The superhero genre has been dominating the entertainment industry for years now, thanks to various cinematic universes that are competing at the box office. As a result, a number of actors have appeared in multiple franchises. A wild MCU rumor claims Dwayne Johnson might play an iconic X-Men villain, and I'm honestly into this casting.
Fans have spent years watching the Marvel movies in order, and have not-so-patiently waited for the X-Men to finally join in on the fun. It's unclear when that team will appear in an upcoming Marvel movie, which has led to a number of rumors. And a new one shared by CBM claims that The Rock might be playing Apocalypse in the shared universe.
While we should take this with a grain of salt for the time being, the timing of this possible casting does make sense. The MCU has been slowly introducing X-Men lore, including The Marvels' credit scene and (of course) Deadpool & Wolverine. And if the team of mutants is finally appearing, they're going to need a big villain to battle.
It also might make sense for Dwayne Johnson to sign on as a Marvel antagonist given the box office flop of Black Adam. And with him no longer playing the role in the new DCU, his schedule might be free to pivot from DC to Marvel. And he'd no doubt look badass suited up as the cosmic villain.
Fans of the superhero genre will know that The Rock's rumored character was adapted in live-action once before: as the title character/villain of X-Men: Apocalypse (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). Star Wars fan favorite Oscar Isaac played the role, although he admitted it was a miserable experience filming with his heavy costume. And in the end, he would only have one appearance in the X-Men franchise as a whole.
It should be fascinating to see what creative decisions the MCU ultimately lands on for its version of the X-Men. Most fans assumed that the first villain would be Magneto, so utilizing Apocalypse would be a surprise. We'll just have to wait and see what the studio has up its sleeve, and if this Johnson rumor comes to fruition.
What is clear is that the X-Men are coming to the shared universe... eventually. The ending of Ms. Marvel teased that Kamala was actually a mutant, and we saw mutant characters in Doctor Strange 2 and The Marvels. And given the wild popularity of the animated series X-Men '97, it seems like now is a great time to bring that team of heroes into live-action for the MCU.
The next Marvel movie hitting theaters is Deadpool & Wolverine on July 26th. In the meantime, check out the 2024 movie release dates.
