• Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Looter Love
The Daily Crate
  • <<< BACK TO LOOTCRATE.COM
The Daily Crate
  • Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Looter Love
Friday Five: Revisiting The Almost X-Men
(Marvel/20th Century Fox)
Home
Friday Five

Friday Five: Revisiting The Almost X-Men

June 7th, 2019 Nicole Campos Friday Five, Lists & Things

This weekend, Dark Phoenix arrives in theatres as the twelfth installment in Fox’s X-Men movie franchise, which has now spanned nearly two decades. And probably five times as many cast members along the way!

Now that Disney has acquired 20th Century Fox, the waiting game begins to see how Marvel will move forward with the X-Men on the big screen and beyond; most folks presume that Dark Phoenix will be the last in the current run of films that started in 2000 with X-Men, a film that basically kick-started the comic book adaptation juggernaut that continues to this day. So chances are pretty good that we may see a whole new cast of actors take on these iconic superhero roles in future movies in the MCU, but it’s been a pretty incredible roster to date – including of course, many characters like Professor X, Magneto, Jean Grey and others who have been played by more than one performer. Then of course, there have been all the casting rumors and near-misses that are typical of big blockbuster films that are in development for so long… are you up on your X-Men trivia of actors who were up for roles at one point or another? Let’s use today’s Friday Five to find out!

 

Angela Bassett as Storm

The legendary Oscar nominee was allegedly on the radar for the role of Ororo Munroe as early as the 90’s, when for a while James Cameron was toying with the idea of making an X-Men film. She remained the top choice of the filmmakers for the eventual 2000 picture, though according to screenwriter David Hayter the actresses’ agents fought for a salary that unfortunately the production couldn’t afford. (Remember, X-Men was a big gamble at the time; the last big comic book flick that preceded it was the universally panned Batman & Robin.) Bassett passed, clearing the way for Halle Berry to take the role.

 

 

Jim Caviezel as Cyclops

James Marsden has such a superb superhero-ready chiseled jaw that it’s hard now not to see him behind the visor of Scott Summers, but he wasn’t the original choice for the role either. Back when X-Men was in production, Jim Caviezel – who had launched from obscurity a few years earlier in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line – had the inside track to play Cyclops. Thing is, Caviezel was already committed to the sci-fi drama Frequency with Dennis Quaid, and the production schedule wouldn’t allow him to do both films.

 

 

 

 

Kate Winslet as Rogue

One of the biggest diversions from the comic book sources that the original X-Men film took was with the character of Rogue, who is much younger in the film (closer to Kitty Pryde’s age) than she is in the books. Initially, her film counterpart would have been too, and fresh-off-the-success-of-Titanic Kate Winslet was offered the part. She turned it down, and several actresses – including, after they’d already made Rogue younger in the script, Rachel Leigh Cook – circled the part before Oscar-winner Anna Paquin was cast.

 

 

 

 

Josh Holloway as Gambit

We know, right… this one would have been so good! During the height of Lost mania, everyone’s favorite Southern bad boy Sawyer was apparently cast for a brief time as Remy LeBeau in X-Men: The Last Stand, but the filmmakers ended up cutting Gambit’s role altogether. (Probably for the best, given how hectic and crowded that film ended up being.) Taylor Kitsch would go on to do that one scene in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and we’re still waiting for the  proposed Channing Tatum Gambit to actually be a thing that’s happening.

 

 

 

 

Dougray Scott as Wolverine

Probably no X-Men character has had as storied a casting history as Wolverine, going back to that Jim Cameron version that might have cast Bob Hoskins in the role (I mean, he does resemble short comics Wolverine!) Once the 2000 film was in development, yet more actors were rumored including Russell Crowe… but it was Scottish actor Dougray Scott who actually won the role. He was Wolverine, for a brief spell… and then it fell right out from under him when he was seriously injured on the set of Mission Impossible 2. A true bummer for Scott, but in retrospect a gift for the rest of us who would soon find out just how amazing an Australian unknown by the name of Hugh Jackman was…



 

  • Tags
  • actors
  • angela bassett
  • casting
  • dougray scott
  • fox
  • friday five
  • jim caviezel
  • josh holloway
  • kate winslet
  • loot crate
  • movies
  • nicole campos
  • x-men

SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn
Next article E3 2019: The EA and Microsoft Weekend Hype Train in Trailers!
Previous article Gaming: The Pre-E3 Hype is REAL!

Nicole Campos

Nicole is the lead community manager at Loot Crate, and a member of the social media team since 2014. Her interests include (but are not limited to) science fiction, British comedy, ass-kicking female superheroes, mid century modern design, awesomely bad movies, 80's ska, Matt Murdock (♥), Battlestar Galactica '03 (The one true show!), all the tea in the world, and Sriracha on everything. (Except maybe ice cream. But if you can make a compelling argument, she'll listen...)

Related Posts

Hasn't Marvel Seen You Before? Actors in Multiple Roles Comics
August 9th, 2019

Hasn't Marvel Seen You Before? Actors in Multiple Roles

Friday Five: 5 of the Catchiest Saturday Morning PSA's from the 80's! Friday Five
August 9th, 2019

Friday Five: 5 of the Catchiest Saturday Morning PSA's from the 80's!

Gaming: My Favorite Cuphead Boss Battles! Gaming
August 8th, 2019

Gaming: My Favorite Cuphead Boss Battles!

Related Posts

Aug 9th, 2019

Hasn’t Marvel Seen You Before? Actors in Multiple Roles

Aug 9th, 2019

Friday Five: 5 of the Catchiest Saturday Morning PSA’s from the 80’s!

Aug 8th, 2019

Gaming: My Favorite Cuphead Boss Battles!

Aug 6th, 2019

Video Vault: INSIDER’s How Pixar Animation Has Evolved Over 24 Years!

Aug 6th, 2019

Tuesday Trivia: Do YOU Know These The Legend of Zelda Facts?!

Recent Posts

CRUNCHYROLL CRATE: What's The Deal with "So I'm A Spider, So What?"

CRUNCHYROLL CRATE: What's The Deal with "So I'm A Spider, So What?"

Jan 21st, 2021
THEME REVEAL: Let Out A Howl For Loot Fright and Loot Sci-Fi's Newest Themes

THEME REVEAL: Let Out A Howl For Loot Fright and Loot Sci-Fi's Newest Themes

Jan 21st, 2021
GAMING: FlyLoFM & Chill - A GTA V Inspired Playlist

GAMING: FlyLoFM & Chill - A GTA V Inspired Playlist

Jan 20th, 2021
THEME REVEAL: Get LOVESICK With Loot Crate, Loot Crate DX, Loot Wear

THEME REVEAL: Get LOVESICK With Loot Crate, Loot Crate DX, Loot Wear

Jan 20th, 2021
Top 5 Greatest Spider-Man Movie Moments

Top 5 Greatest Spider-Man Movie Moments

Jan 19th, 2021
January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    
  • Home
  • Behind the Crate
  • Exclusives
  • Features
  • Lists & Things
  • Looter Love
  • Back to top
© Loot Crate. All rights reserved.
Brought to you by the illustrious TDC staff with all the love they can muster.