Marvel Confirms Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Races to Cast X-Men Before D23

Q: With Sadie Sink confirmed as Jean Grey, which rumored A-lister will officially join the MCU's X-Men reboot at D23?

There is no official answer yet, but the strongest reported candidate to be formally announced at D23 is **Samara Weaving as Emma Frost**. That is the clearest name emerging from the reporting. Multiple accounts describe Weaving as Marvel’s top choice, and Deadline-style coverage says Jake Schreier and Kevin Feige narrowed the search and landed on her after testing several candidates. Among all the rumored castings, hers appears to have the most momentum and the strongest sourcing. Other notable names remain less settled. **Cailee Spaeny** is widely described as the current frontrunner for Rogue, while **Adam Driver** is still only rumored, most often for **Mister Sinister**, though reports around him remain less firm and complicated by his history of passing on Marvel roles. Cyclops, Professor X, Beast, and Mystique also appear to still be in flux. So if the question is which rumored A-lister is most likely to “officially join” the reboot at D23 based on the available reporting, **Samara Weaving is the safest answer**. That said, Marvel has only officially confirmed **Sadie Sink as Jean Grey**, and any D23 reveal remains unconfirmed until the studio announces it.

2 articles · Updated · Forbes · Aug 3

Sadie Sink was confirmed as Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where the character emerges as a young mutant whose powers spiral and who leaves for upstate New York by the film’s end.
Marvel is now moving quickly to fill more X-Men roles ahead of D23 later this month, with several characters reportedly being lined up for appearances in Secret Wars.
Samara Weaving is reportedly the leading pick for Emma Frost, while Cailee Spaeny has emerged as the frontrunner for Rogue after earlier chatter around Odessa A’zion.
Drew Starkey and Cooper Hoffman are linked to Cyclops, Charles Melton to Beast, and Bill Skarsgard or Tom Pelphrey to Professor X, though none of those castings are confirmed.
Jake Schreier is attached to direct the standalone X-Men film, making Sink’s reveal the clearest sign yet that Marvel has begun its next mutant-focused MCU phase.