Cyclops, as any Marvel fan knows, gets no respect. Still, the casting rumors for X-Men: Apocalypse are a kick right to the ol’ non-blasting cyclops for the guy, as celebrities line up to play Jean Grey and he’s being filled by the first convenient actor.
As gathered by The Wrap, Fox is aiming high for Jean Grey. They sort of have to: Part of X-Men: Days Of Future Past was essentially giving the whole franchise a good hard continuity wipe. Nothing from the first five films or so in the series actually happened. Plus, they’re in the ’80s, so realistically you can’t have Famke Janssen running around trying to pass herself off as sixteen.
So the casting for Jean is rather intense; Chole Grace Moretz, Hailee Steinfeld, and Elle Fanning are all up for the role. The fact that they’re going for young actresses with rather large piles of awards instead of whoever’s hot right now would seem to be a hint they’re maybe going to try and do Dark Phoenix right this time. It’s especially interesting because it’s definitely built with an eye towards future movies; X-Men: Apocalypse will largely center around Magneto and Mystique’s relationship. We know, it’s hard to believe Fox isn’t dragging Wolverine back into the fray, but we’re sure he’ll turn up somewhere.
As for Cyclops, apparently they’re just casting that kid from Interstellar, Timothée Chalamet, to get it out of the way, because meh, whatever. It’s Cyclops. Nobody cares about Cyclops. They had to make him a dumbass who cheats on his telepathic wife, telepathically, with another telepath to get anybody to care what he was up to. Cast a potato, put a visor on it, we’re good.
It’s likely we’ll find out who’s cast soon: The movie begins production next spring. Personally, we’re pulling for Steinfeld. After all, it’s just not an X-Men movie without a precocious Oscar-nominated actress in a major role.