Adam Driver confirms he is playing Mr. Sinister in X-Men

Adam Driver has confirmed he is playing Mr. Sinister in Marvel's X-Men reboot. According to the report I read, he explained during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel why this was a role he couldn't turn down after rejecting many MCU offers. I like what I'm hearing so far about this X-Men movie, and from what I've heard, it may not be built around the characters you'd expect.

PLLD and I got into the casting, where it leaves the Kylo Ren movie that never happened, and what a villain like Sinister could mean for a franchise that has leaned heavily on Wolverine and Magneto.

The Kylo Ren movie is off, so Adam Driver goes to Marvel

Before Marvel, we talked about Driver's Star Wars future. A question came up in our discussion: would a Kylo Ren movie have been a good idea? The case made for it was that Steven Soderbergh was attached to direct, and that Driver was the best thing about the sequel trilogy.

There was some back and forth about whether killing off a character should matter. The argument for bringing him back was that Darth Maul was dead and got brought back, first in an animated series and then briefly in Solo. The pushback was that people were confused when Maul showed up in Solo, and that Star Wars needs a Skywalker going forward.

Either way, the discussion landed on the same place: that project is not going to happen. Where Driver is going to be is Marvel. We agreed that Driver as Mr. Sinister is perfect casting.

Adam Driver confirms Mr. Sinister after the D23 announcement

According to the report, Driver was announced at D23 under a name that is an alias of Mr. Sinister rather than as Sinister himself. The report says that choice raised eyebrows among fans, with some wondering whether the character could be reimagined, for example as the leader of the Hellfire Club. It also points to the recent Wolverine game as proof of how differently Sinister can be portrayed.

Driver has now confirmed he is indeed playing Mr. Sinister. The confirmation came during his interview with Jimmy Kimmel, where he also talked about his longtime love of the X-Men franchise and why he has repeatedly turned down the MCU in the past.

Why Adam Driver said yes to X-Men after rejecting other MCU roles

Driver said the X-Men meant a lot to him as a kid. "I was a big X-Men fan when I was a kid. The TV show was right in my generation. Huge for me." He recalled playing X-Men with his cousin Tony, who would be Sabretooth while Driver would be Wolverine.

He said he was a fan of the other things too, but "this one felt like the right time." For him it came down to it being X-Men, the idea from director Jake Schreier, and Kevin Feige all coming together. He also said, "The script is really cool."

On why he rejected other roles, his reasoning was roughly that a lot of people are going to watch these movies, and if one is bad, a lot of people will see you being bad. I'm not certain that was the exact wording of the quote, so take it as the gist rather than his precise words.

Kevin Feige tipped his hand on Adam Driver

To me, this was where Kevin Feige showed his hand. I remember when Feige was being interviewed and said Marvel had tried so hard to get Adam Driver, but he kept turning them down. My reaction at the time was that Feige wouldn't have said that unless they had cast him.

That's exactly what happened. Now we have the confirmation.

What Mr. Sinister could bring to the X-Men franchise

The report argues Driver should make for an incredible Mr. Sinister, especially since he's no stranger to playing villains. Handled the right way, it says, Sinister could be a recurring villain in the X-Men franchise and beyond.

Even if he's one and done, the report says, rumor has it Marvel Studios has big plans for Apocalypse. It notes Sinister is obsessed with the Summers bloodline, that X-Men would mark his live action debut, and that it would be a turning point for a franchise that previously focused almost entirely on Magneto.

From what I'm hearing, the new X-Men focuses on Cyclops

I like what I'm hearing about X-Men, because I said something like this a long time ago. I heard it from the same people who told me about Jeremy Allen White in The Mandalorian and Grogu, the Ewan McGregor news, and Hulk and Punisher.

What I heard from them is that the new X-Men movie is going to focus on Cyclops in this run. Now you have Mr. Sinister there, with his obsession with that bloodline. They're not relying only on Wolverine or Magneto, and they've got a talent like Adam Driver to bring this villain forward. I like what they're doing here.

PLLD on why a Cyclops focus is worth the risk

PLLD agreed. His view is that the easy thing would be to keep focusing on Wolverine because he's the cash cow, but that it's also the lazy choice and would get boring after a while. Focusing on Cyclops is taking a swing, he said, but it means making a commitment and a plan and getting the right people together. If it fails, at least you went out swinging.

PLLD also said Thunderbolts* was one of his favorite MCU movies story wise. The point was made that Schreier did a wonderful job directing it, that it has a similar tone to X-Men, and that he showed he can handle that kind of material. With Driver involved too, the feeling was that this is a home run of an idea if Marvel stays committed to it.

Young stars and Ben Wang as Iceman

Marvel is loading this movie with young star talent, and that's why they're going so heavy on the cast. Pairing an established name like Adam Driver with popular young actors is smart. My daughter had no interest in the X-Men, and now she wants to see it because one of those young stars is in it. They aren't only casting her because she's popular. She's also good.

PLLD brought up a comment about Ben Wang potentially playing Iceman, which he called another great piece of casting. He thought Wang was great in Karate Kid: Legends and in The Long Walk. I like him too, and I liked him in The Long Walk. My question is whether he can pull off Bobby, and I don't know yet, since I don't know what they're going to do with the role.

We split on Karate Kid: Legends. I think that movie was atrocious. PLLD admitted there was a lot wrong with it, but he had fun with it. Whatever you make of that film, the bigger picture is clear to me: this X-Men movie is the future of Marvel.