The past three X-Men movies have without a doubt revitalized the franchise. This summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse continued the series new trend of firmly placing an entry in a new decade (in this case the 80s). With the next X-Men film set in the 90s according to producer, Simon Kinberg. Nothing is more 90s than Rob Liefeld’s X-Force, a title that influenced an entire generation of stories and characters. With that in mind, X-Force could be part of the next film as a spinoff has been in the works for some time. By using X-Force, a more proactive and darker team, the series could go in an entirely new direction. I thought it’d be fun to fan cast this paramilitary unit of mutants, and pick a director too. Here’s my dream cast for an 90s set X-Force movie.
Jeffery Dean Morgan as Cable
Jeffery Dean Morgan is already causing waves with his recent brutal portrayal of Negan on The Walking Dead. And he was no stranger to comics before then, having had starring roles in both The Losers and Watchmen. So it’s not a stretch to imagine the imposing Morgan playing Cable, X-Force’s defacto leader from the future. I can just see Morgan with the iconic metal arm and cybernetic eye, brandishing huge guns as he shoots his way through intense action scenes. The man would be perfect and has the acting chops to play a character as layered in mystery as Cable is.
Channing Tatum as Shatterstar
Shatterstar is the team’s resident pretty boy, but also an all-around bad ass. Channing Tatum has shown he is capable of both, with his parts in Magic Mike and White House Down, respectively. He’s also shown a deeper and darker side (something that would play into Shatterstar’s mysterious origins) in Foxcatcher. Tatum would be perfect in the role and help bring in a whole new demographic. He has been tied to the role of Gambit for a few years now, but that seems to be stuck in limbo. Besides, this is a much better role for him, and he’d look great in the costume.
Juliet Landau as Feral
As the evil Drusilla in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Juliet Landau had a certain feline quality to her mannerisms and physicality. Her eyes and grin are also very expressive. Plus, she’s a damn fine actor. All these combined make her an ideal choice for a heavy makeup effects role like the mutant Feral. Feral’s origins are also tied in tragedy (a runaway from the disfigured underground-dwelling Morlocks) and the character straddles the line between good and evil, something Landau would excel at.
Emma Roberts as Boom-Boom
Emma Roberts has been playing plucky blondes on TV for a few years now, both in American Horror Story: Coven and more recently in Scream Queens. Her personality is perfect for the valley-girlesque Boom-Boom, who is as quick with a quip as she is with concussion causing explosive powers. And Roberts is great at giving a seemingly stereotypical characters layers and pathos, a quality needed to play a mutant like Boon-Boom, who seems happy and go lucky on the surface, but like all X-Men has deeper issues of tragedy as well.
Dan Stevens as Cannonball/Sam Guthrie
Sam Guthrie /Cannonball was always the beating heart of the team, even in its long history prior as The New Mutants. Pushed into a leadership role he didn’t want, the gold old southern boy Sam became a soldier in a bitter war. His ability to fly and cause massive heat and explosions made him the team’s most formidable member. Dan Stevens has shown he has the range to play this. In Adam Wingard’s 80s throwback film The Guest, Stevens unveiled what a bad-ass soldier he could be. And Downton Abbey showed us a more dramatic side. Being British, Stevens has a knack for accents, so capturing Cannonball’s signature southern drawl would be a cinch. It’s a natural choice.
Mary Elisabeth Windstead as Domino
The role of Domino has already been heavily hinted to appear in Deadpool 2, but you need to have her in X-Force as well (and it’d be a great way to tie it all in together.) Mary Elisabeth Winstead has already been rumored for the role as well , and I can’t think of a better choice. She was great in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and in this year’s 10 Cloverfield Lane, she brought to life a Ripley inspired heroine for the ages. And with her deep and dark eyes, she would just look the part of the mercenary Domino, whose mutant powers of affecting probability make her an invaluable fighter.
Martin Sensmeier as Warpath
Warpath was the team’s heavy hitter. As the younger brother of fallen X-Men Thunderbird, he also lived in someone else’s shadow. Again a layered role. Martin Sensmeier pretty much stole the show from under a veteran cast in the recent Magnificent Seven remake. He can totally capture the stoic yet ready for action quality required. Adept at playing out hand-to-hand combat scenes, Warpath’s brawling and fighting would be easy for the actor to do, and again he would look great in the costume too.
Riz Ahmed as Sunspot
Sunspot left the team early on, but remained both a reluctant ally and an antagonist as well. He differed from the other mutants on the team, as he came from a wealthy Hispanic family. His brother-like friendship with Cannonball drove a lot of early X-Force drama. Sunspot was also a complicated character, being both a best friend and an arrogant rich boy. Riz Ahmed received lots of attention with his supporting role as a cameraman in Nightcrawler (no relation to the X-men character) and more recently he got tons of acclaim as an innocent accused of a crime on the HBO drama The Night Of. In both roles, Ahmed takes a slow turn from good to morally gray, something that parallels Sunspots manipulation by our next and final character.
Liam Neeson as Gideon
Liam Neeson has already conquered action and mentor roles (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Batman Begins), so he is a no brainer as the manipulative immortal mentor Gideon who seduces and turns Sunspot against his former team. Gideon’s plan to expose the external (a near immortal type of mutant) on the X-Force team would make for a great storyline as well. It seems natural to make him the villain.
Matthew Vaughan for director
Yes, I know Matthew Vaughan already directed X-Men:First Class, and several comic book movies as well (Kick-Ass and Kingsmen: The Secret Service) but that’s not to say he can’t come back. His ability to fuse comedy, action and overtop violence makes him a perfect choice to capture the 90s action-movie vibe this film would need. X-Force would really need its own identity and Vaughn has proven he is able to do that, even with an existing property.
So there you have it folks. What do you think? Leave me some thoughts in the comments!
