New X-Men Roster Reportedly Set as Asa Germann Lands Angel Role

Asa Germann has officially been cast as Angel in Marvel's X-Men, according to the Hollywood Reporter. What makes this interesting is that he originally auditioned for Cyclops before landing the role of Warren Worthington III instead. Marvel clearly thought highly enough of him to keep him in mind for a different part once Cyclops was locked in with Kit Connor.

I have heard people say he might have made a better Cyclops than Kit Connor. My own take is that he can absolutely do a great job as Angel. It is also worth remembering that casting like this is partly about chemistry, since whoever plays Cyclops has to be lined up next to Sadie Sink, who plays Jean Grey. Maybe Kit Connor simply had better chemistry with her, though we cannot know that for certain.

Kevin Feige Has Officially Called the Next Chapter the Mutant Saga

Kevin Feige recently referred to the next chapter of the MCU as the mutant saga. In his own words, "The X-Men have already had 10 movies. Some very good, some very, very good. Actually, some I think haven't lived up to expectations. I think we all know that. How do we plan the mutant saga in a very grand way?" That is basically the term fans have already been using, but it is notable to hear him say it directly.

Feige has also talked about the sheer scale of stories still available to tell. He said, "Having 85 almost 90 years of comic book history, there's so many stories yet to tell. We announced a very young new cast for a property called X-Men the other day... that's great because there's been 10 great X-Men movies, but there can be 100 more. There's sagas upon sagas with these comics that haven't been told yet." He added that the stories that originally inspired him to want to make these kinds of movies have not been told yet, and that he is excited to do them.

My own reaction is that if the MCU keeps going, and I believe it will, we could eventually surpass 100 MCU movies overall. That is a huge number of potential X-Men stories. But as I point out, just because Feige is talking about untold stories does not mean Marvel will avoid revisiting stories that have already been told on screen before.

A Report Says the Original Five X-Men Anchor the New Team

Insider Alex Perez has stated, "We are getting the OG5. We are getting the X-Men first class." The Angel casting news points in that same direction. So far that puts Jean Grey as Sadie Sink, Cyclops as Kit Connor, and now Angel as Asa Germann. According to this report, Marvel is also still casting Beast and Iceman.

We have heard reports about Beast casting in the past without a lock-in yet, which tracks with the fact that he was not announced at D23. Iceman is a character a lot of people have been asking about, since he only got a few moments to shine in the Fox movies, and this report indicates he is coming to the new team. Alongside them, the report also names an actress cast as Rogue, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, and an actress cast as Storm.

Alex Perez's earlier reporting, from months back, said Marvel wants a cast that can grow over several years and serve as a coming of age story. The rumor that the original five would be the core is true, but according to that report it is nothing close to a lineup as big as X-Men '97. My read is that it lands on the core five plus three more.

Wolverine Is Reportedly Not Part of This Lineup

To answer a question I get asked a lot, is Wolverine going to be part of the new X-Men cast, the answer according to these reports is no. Deadpool and Wolverine are expected to get another movie of their own, though a new Deadpool film is not yet confirmed, and it is unclear what Wolverine's role will be past Secret Wars. My assumption is he will be off doing Deadpool shenanigans instead.

So the lineup as reported stands at the original five, plus Rogue, Emma Frost, and Storm. Professor X is confirmed, along with Magneto, and Mr. Sinister is set as the villain. Based on a report from the day before this news, Apocalypse looks to be the larger threat Marvel is building toward, possibly with a cameo in the new film. I think Mr. Sinister appearing in more than one movie is completely on point.

Fan Reactions from the Discord Cover Jubilee, Gambit, Iceman and a Wolverine Wish

I asked the Marvel fans on my Discord what they thought of this lineup. One fan called it "good and interesting," while MZ42 said they are "still hoping for Jubilee." On that point, I want to stress that these characters will still be at the school, so Jubilee and others could easily appear even if they are not part of the official core team, joining fights if the X-Mansion gets attacked. Emma Frost in particular could start on the villain side with the Hellfire Club before turning good, so being in the movie does not require being an official team member yet.

Luminous said this is "pretty much what everyone wanted," and another fan called it "a good start," while hoping for more Storm, though Storm is already confirmed. Urig said, "As long as they get the character story and theme work well, this is a good first class," which I think is an underrated point since Feige has described the X-Men's core theme as a family story, almost a soap opera, given everything going on between the team, the school, and their place in society.

Katie brought up wanting Gambit, floating a specific actor whose name has been circulating in rumors as having met with Marvel, though no character has been confirmed for him. Loki D pitched an actor for Iceman, saying it is his dream role to play the character in the MCU, and I think he would do a pretty good job. One fan suggested Taron Egerton as Wolverine, which would have been interesting, but Egerton has said he did talk to Marvel about a role once that would have required his eyes to be covered, which points to Cyclops, and he ultimately passed. At this point he seems a bit too old for a cast Marvel wants to keep young, even though Wolverine's healing factor means he could plausibly be older.

My Take on Retelling Old X-Men Stories

As ah123 in the Discord put it, this looks like Marvel "going back to first class, but course correcting it and making it better hopefully," and I think that is exactly the plan here. Feige says there are a hundred new stories to tell, but I also think some of the old ones are getting told again, just done differently. My hope is that even when the story beats are familiar, the execution ends up completely different.

I do not think that is a bad thing. Just because the Phoenix story has been done before does not mean it should not be done again, since it feeds directly into a story like Avengers versus X-Men. Setting up the Phoenix is necessary to set up other stories down the line, so revisiting familiar ground can still serve the bigger picture.

What do you make of this reported lineup, and is there a character you are still hoping gets added to the roster?