it could be true that Marvel Studios never reached out. That would seem strange given the classic X-Men timeline being put together, but there is not infinite money or infinite time in the script. Maybe Marvel felt Jean Grey was one character it could do without.

Stretching further than Reed Richards, you could say it may be because her power set does not display as well on screen. The telekinesis is tough. With Wanda, you had glowing red magic when she interacted with objects, so you could sort of understand it. Jean Grey overlaps with Professor X on telepathy, and her telekinesis does not really have an on screen signifier. Her Phoenix form is obviously a grandiose display, but we would not expect her to be in that form, even though it did turn up in a recent plot leak.

Jean Grey Might Simply Be Too Powerful for an X-Men Versus Avengers Fight

I am trying to find a reason, and the matchups may offer one. When you match the X-Men up against the Fantastic Four and the Avengers they will be facing, the only Avengers character I can think of with mass telekinesis, outside of power manipulation to move objects, is Sentry. Maybe Marvel felt that, going head to head, Jean Grey tipped the scales by being too overpowered.

In the past, the Russos have always tried to work with power creep and leave out characters they thought made for an easy story fix. Maybe they viewed Jean Grey this way. Of all the theories I have put forward, her being too powerful is the most believable, along the lines of deciding they cannot have Jean Grey in the X-Men versus Avengers fight because she might tip the scales completely.

I think Sentry goes a long way toward balancing things back out, but the Avengers do not have a telepath like Professor X, and they do not have Scarlet Witch. We also do not know if Hulk will be part of the Avengers facing the X-Men, although you would assume so, given the Wolverine versus Hulk fight we hope happens in this film.

Famke Janssen Could Also Just Be Following Marvel's Line

Or maybe she is just lying. When Halle Berry was asked about this exact same thing regarding Storm, her answer was eerily similar. These are professional actors who do not really need a lot of media training.

I know it is all fun and games with actors like Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo leaking things on purpose or by accident and becoming memes. Even recently, the Nightcrawler actor decided to talk about all his scenes, and that has definitely been a source of information. But some of these actors really cannot be bothered. If Marvel Studios told her to say it never contacted her, that is exactly what she said, and it is almost exactly what Berry said about Storm.

Rogue and Iceman Are Missing Too, So Maybe Jean Grey Just Missed the Cut

So do I believe we will not get Jean Grey with the X-Men? On one hand, I could see it. Maybe Marvel plans to recast her and have a new Jean Grey in the future of the MCU, and decided it does not need a Jean Grey for this fight.

At the same time, Marvel is bringing back the legacy X-Men actors, and it is really hard to believe it would not have reached out to her. Still, we have not heard anything about Anna Paquin's Rogue, and there are other characters, like Iceman, who are not returning either. Maybe there was a short list of characters who made narrative sense to line up against the Avengers, and she simply did not make it. As I put it, "It's plausible, not believable, but plausible" that Jean Grey is just too overpowered.

I Give the Edge to the X-Men Over This Avengers Lineup

This leads to a debate I do not think gets enough attention: who wins between the Avengers and the X-Men? We still do not know the final lineups on each side, so it is hard to call. But assuming both sides bring their heaviest hitters, and taking the news as true that there is no Jean Grey, remember that the Avengers do not have Scarlet Witch either.

The most powerful Avengers, if they show up, would be Sentry, Thor and Hulk, especially if Hulk is back to Savage Hulk after Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and I suppose Captain Marvel, although there was no real reason to believe she was involved at the time. Without Jean Grey, the X-Men's heaviest hitters are Professor X, Magneto, perhaps Cyclops, and Storm if she is included.

It breaks my heart, because I really want to be team Avengers, but most of the new Avengers are just super soldiers, and the contingent behind Sam Wilson, outside Captain Marvel, is Wong and Shang-Chi. "There is just no way I can take the Avengers into Professor X and Magneto, let alone the rest of the X-Men in tow." The edge goes to the X-Men against that lineup. With a different set of Avengers, maybe they would stand a chance.

Of course, this is a movie, and I expect them to fight to a stalemate with no deaths in that battle. But who knows? With the rumours that Robert Downey Jr. will bring a classic monster vibe, I feel this film may be much darker than we are used to lately, more like Infinity War than anything else.

Who do you think wins: the Avengers or the X-Men?