Marvel's X-Men Reboot Casts A Kraven The Hunter Star As The New Professor X [D23]

Christopher Abbott, welcome to the MCU.

The mutants are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them — not that we’d want to, of course. Kevin Feige’s superhero franchise has been teasing this turn of events over the last few years, long considered an inevitability from the very moment Disney absorbed 20th Century Fox (now, 20th Century Studios) and acquired the rights to both the X-Men and Fantastic Four back in 2019. Thus far, the results of seeing (most of) Marvel’s characters under one roof again has remained strictly confined to all the previous characters popping up again through the magic of the multiverse, as we’ll soon see in “Avengers: Doomsday.”

But Feige has always kept several irons in the fire, which is why we’re now learning more and more about how, exactly, the studio intends to reboot the X-Men … and, specifically, who has now been cast as the new Charles Xavier. Prior speculation for Professor X pinpointed two main possibilities in “It” actor Bill Skarsgård and Tom Pelphrey (known for “Ozark” and “Mank”), but as revealed at D23, Christopher Abbott has secured the role. An intense character actor in a leading man’s body, Abbott is probably best known for his performances in Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi body horror film “Possessor,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ audacious “Poor Things,” and Blumhouse’s unsuccessful “Wolf Man” reboot. And yes, he once appeared in a non-MCU Marvel film when he showed up as an assassin named the Foreigner in Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter,” a movie everyone would probably rather forget.

He’ll join an X-Men team that’s rapidly filling up with recognizable talent. Casting reports and rumors have been flying around faster than the X-Jet lately, first with the secretive reveal in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” that Sadie Sink is indeed playing the mutant telepath Jean Grey. That was followed swiftly by the news of Samara Weaving being cast as our new Emma Frost and Kit Connor signing up to play Cyclops, adding even more star power into the mix. Now, at least we know who will be leading them.

The MCU has finally found the actor for one of its most powerful mutants in Charles Xavier, a figure of great renown in the pages of Marvel Comics and on the big screen. There’s no getting around the ideal casting of Patrick Stewart as the hero in the previous “X-Men” movies, which depicted him as a noble mentor and the leader of his School for Gifted Youngsters — a safe haven for mutant rejects, troublemakers, and loners outcast by society and with no other place to stay. Of course, Fox somehow made lightning strike twice by bringing on James McAvoy as a younger Charles in “X-Men: First Class,” giving us an origin story for his rivalry with the fearsome Magneto (Ian McKellen in the original trilogy of “X-Men” films, Michael Fassbender in Fox’s later movies). Now, Kevin Feige is hoping to prove that the third time will be the charm.

But what could make Professor X stand out this time around in the MCU? Judging by the casting for the X-Men already, Marvel appears to be going in a much younger direction than we’ve ever seen before. The need for a firm hand to help guide them on their way to adulthood, shield them from a world that won’t look upon them and their mutant powers as kindly as it did the Avengers, and stand up against some seriously powerful foes has never been more apparent. Will audiences accept the 40-year-old Abbott in that role, when Stewart was 60 the first time he suited up as Xavier? It’s too early to tell. And of course, we’ll have to wait and see who Feige finds to take up the helmet as our new Magneto … but that’s a story for another day.

For now, Marvel has its newest Charles Xavier, and we can’t wait to see him in action.