Spider-Man: Brand New Day has put months of speculation to rest, confirming that Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is playing Jean Grey in the MCU. Marvel and the film's team had repeatedly denied the casting rumors in interviews, only for the film itself to confirm them upon release. The R-rated movie marked the first major MCU project centered on mutants, arriving as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is considered too old to factor into the franchise's new X-Men lineup.
In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Jean Grey spends most of the story as a villain before her arc shifts toward a different path by the film's end, with her powers and tragic backstory brought to the screen for the first time in live action. The film is set four years after No Way Home, with Peter Parker living alone, forgotten by everyone he once knew, and fully devoted to his life as Spider-Man.
Before the casting was confirmed, Deadline had reported that Sink would reprise the role of Jean Grey in 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars, where she could potentially cross paths with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
The X-Men Cast
At D23, where ScreenRant was in attendance, Marvel Studios officially unveiled the cast for its upcoming MCU X-Men movie, confirming Sink's Jean Grey will be joined by:
- Kit Connor as Cyclops
- Samara Weaving as Emma Frost
- Inde Navarrette as Rogue
- Maya Boyd as Storm
- Christopher Abbott as Charles Xavier
- Adam Driver as Mister Sinister
The MCU's X-Men reboot is scheduled for release on May 5, 2028. With this announcement, Sink is set to portray Jean Grey across three major MCU releases in consecutive years, cementing her as the live-action face of Marvel's mutants.
Marvel's Wolverine Game
Fans won't have to wait for the 2028 film to see a new Jean Grey in action. Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine, releasing September 15, will feature Jean Grey played by Krizia Bajos, with the game's story set before the X-Men team has formed in its universe. Liam McIntyre, known for Spartacus, plays Wolverine, billed as the game's sole playable character, though he won't be alone — trailers have confirmed appearances from Mystique, Sabretooth, Mister Sinister, Omega Red and other X-Men franchise characters. Jean Grey stands out as the biggest additional character revealed so far, and she will team up with Wolverine during the game, in a narrative that connects to Sink's portrayal of the character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Photo: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
