Several main cast members for Marvel Studios' long-awaited X-Men reboot were announced during D23 last month, including Maya Boyd as Storm.
Boyd, who had not been rumored for the role (most recently, we had heard that Poor Things actress Suzy Bemba was in contention), is a complete newcomer, having previously appeared only on stage. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along, and played the title role in & Juliet.
Maya, 23, earned her BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan, and was still finishing her senior year when her big Broadway break came.
The young actress has yet to participate in any interviews about her casting, but she has now taken to Instagram to share a photo of some of the comic books she's been reading in order to better familiarise herself with Ororo Munroe.
You can also check out some of Boyd's recent Insta posts along with some Boss Logic fan art.
The rest of the officially announced cast are: Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Adam Driver as Nathaniel Milbury (aka Mr. Sinister).
We are expecting a few more additions (Beast and Magneto, at the very least), but it's looking like the rumor that the core team will consist of the OG comic book crew (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Ice-Man, and Angel) may not have been accurate.
Director Jake Schreier said the following in a post-event interview with GMA.
“Digging into those comics like the Chris Claremont run and the newer Jonathan Hickman stuff. There are so many stories that are still untold.”
Sonny Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear) recently came aboard to write a new draft of Michael Lesslie's script.
Kevin Feige teased Marvel's plans for the X-Men shortly after SDCC.
"Acquiring the X-Men rights isn't just about... for example, Wolverine is an outstanding character, and we were able to team him up with Deadpool, which is great. But the X-Men are far more than just Wolverine, far more than the original team; fundamentally, it's a universe, a multi-stage saga. Much of that is what we're working towards."
"We’re constantly changing, constantly evolving, but having some guidance helps us act more purposefully, especially with X-Men—it’s already had 10 movies, some very, very good, some I think haven’t lived up to expectations—how do we plan the 'mutant saga' in a very grand way?"
"That being said, we have many more characters to explore in the future—the schedule is already booked until 2042, especially the X-Men," Feige added. "The X-Men have many unexplored characters from the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, which we're very eager to explore. That's why I'm excited about the X-Men: we can show the world different types of heroes."