Longtime Marvel fans squeed with delight seeing some of the most iconic Fox-era X-Men return in the Avengers: Doomsday teaser. But the loudest squeal came when fans saw Cyclops (James Marsden) in his classic costume from the comics at last. But as excited as we all are for that, some notable names from the team are missing. Both Famke Janssen (Jean Grey) and Halle Berry (Storm) have denied involvement. But one person who knows a thing or two about Marvel’s mutants, writer Chris Claremont, says that not only is Famke back, but so are other classic X-Men. Claremont shared this information while appearing on the Power of X-Men podcast, via IGN. Here’s what he had to say:
The thing I find most wonderful about it is they’re bringing back… the original cast, including Famke
For those of you unaware, Chris Claremont is the man largely responsible for the X-Men’s success. He wrote the Uncanny X-Men for 16 years, from 1975 to 1991, when the new X-Men #1 launched. Under his watch, the characters became Marvel’s biggest sellers. So he has acted as a consultant on X-Men movies before. He even had a cameo in Days of Future Past, a film based on one of his most iconic stories. So, it’s not an out-there notion that he would know some things about what’s going on with the MCU X-Men. Or, it’s possible he just got his wires crossed. But we choose to believe.
On a different podcast a year ago, Claremont spilled the beans on Chris Evans returning as the younger Steve Rogers, which turned out to be accurate. Did Marvel Studios forget to make Claremont sign an NDA, or does he just not care? Who knows. In any event, it seems the Avengers: Doomsday cast of X-Men will be far more stacked than previously believed. And since it looks like classic Sentinels will be fighting the team in the film? Then they’ll need every able-bodied mutant they can get.