Former MCU Star Reveals X-Men Almost Repeated a Controversial Avengers: Doomsday Choice
Although we still have several months to go before Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters, it is feeling much closer, in large part because of the attention that the movie is getting. In addition to the Doomsday footage shown at D23 getting audiences excited, the fact that the fanfare over Spider-Man: Brand New Day has finally quieted down means that Marvel fans are looking ahead. That certainly includes recently announced movies like Ghost Rider and X-Men, but with Doomsday being the next MCU movie to be released and the first addition to the Avengers installment in seven years, it’s unsurprisingly getting considerable attention. Yet, not all of the attention has been positive. At various points, there have been bumps in the road for the marketing of the movie.
One of the most contentious decisions Doomsday has made thus far is the return of Robert Downey Jr., particularly because he’s playing Doctor Doom. That isn’t to say RDJ isn’t absolutely celebrated by the fanbase; on the contrary, he’s beloved, and fans are excited to see him again. The issue, at least for now, is that it’s unclear why Doctor Doom would be identical to Tony Stark, so audiences don’t yet know whether bringing Downey Jr. back as a different character makes sense. Currently, the concern is that it doesn’t. Only Doomsday can reveal whether this unexpected choice makes sense and pays off, but in the meantime, it’s clear that the MCU isn’t all that concerned about bringing prior Marvel actors back in different roles, as X-Men apparently almost did the very same thing with none other than Professor X.
Another Marvel Alum Almost Played Professor X
Among the biggest moments at D23 was the reveal of multiple X-Men cast members. Already, we knew that Samara Weaving will be the MCU’s Emma Frost, and Sadie Sink was revealed to be Jean Grey in Brand New Day. There were also heavy rumors that Kit Connor would be the MCU’s Cyclops, which was confirmed at D23. Additional announcements at that event included Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, Maya Boyd as Storm, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Christopher Abbott as Professor X. The latter particularly came as a surprise because there had been extensive rumors that Bill Skarsgård would actually be playing the role. However, yet another actor has just confirmed that he was in talks for the character.
Specifically, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Pelphrey was in the running for Professor X, although it ultimately went to Abbott. In addition to Pelphrey making some hilarious comments about why the role wouldn’t have been a fit, including saying, “I’ve also got a fat head. I have a watermelon. I was like, ‘If we’re even going to have this conversation, go into your AI image generator and look at me with a shaved head. That alone could be horrifying enough.’ I’m not kidding,” which has gotten a reaction online, many Marvel fans are pointing out one thing: Pelphrey has already had a Marvel role, as he was Ward Meachum in Iron Fist.
Clearly, Pelphrey wasn’t ultimately the choice for the role, but this does reinforce the fact that the MCU isn’t afraid to have actors who have already appeared in other Marvel shows and movies return as a different character. In RDJ’s case, it’s likely that this will be explained by Doom being a Tony Stark variant or vice versa, but it seems he’s far from the only actor who could return as someone else.
