Following a memorable turn in the otherwise forgettable Madame Web, Sydney Sweeney's name has frequently been linked to both Marvel and DC by fans. Power Girl is always a popular suggestion, as is Black Cat in a future Spider-Man movie.
There have been multiple rumours about Sweeney possibly joining the MCU, and while we'd recommend taking this one with a pinch of salt, she's now said to be on Marvel Studios' radar for the upcoming X-Men reboot.
According to insider @MyTimeToShineH, The Housemaid star is up for the role of Emma Frost. Now, we know what many of you are thinking: she's not English. Well, neither is the comic book version of Emma. In Grant Morrison's New X-Men run, it was revealed that her accent is an affectation, and all part of the persona she adopted as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club.
As a reminder, following a lengthy stint as a villain, Frost ran the Massachusetts Academy, a preparatory school that secretly housed young mutants trained for her own interests, the Hellions.
Later caught up in the destruction of Genosha, she turned over a new leaf and joined the X-Men...where she almost immediately started having an affair with Cyclops (who was still married to Jean Grey at the time).
Following Jean's then-latest death, Emma and Scott Summers embraced their romance and ran Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters together. They'd later drift apart, but Emma has remained at the forefront of X-Men storytelling both in the Krakoan Age and the current batch of monthly titles.
There's no denying that Sweeney looks the part, and at 28, she's the right age to take this character on a journey in the MCU that could also see her go from villain to hero. January Jones previously played Emma in 2011's X-Men: First Class.
Jake Schreier's X-Men reboot is still being written—by Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo—but it was rumoured a few days ago that Odessa A'Zion is being eyed for Rogue, with Peter Claffey wanted for Beast. At this stage in production, a great many actors are likely on Marvel's list.
Whether they'll agree to star is another matter, something we learned with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, when many names were said to be in contention, only for the frontrunners to be another group of actors altogether.
"Well, it's X-Men. It's something I grew up with," Sung Jin shared during a recent interview. "I have fond memories of my father and me waking up on Saturday mornings to watch the X-Men cartoon. I read the comics. 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," he added. "Everyone goes for Cyclops and Wolverine, but for me growing up, I always loved the supporting members."
X-Men doesn't have a release date, but is rumoured to begin shooting this year for a 2028 debut.