Obsession's breakout star Inde Navarrette has reportedly found her place in the MCU family as part of the upcoming X-Men reboot movie. Even amongst a year of major Hollywood blockbusters, the box office shocker has been Obsession, a low budget horror starring Inde Navarrette as Nikki Freeman and Michael Johnston as Bear. Johnston recently boarded the Marvel universe as a young Cable Summers in X-Men '97 Season 2 and many are eager to see Navarrette is anything and everything after her standout performance in Obsession.
According to a post on X from Marvel Comics writer and Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, Inde Navarrette is "absolutely on board" for the MCU's X-Men reboot and speculated that fans will "find out next week" at D23 Expo:
"Heard today that Inde is absolutely on board with X-Men. Guess we will find out next week. Good luck and have fun."
Hollywood's newest Scream Queen recently confirmed that she had met with X-Men director Jake Schreier since Obsession's release. The actress revealed that she was a massive fan of the filmmaker's work on Thunderbolts* and would be eager to join his Phase 7 mutant-centric MCU movie.
When asked by Variety's Up Next podcast who she would want to play in the Marvel universe, Navarrette stated, "Mystique has always been super cool." The shape-shifting blue mutant was previously played by Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence, the former of whom will reprise Mystique this December in Avengers: Doomsday alongside several of her Fox X-Men colleagues.
It should be noted that Navarrette also told Up Next that she has been "taking a lot of meetings" since Obsession, which has made her one of Hollywood's most in-demand actresses. As such, her meeting with Schreier was never a guarantee that she was in serious talks for the MCU blockbuster, even if it landing at the same time as X-Men casting heating up seems a little too perfect.
Is Inde Navarrette's MCU Casting Actually About to Be Announced?
It's not a surprise that Marvel Studios was eager to find Inde Navarette a place in the MCU, especially in the centerpiece project of its Phase 7 slate. The actress isn't a stranger to the superhero genre, as she appeared in all four seasons of Superman & Lois as Jordan Kent's love interest before her rise to stardom.
Many have fan-casted the Obsession star as Kitty Pryde, aka the phasing Shadow Cat, but it's tough to imagine her appearing in the first chapter of the Mutant Saga. The life-force absorbing Rogue may also be a contender for Navarette, although rumors have claimed that Alien: Romulus' Cailee Spaeny has secured that role.
That leaves Mystique as the clear choice for Navarette, not just because she wants to play the mutant shape-shifter, but because she proved in Obsession that she has the range to play such a complex character. If the 25-year-old actress secured her dream X-Men character, Navarette could become one of the movie's pseudo-antagonists and a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants.
Marvel Studios seems eager to lock down much of its X-Men cast before Disney's D23 Expo gets underway imminently on Friday, August 14. After Spider-Man: Brand New Day introduced Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, the studio has reportedly locked down Kit Connor (Heartstopper) for Cyclops and Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) for Emma Frost, with more castings expected to become clear at D23.
The likes of Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Mystique, Rogue, and Mister Sinister could conceivably be unveiled at D23, and Navarette coming on board could be the exact showstopper that Marvel Studios needs to hype up its X-Men.
