X-Men Reboot Reportedly Casts Asa Germann as Angel After Cyclops Audition

It looks like the industry insiders were right. At D23, Marvel Studios brought out a group of its X-Men cast, but very obviously not the whole team, and since then we have been waiting for one of the Hollywood trades to weigh in and add to it. That is exactly what happened today, and it confirms a name some insiders had already scooped.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news under the headline "X-Men movie, Asa Germann nabs role of Angel exclusive," reporting that the actor had auditioned to play Cyclops but will instead be given a chance to grow his wings. Their report states, "The X-Men continued to gather around Professor X. Asa Germann, known for his roles in superhero series Gen V and horror hit Scream 7, is in final talks for a high-flying key role in Marvel Studios X-Men revival." I will admit I am not certain of the correct pronunciation of his name. I have seen it rendered a couple of different ways online, so I am going with Asa for now, and if that is wrong, I will correct it next time.

Why "final talks" is about as close to confirmed as it gets

The Hollywood Reporter also noted that much of the cast has already been revealed, since Marvel has been meeting, reading, and testing actors throughout the summer, and that Marvel declined to comment on this story. Screen tests for some of these actors and characters were happening as early as July 1st through the 4th, which means the studio had been working on this for months before that, and we are now more than two months on from those tests. That tells me there is a good chance a few more names get added to this list very soon.

Being in final talks to play a character is technically not the same as being officially cast, but the Hollywood Reporter would not be running this story if it were not a done deal. A lot of these major Hollywood trades are essentially one step removed from access media and do not run stories without permission from Marvel or Disney. So even with the "final talks" language, you can consider Asa Germann playing Angel as good as confirmed. At that point, final talks or not, they are just working out the number.

Casting Angel at 28 fits Marvel's push to go younger

Asa Germann is 28 years old, which puts him on maybe the higher end of the 20s range Marvel has been casting for the X-Men, but it keeps every confirmed cast member so far in their 20s. That lines up with what industry insiders said earlier in the year, that Marvel was looking to cast this team much younger than usual. Some of the earlier MCU roles called for older actors for good reason, but here, a school for gifted youngsters means just that: a bunch of very young X-Men, younger than we are used to seeing for this team.

In real world years, that gives this cast decades to grow into the roles and maintain them without aging out. Marvel canon already has an explanation ready if needed. Namor mentioned during Wakanda Forever that mutants age at a slower rate, which is probably what will be used to explain Magneto's age if they do not change his backstory, the same way it was handled with Steve Rogers. If the whole X-Men cast is in their 20s now, twenty years from now they will only be in their 40s and still well within range to keep playing these characters.

Long careers likely, even if the contracts are not locked in for two decades

I am not saying these actors are signing eight picture deals. We know Marvel Studios has been keeping contracts smaller and more reasonable rather than locking people down for years the way it used to. But from the actor's point of view, if you are cast as a major X-Men member two decades into this franchise, you should not assume it is just for one or two pictures. If this goes as well as Marvel hopes, these actors are going to be doing Marvel movies for a long, long time, contracts signed or not.

My honest take: unfamiliarity with his work, and real pressure on Marvel to get this right

Some of the projects these younger actors have been in are not things I typically watch, so I am not as familiar with their work as I was with, say, Samara Weaving or other actors who joined the MCU in the past. I did watch Gen V and thought Asa Germann was great in that, but I have not seen Scream 7 or some of his other credits, so there is an unknown quality here without an extended track record to point to.

That puts real pressure on Marvel Studios to get most of this casting right. We have seen the studio survive a major recast before, like Edward Norton's Hulk turning into Mark Ruffalo, but that is possible without being optimal. Sarah Finn has handled Marvel casting the whole time and has done a great job, so I am hopeful the newcomers playing the X-Men will too. Honestly, not being overly familiar with these actors' other work helps me buy into them in these roles in a way that casting someone already tied to an iconic part does not, though I will say the same logic makes Robert Downey Jr. moving from Iron Man to Doom feel a little strange too, and we are not far from finding out how that turns out.

Are you familiar with Asa Germann's work, do you think he will make a good Angel, and who else do you think needs to round out this X-Men roster now that the core group seems close to full?