Mad scientist Nathaniel Essex, who turned himself into the genetic freak known as Mister Sinister, was a thorn in the side of Marvel's merry band of mutants, the X-Men, for years. Whether in animation or on the comic page, he was the villain pulling strings from the shadows. Even from a distance, he made the lives of Morph, Charles Xavier, and primarily Jean Grey and Cyclops hell—earning him a deadly reputation as a master manipulator.
For those of us who grew up with the original X-Men animated series on Fox Kids, he was in the same class as Magneto, Apocalypse, and arguably even Thanos, if we are talking about the broader Marvel Universe. However, once the 20th Century Fox and Bryan Singer continuity took over, something strange—and truly sinister—happened. Essex took a backseat for years while the studio was more obsessed with their revamped Colonel William Stryker and his part in Wolverine's new origin.
His name came up here and there before Disney took over, but just as the teases peaked for a payoff scheduled for the unmade Gambit film and later The New Mutants, everything stalled. A live-action Sinister with all his twisted machinations was not to be. Fortunately, enough time has passed for hindsight to be 20/20, and Marvel may make it a priority to rectify this glaring, outrageous omission.
Word from the web is they have Sinister in their plans and are actively scouting actors to play him. Scooper MyTimeToShineHello, who has developed quite the track record over the years, indicates this intel—though it can only be considered a rumor at this stage—holds water. Not only that, but MTTSH claims Marvel and director Jake Schreier have narrowed their search down to a "top choice."
That choice is said to be Brazilian actor Wagner Moura, who has admittedly had an accomplished career up to this point. He made a splash playing Pablo Escobar in two iterations of the series Narcos. And in the past few years, he was part of the Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Alex Garland's dystopian thriller Civil War with Kirsten Dunst. Still, Moura hasn't quite crossed over into the major stardom superhero cinema affords.
Javier Bardem is also allegedly in the running to play the mutant eugenicist and might be a more natural fit given his coveted status in the industry. Then again, the casting of Christopher Reeve as Superman made casting unknowns for capes and bad guys the norm. Later on, Michael Keaton playing Batman and Robert Downey Jr. playing Iron Man solidified the idea that the actor you'd least suspect is the ideal candidate for translating a comic character to the screen.
Sinister's best translation (voiced by Chris Britton) recently returned as one of the main villains in X-Men '97, now in its second season on Disney+.
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