Sadie Sink’s casting in Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man 4 has caused some confusion, given recent reports she could be cast as Jean Grey in the MCU, but it would actually make a lot of sense to debut the iconic X-Men member alongside Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Known for her roles in Stranger Things and The Whale, Sadie Sink is one of the industry’s most exciting up-and-coming actors, so her casting in the MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man 4 is very exciting. This casting news has spurred huge speculation about who Sink could be playing in the MCU.
Sadie Sink was reported to have joined Spider-Man 4 by Deadline on March 12, though it hasn’t yet been confirmed who she’ll be portraying. Recent speculation has suggested Sink has the salt to play Gwen Stacy, Angel Jones’ Firestar, or even a more comic-accurate version of Mary Jane Watson. However, one possible casting choice for the O’Dessa star in the MCU stands out as the most likely and most inspired, and while there has been some confusion about how this notable Marvel mutant would fit into Spider-Man 4’s upcoming MCU story, we don’t think you need to worry.
Jean Grey Is My Favorite Choice For Spider-Man 4’s Sadie Sink In The MCU
Reports Suggest Sadie Sink Will Be The MCU’s Jean Grey
Back in December, a report from industry insider Jeff Sneider suggested that Sadie Sink was the frontrunner to play Jean Grey in the MCU. It seems wild to think that this report could be released and, only three months later, Sink is cast in the MCU, so it now appears incredibly likely that Sadie Sink will be our new Jean Grey. Her casting in Spider-Man 4 may have sealed the deal, so Sink could bring her remarkable dramatic acting skills and signature red hair to the role previously portrayed by Famke Janssen and Sophie Turner in Fox’s X-Men franchise.
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I Can’t Believe Marvel May Have Just Given Me My Ultimate Casting Choice For The MCU’s Jean Grey
Sadie Sink’s Spider-Man 4 casting news supports the fan theories about the Stranger Things star’s role in the MCU’s upcoming X-Men projects.
While it seems likely that Sadie Sink will be reinventing Jean Grey for the MCU, this possible casting has caused some confusion, as many aren’t clear about how Grey would fit into a Spider-Man-led story. Jean Grey and Peter Parker don’t really have direct connections in Marvel Comics, which could suggest Marvel might veer towards casting Sink as someone like Gwen Stacy or even a new Mary Jane. However, upon deeper inspection, it would actually make a lot of sense for Jean Grey to make her MCU debut alongside Peter Parker’s Spider-Man.
Spider-Man & Jean Grey Have Crossed Paths Many Times In Marvel Comics
Spider-Man Has Teamed Up With The X-Men On Many Occasions
While it might seem as though Jean Grey and Peter Parker have no connections that hint at the former appearing in the latter’s upcoming MCU movie, this isn’t the case at all. Spider-Man and the X-Men have crossed paths many times in Marvel Comics, dating all the way back to 1967’s X-Men #35, which saw the original X-Men team, comprising Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman and Jean Grey’s Marvel Girl, meet Spider-Man for the first time. This story actually saw the X-Men fight Spider-Man, mistakenly thinking the wall-crawler had abducted Professor X, but all was soon resolved.
Jean Grey was a founding member of the X-Men back in 1963’s The X-Men #1, and she has been featured prominently on the team since then, both as Marvel Girl and as the Phoenix.
Spider-Man and the X-Men fought alongside each other and against each other on numerous occasions since then. The X-Men were tasked to find Spider-Man when he was suspected to be a mutant, the X-Men helped Spider-Man deal with the threat of Kraven the Hunter, and Jean Grey even personally teamed up with Spider-Man in 1992 to save the rest of the X-Men. The fact that Spider-Man and Jean Grey – as part of the X-Men – have had so many adventures together in Marvel Comics means her inclusion in Spider-Man 4 wouldn’t be out of left-field.
MCU’s X-Men Can Piggy-Back Off Spider-Man’s Immense Success In The MCU
Spider-Man Is One Of The MCU’s Most Popular Heroes
It’s hard to tell how well audiences will take to a brand-new version of the X-Men team in the MCU, especially since Marvel Studios has come under some pretty intense (and often undue) criticism in recent years. Marvel could, however, guarantee viewership for the X-Men in the MCU by connecting the team’s members to some of the franchise’s most successful heroes, which means it could benefit Jean Grey to debut alongside Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in an upcoming Spider-Man movie. Several other MCU heroes have already seen this treatment.
MCU Spider-Man Movie | Director | Release Date | Box Office |
|---|---|---|---|
Spider-Man: Homecoming | Jon Watts | July 7, 2017 | $880.9 million |
Spider-Man: Far From Home | Jon Watts | July 2, 2019 | $1.133 billion |
Spider-Man: No Way Home | Jon Watts | December 17, 2021 | $1.953 billion |
Spider-Man 4 | Destin Daniel Cretton | July 31, 2026 | TBD |
The likes of Riri Williams’ Ironheart, Monica Rambeau’s Photon, Matt Murdock’s Daredevil and even Peter Parker’s Spider-Man himself have all piggy-backed off the success of more-established MCU heroes. Jean Grey and the X-Men could be the latest in a long line, should Sadie Sink bring this powerful hero to life in Spider-Man 4. Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man 4 is all but guaranteed to be a major success for the MCU, as it’s very highly anticipated, so bringing Jean Grey into the fray here will give Marvel a good opportunity to gauge how much interest there is in this revamped character.
Spider-Man’s MCU Debut Means It Would Be Great For Him To Soft-Launch The X-Men
Spider-Man Himself Debuted In Another Pre-Established MCU Hero’s Movie
Perhaps the most famous case of a major character being redesigned completely and introduced in another hero’s movie features Peter Parker himself, as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man made his MCU debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. Marvel wasn’t sure if viewers would warm to a completely new iteration of Spider-Man so soon after the end of Andrew Garfield’s career as the wall-crawler, so Civil War was the perfect place to bring him into the MCU. Jam-packed with MCU stars, the pseudo-Avengers movie made sure audiences saw and got to know Holland’s Spider-Man.
This made the transition into Spider-Man’s own MCU trilogy much smoother, and the same can now be done for Jean Grey in Spider-Man 4. She could debut alongside Peter Parker, while other members of the X-Men might appear in other upcoming projects, before they all come together in the MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot or other future MCU installments. This would be a great way to gradually set up the X-Men as individual heroes, rather than rushing them together as a team immediately in an X-Men movie, and this would also establish more MCU connections for Spider-Man.
How Marvel Can Make Jean Grey Make Sense In 2026’s Spider-Man 4
Jean Grey Can Be Altered To Better Fit In Spider-Man 4
While it might make sense to debut Jean Grey in Spider-Man 4 just the way she is, it’s clear that Marvel Studios might still alter her to make her better fit alongside Peter Parker. At the end of Spider-Man 4, Peter Parker was revealed to be studying to earn his GED, since his identity has been erased, so he could meet Jean Grey through this program, or she could even be his classmate at college. Sadie Sink’s potential casting as Jean Grey hints at Marvel debuting a younger X-Men team, which would fit this idea perfectly.
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After everybody forgot Peter Parker at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Holland’s hero will need a new supporting cast in Spider-Man 4, and Sadie Sink is a fantastic first addition to the line-up. Jean Grey being introduced as Spider-Man’s peer would allow her, a younger X-Men team and Peter Parker to headline the MCU for years to come – or at least until Tom Holland’s exit from the franchise. By bringing Jean Grey into the MCU and kick-starting a new chapter for mutants and the X-Men, Spider-Man 4 could be one of Marvel’s most important movies yet.
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