Last year, a rumor did the rounds that Marvel Studios was eyeing Wicked star Cynthia Erivo for the role of Storm in the long-awaited X-Men reboot. The initial report didn't gain that much traction, but The Hot Mic's Jeff Sneider later said he'd heard that there was "actual interest" in enlisting the actress to play the weather-manipulating mutant.
Since then, we've heard that Marvel was planning to assemble a relatively young cast for this next generation of X-Men (assuming Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, this would seem to be the case), so it was generally assumed that the Erivo (39) rumor was not accurate or that she was no longer in contention.
Now, scooper MTTSH is claiming that Erivo is "still being considered" to play Ororo Munroe.
There's nothing to say that at least a couple of members of the team couldn't take on more of a mentor/teacher role, of course, although we have also heard that the core lineup will consist of the OG mutant heroes from the comics (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, and Iceman).
Erivo was asked if there's a "dream role" she'd like to manifest during a 2025 interview.
"I really want to play Storm," she responded. "I know it sounds frivolous, but I think we haven't uncovered how grand she is and all of that inner turmoil that she has, so I think there's a world where we could do something like that."
Erivo would widely be considered a casting coup for Marvel, though it wouldn't necessarily be accurate to say that she'd be a "fan-favorite" choice.
Director Jake Schreier recently revealed that his Thunderbolts* scribes Sonny Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear) had come aboard the MCU reboot to write a new draft of Michael Lesslie's script, and the former confirmed his involvement while also revealing two of his favorite characters last month.
"Well, it's X-Men. It's something I grew up with. I have fond memories of my father and me waking up on Saturday mornings to watch the X-Men cartoon. I read the comics," said Sung Jin during an interview with Variety. "So when he comes calling about that, no matter how much you've got going on."
"I love Gambit. I also love a lot of the side characters. I love Jubilee. Everyone goes for Cyclops and Wolverine, but for me growing up, I always loved the supporting members," he added.
While this shouldn't be taken as any kind of confirmation that Gambit or Jubilee will be part of the rebooted team, it could suggest that there will be more of a focus on certain characters that have been underutilised in the past.
Schreier was even more tight-lipped, declining to even mention his favourite mutants for fear of giving something away.
"I’ve worked with Sonny [Lee] and Joanna on so many things,” he said. “Anytime you can work with people that you care so deeply about and who are so talented at their craft, and you have made something together where you have a shorthand, if you can keep going with that, it always seems like a good thing to do.”