It’s not easy being Jean. Despite having an entire film dedicated to her in each of Fox’s X-Men in the original Fox trilogy and in the alternate timeline reboot that followed X-Men: Days of Future Past, it is resoundingly safe to say that we still haven’t gotten a solid live-action version of Jean Grey. An Omega-level telepath whose true upper limit to her power remains undefined, Grey was never given proper agency in either iteration and was reduced to a supporting character in both of Fox’s efforts to tell a classic comic book story in which she is the main character. Watch X-Men: The Last Stand and ask yourself, if as Logan kills Jean, if you feel worse for her or him.
To be fair, the problem isn’t unique to the Fox films. Outside of Chris Claremont‘s time writing her, Jean hasn’t always been treated much better in the pages of Marvel Comics. The fact remains, however, that as one of the five original members of Charles Xavier’s X-Men, Jean Grey–codename Marvel Girl–has always been and should always remain an integral part of the team’s story and should be at the center of any efforts to tell it. And as Marvel Studios prepares to put its spin on the uncanny team of mutant heroes, a new report indicates that its version will not only include Jean but also that one name has risen to the top of a list to portray the MCU’s version.
According to Jeff “The In” Sneider, Stranger Things and The Whale star Sadie Sink has emerged as the front runner to portray Jean Grey in the MCU.
Though it may seem a touch early for the studio to be on the lookout for one of the stars of their X-Men reboot, Sneider provided some additional context about Sink’s potential involvement. Despite Marvel Studios’ X-Men film still being in the scripting stages and not expected to be released during the Multiverse Saga, Sneider’s sources believe that the studio is keen on casting the role of Jean Grey now to allow the character to appear in either or both of its next two Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Allowing important characters to debut in other properties before taking center stage in their own is a tactic Marvel Studios has employed to some success in the past. Both Black Panther and Spider-Man debuted in Captain America: Civil War ahead of starring in their own projects. Making the rumor more believable is that both Doomsday and Secret Wars are being directed by Joe and Anthony Russo who directed Civil War and who have, in the past, expressed a desire to be involved with the MCU’s X-Men. It could all be a coincidence, of course, and being a frontrunner is much different than being cast; however, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see more mutants than just Jean–and more mutants than just the ones the studio plans to move forward with in the future–before the Multiverse Saga comes to a close.
Source: Hot Mic Podcast
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