A major X-Men actor is doubling down on their feelings of appearing in the MCU and if they have advice for a successor!
One of the biggest buzzed-about parts of the MCU now is the status of the X-Men. For years, Marvel’s merry mutants were kept separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to the rights issues as Fox owned the property, building it into its own successful movie universe. That changed when Disney bought Fox in 2018 to give them access.
It’s been a tricky road figuring out how to use the characters with Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The upcoming Avengers: Doomsday is set to have several past X-Men actors return, such as Jackman, Stewart, Ian McKellan (Magneto), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), and James Marsden (Cyclops).
Conspicuously absent is Famke Janssen, who played Jean Grey in the first X-Men movie, its two sequels, and cameoed in The Wolverine and Days of Future Past. The powerful telepathic heroine went through a wild patch in the movies, including dying, being reborn as Dark Phoenix, being killed off, and then being brought back to life.
There has been buzz on the chances of Janssen returning to the role, and in an interview with Variety to promote her new Netflix drama Amsterdam Empire, the actress laughed at how people just don’t believe her claims she’s finished.
“And then when I say that, people don’t believe me. So I’m just gonna wait for the movie to come out and, you know, people can see for themselves.”
Some speculate Janssen does appear in Doomsday and just keeping her role quiet. The fact she seems open to a return adds to it.
“I’m always open to anything. I’m very open-minded, and I love my career and the trajectory that it’s taken over time. I’m grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way, including the X-Men movies, GoldenEye, the Taken franchise, all of them. It’s just been an amazing journey. So, it depends. It depends on the timing. It’s just a hypothetical question, because I don’t know that they would ever bring back my Jean Grey.”
Janssen raises a good point in how it’s tricky to understand how Jean could return. Granted, the character was established as alive again in Days of Future Past, and it’s speculated that Doomsday will involve alternate realities mixed together. Still, bringing Jean back for even a cameo amid the other X-Men seems a bit much.
Janssen was also pressed on a possible reboot of the X-Men franchise in the MCU. Sophie Turner had taken on the role of a younger Jean in Apocalypse and then the ill-fated Dark Phoenix movie that closed out the original X-Men movies.
When asked if she had any advice for the next Jean Grey actress, Janssen answered, “No. I’m excited to see who they’re getting next. I mean, Sophie Turner was amazing, and I’m sure the next person will be too. They’ve been so good at casting incredible actors and no one needs any tips from me. I’m looking forward to seeing who they cast.”
It does seem Janssen is putting her time with the X-Men behind her, as she’s grateful for the role but eager to take on new challenges. So while fans can hope somehow Jean Grey returns, it doesn’t sound like Janssen is eager to get back into this world.