MCU Reportedly Considering a Stranger Things Actress for Jean Grey After Sophie Turner’s Infamous X-Men Stint

Based on the Marvel Comics superhero team, X-Men is a superhero film series produced by 20th Century Fox, for which they obtained the rights in 1994. The film series includes X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand. The prequel series to the original trilogy included X-Men: First Class, followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix.

The rights to X-Men were shifted back to Marvel following Disney’s acquisition of Fox’s entertainment assets. There were rumors about MCU planning to reboot the X-Men film series, and a script was being developed; however, there was no update for a while. And now an industry insider has shared a massive and positive development regarding the MCU’s X-Men reboot.

Reports claim MCU is eyeing Sadie Sink for the X-Men reboot

According to reports by industry insider Jeff Sneider, Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink has emerged as a front-runner for the role of Jean Grey in the MCU’s reboot of X-Men.

Sneider had also appeared on The John Rocha Show, where he revealed that one of his most loyal sources had told him that the studios have been eyeing Sadie Sink. He explained that with Stranger Things getting over, Sink’s schedule is almost free next year, and with the popularity the show has, the actors on the show will be at the top of their game at the time, and Marvel is somewhat inclined towards that. He also added,

I think she’s a talented actress and someone who Marvel probably is down to be committed to for a long time. She’s been largely confined to Netflix. She was in The Whale, but if you’re here, you’d try to, you know, want to establish a presence on the big screen, right?

During the conversation, Sneider also noted that, according to him, the Russo Brothers are casting for Doomsday and probably Secret Wars. He added that it shouldn’t shock people if some members of the X-Men appeared in Secret Wars. Sneider pointed out that he does not see the Russo Brothers directing the X-Men movie, but surely they’d have a say in who fits the character best.

John Rocha agreed to the choice by stating that the young actress has proved herself not only in terms of acting but also in music and her overall popularity. The two of them agreed that for Sadie Sink if Jean Grey happens, it’s going to be a powerful move for her in her career.

The hosts also mentioned that the studios are looking for young actors so that they can have them for multiple movies, and Sadie Sink seems like an apt choice. There has been no confirmation regarding the studios considering the actress for the part.

Sophie Turner says she would love to play Jean Grey again

Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner portrayed Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypse and mentioned in an interview with IGN that she was cast as the young Jean Grey due to her stint as Sansa Stark on GOT. She said,

I think maybe one of the reasons that they chose me for Jean is because they saw the dark side of Sansa. Maybe they’re thinking, ‘Oh, Phoenix, Jean Great. I see a lot of parallels in there.

The actress shared that Jean Grey struggles with her power and not being accepted in the human world and connected it to Sansa Stark by pointing out that she really wanted to be a princess/queen and live a normal life, and she doesn’t. Turner had mentioned that she wanted to bring something different to the character that was previously played by Famke Janssen in X-Men and X2.

I want to emulate Famke [Janssen] in a sense because she has to seem like Jean in the first two movies, but I’m also going to put my twist on her.

In her interview with Variety, she mentioned that they had the best time filming those movies and she would kill to go back. She noted that she’d always be down to go back to playing Jean Grey.

X-Men: Apocalypse received mixed reviews from the critics, but Sophie Turner reprised her role for 2019’s Dark Phoenix. The 2019 movie recounts the origin story of Jean Grey’s struggle with mental illness after a cosmic force enhances her psychic powers, which leads to her being unstable.

Dark Phoenix received negative remarks and was known as the biggest box office bomb of all time.

X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix are available to watch on Max, Disney+, and Apple TV.