X-Men: Why Adam Driver Accepted This Role After Turning Down Others
· BCPosted in: Marvel, Marvel Studios, Movies, TV | Tagged:
X-Men: Why Adam Driver Accepted This Role After Turning Down Others
Adam Driver is joining the Marvel universe as Mister Sinister in the upcoming X-Men film, and he's revealed why this was the project he said "yes" to.
Published Sat, 07 Nov 2026 14:16:09 -0600
by Kaitlyn Booth
|
Comments
Article Summary
- Adam Driver says his X-Men fandom is a major reason he accepted the role of Mister Sinister after passing on Marvel.
- Driver also pointed to X-Men director Jake Schreier, Kevin Feige, and a strong script as key reasons he joined.
- The X-Men movie has been in the works since 2023, with Schreier officially confirmed to direct in May 2025.
- Kevin Feige has framed X-Men as a major post-Secret Wars reset point, with the film set to open on May 5, 2028.
Once Star Wars wrapped up, it was only a matter of time before people started asking all of the actors involved when and if they were going to make the jump from a galaxy far, far away to one with a few more superheroes. It happened, of course, with Oscar Isaac being a notable one in the (underrated and underappreciated) Moon Knight series, but Adam Driver's Kylo Ren really resonated with a certain subset of fans, and not tapping into that would have been a stupid move on Marvel's part. However, every time that Driver's name would pop up in the rounds as a possible cast member for a Marvel movie, it never happened. It seemed like he wasn't interested in jumping into another big franchise film series, which is totally understandable. That's why it was so surprising when Driver was confirmed that he would be playing Mister Sinister in the upcoming X-Men movie this August. Driver is doing the rounds for awards season, but he did speak about joining the MCU while on Jimmy Kimmel Live (via Deadline) and why he chose this role after reportedly turning down so many.
"I was a big X-Men fan when I was a kid," Driver explained. "Me and my cousin, Tony, he would be Sabretooth, and I would be Wolverine. It's a big deal. … I was a big fan. I mean, I was a fan of the other things too. But this one felt like a right time, and then it's X-Men."
That appears to be a tacit confirmation that Kevin Feige was pitching roles to Driver and he was turning them down, which is interesting. It wasn't just being a fan that brought Driver to the X-Men, but he also specifically cited director Jake Schreier, saying, "It was really X-Men and Jake Schreier, who's the director, his idea for it, and that it's Kevin Feige. You know, it all kind of came together. The script is really cool." It's always good when someone cites the script specifically as what drew them to this project… because it means there was a script for Marvel to hand them, and thus one was complete. YAY (the bar is in hell).
What Do X-Men Look Like In A Post-Doomsday And Secret Wars MCU?
The mutants have been lurking on the edges of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a while now, but it wasn't until September 2023 that we got official confirmation that an X-Men movie was in the works. It took another two years before a director was officially announced. In May 2025, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier was officially announced and confirmed to direct the film. Schreier explained, "I can't say anything about it, but we've started work on X-Men, and that's obviously very, very exciting. There are so many things that I didn't know about before I started [Thunderbolts*]. The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it's more shooting days than I've ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, 'Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.'"
In the middle of July 2025, Kevin Feige spoke briefly about the X-Men, specifically about how they will be recast post-Avengers: Secret. Feige explained, "Reboot is a scary word. Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline — we're thinking along those lines. … 'X-Men' is where that will happen next." The X-Men made their official debut in Spider-Man: Brand New Day with Sadie Sink as Jean Grey. Other members of the cast were later confirmed at D23 in August 2026, including Maya Boyd as Storm, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Kit Connor as Cyclops, and Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister. X-Men will be released in theaters on May 5, 2028.
Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!