A new report finally revealed when Sadie Sink's Avengers: Secret Wars MCU follow-up will start filming, almost two years before its 2028 release. Marvel Studios just took its first dive into the X-Men mythos in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, when Stranger Things star Sadie Sink starred as Jean Grey, setting up her starring role in the upcoming Phase 7 reboot movie. After Brand New Day left the telepathic mutant isolated and alone, she will soon meet a host of friends and allies, including her future husband, Kit Conner's Cyclops.
According to a Deadline report covering Sadie Sink's talks to join a new A24 project, The Guest, her upcoming X-Men reboot is expected to begin production "at the top of the year." Launching into production in early 2027 will ensure that filming on X-Men is complete over the summer, almost a year before the May 5, 2028, release, allowing plenty of time for post-production.
Pre-production is believed to be well underway under Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier, but X-Men still has more milestones to cross before filming, including casting several more pupils for Charles Xavier's School of Gifted Youngsters.
For one, X-Men is still in need of its Hank McCoy, aka Beast, after Beef star Charles Melton reportedly exited talks. There's also the matter of Iceman himself, Bobby Drake, who is expected to be the latest gay superhero to join the MCU, completing Xavier's First Class, although no actors have been reliably reported.
Marvel Studios may also be searching for a Gambit, Mystique, and Magneto, especially after Adam Driver turned out to be playing Mr. Sinister, not the Master of Magnetism as was originally rumored. Then again, the studio may be saving those characters for a sequel to avoid jam-packing the initial X-Men roster.
Scooper Daniel Richtman also reported that Marvel Studios is casting three more major roles for X-Men: a female character with a "small part" who will step up to a "larger role in the sequel," a male character who will be "either Native American or Latino," and an "Asian female supporting role."
The first female part is likely Moira MacTaggert, a geneticist and expert in mutant affairs, who, according to Knight Edge Media's Caleb Williams, has a "tiny part." The jury is still out on who the "male POC role" may be, but the leading theories for X-Men's Asian female character are either Psylocke or Jubilee.
If X-Men begins filming at "the top" of 2027, as reported, Marvel Studios should have enough footage to unveil the first look on Saturday, July 25, in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, while it also hypes up Avengers: Secret Wars. That said, any footage revealed at the panel will likely be exclusive to attendees, with the public trailer released later in the year, perhaps even after Secret Wars' credits.
The news that X-Men will start filming in early 2027 is bound to throw cold water on the rumors that Sink's Jean Grey will have a "major role" in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is expected to return to set in January. Granted, both productions will take place in the U.K., so the Stranger Things alum could bounce between them, but there probably won't be room to play any sizable role in Avengers 6.
What to Expect From Marvel Studios' X-Men Reboot Story
Beef writer Lee Sung Jin penned the latest draft of X-Men with The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo, and Jin teased his comic inspirations to Collider. The scribe hinted that he has been "digging into so many of the old comics and the entire [Chris Claremont] run" to find something that "feels new and different."
Claremont's historic 16-year tenure on the mutant mythos is renowned for iconic stories like "The Dark Phoenix Saga," "Days of Future Past," and "God Loves, Man Kills," but also for defining the modern soap opera-esque X-Men. The era has inspired mutant projects like X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97, giving the MCU flick a chance to feel like the acclaimed shows come to life.
Last December, a report from The Cosmic Circus accurately revealed that Severance star Tramell Tillman would play the head of Damage Control in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and take an interest in Sadie Sink's mutant character. That article claimed that the MCU will lean into anti-mutant sentiment from the public and the government, leading to Bolivar Trask, William Stryker, and the Sentinels.
The MCU's X-Men reboot is likely to blend character drama between the mutants, growing anti-mutant sentiment around the world, government schemes and agendas, and Mr. Sinister's own mysterious plots. Marvel Studios may also be eager to avoid its past mistakes of failing to set up the saga's big bad from the get-go by teasing Apocalypse from the very first X-Men movie, with or without an actor.
