After earning the approval of comic book fans with her standout role in Superman & Lois, Inde Navarrette has become one of Hollywood's most in-demand stars thanks to Obsession (a role that's generating serious Oscar buzz for her).
After confirming that she'd met with X-Men director Jake Schreier and expressing interest in Mystique, Navarrette was announced as the MCU's Rogue at D23 last month. The news has been met with plenty of enthusiasm, and she's already working on her transformation into Anna Marie.
Rogue is known for a "Southern Belle" accent both in the comics and in X-Men: The Animated Series. Asked if she's studying any well-known Southern accents for inspiration, Navarrette confirmed she's drawing from real-life loved ones and the Mississippi accent, in particular.
"So, I've never told this publicly, I completely forgot, but I have a divorced family. I grew up in Texas for a good majority of my life," she revealed. "So, honestly, those Southern women are really my favorite. Corpus Christi is the city, specifically. So I just remember, you know, the old Southern women that I really, really love."
"But, specifically, Mississippi, Rogue is from Mississippi," Navarrette continued. "So, I'm really just — I want to go there. I really want to do her justice."
It's hard to ask for any more than that, and this is a role that Navarrette is clearly passionate about. There's a huge amount of potential with Rogue in the MCU, especially as her story could take the mutant to a place where she's leading a team of her own.
For Navarrette and the rest of the X-Men cast, these are roles they could inhabit for the next two decades. For proof of that, look no further than Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston; they were relative unknowns when they were cast in Thor, but they're now two A-listers still part of the MCU more than 15 years on.
Directed by Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*), the untitled X-Men movie stars Kit Connor (Heartstopper) as Scott Summers, Sadie Sink (Spider-Man: Brand New Day) as Jean Grey, Inde Navarrette (Obsession) as Rogue, Asa Germann (Gen V) as Angel, Maya Boyd (& Juliet) as Storm, and Christopher Abbott (Catch-22) as Professor Charles Xavier.
Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) also stars as Emma Frost, alongside Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), who plays Nathaniel Milbury, an alias of Mister Sinister in the comics. There are rumours that Marvel Studios will also introduce Apocalypse.
X-Men will be released exclusively in theaters May 5, 2028.