According to a new report, Marvel Studios may be eyeing one of the stars of 2024's Twisters to play Jean Grey in its upcoming X-Men reboot. Several young big-name actors have already been swallowed into the MCU X-Men rumor machine, with names like Glen Powell, Sadie Sink, and Julia Butters all being reportedly attached to the project at one point or another. However, with Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier now seemingly circling the mutant-based movie event, the casting rumors will likely become more pervasive than ever.
Insider Jeff Sneider threw his hat into the Marvel Studios X-Men rumor mill once again, claiming he had heard Twisters actress Daisy Edgar-Jones was being looked at to play Jean Grey. Jones' name is new in the MCU mutant casting pool; however, she may be exactly what the franchise needs to differentiate itself from previous takes on the character on-screen.
Speaking on The Hot Mic Podcast, Sneider went through several casting rumors for the upcoming film, stopping on Jean Grey to say, "The name that stood out to me" for Jean Grey, from what his sources had told him, was "Daisy Edgar-Jones:"
"The name that stood out to me as far as like rumored names... this was the latest name for Jean Grey: Daisy Edgar-Jones."
Jones is best known for her work in TV and film on titles like BBC's Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing, and 2024's acclaimed environmental thriller Twisters.
The MCU X-Men movie has no currently known release date or public casting information but has been being worked on behind the scenes at Marvel Studios for some time. Previously, it was reported that Hunger Games writer Michael Lesslie was set to pen the script, with Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier being eyed to make the movie for Marvel.
Why Daisy Edgar-Jones Is the Perfect MCU Jean Grey
With names like Stranger Things' Sadie Sink (read more about the Sadie Sink X-Men rumors here) and now Daisy Edgar-Jones being thrown around for the MCU's Jean Grey, there is an obvious vision coming into the picture for what Marvel Studios aims to accomplish with its X-Men reboot.
It seems as though the MCU wants to go younger with its X-Men movie. Typically, Jean is one of the oldest members of the X-Men team, helping lead the super-powered squad along with Wolverine and Cyclops. So, one can assume that the actress playing her on-screen would also be on the older side of the cast.
Jones' age of only 26 could mean the dreams of a successful vision of a primarily teenage X-Men team on the big screen may finally be coming to fruition.
One has to remember that when most of the Fox X-Men characters were cast, they were well into their 30s by the time they made it into the Marvel universe. X-Men's Jean Grey actress Famke Janssen was 36 when she was cast to play the iconic comic book character in the 2000 Bryan Singer film.
Fans got a taste of what this young X-Men team could have looked like in some of the Fox X-Men reboot movies (e.g., Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix); however, those movies—maybe aside from Days of Future Past—never reached their full X-Men potential.
Casting a star like Twisters' Daisy Edgar-Jones could be the perfect way to realize Marvel Studios' dream of watching a young pool of X-Men age on-screen, giving them upwards of a decade of potential Mutant story runway with the same cast.
