MCU Phase 5 is almost upon us, opening on February 17th with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Other MCU Phase 5 include Secret Invasion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Loki 2, The Marvels, Captain America 4, and Thunderbolts. And Marvel might soon unveil new MCU cast members in time for Phase 5 if a crazy new rumor is accurate.
Mind you, big spoilers might follow below, as the actors you’re about to see have not yet been officially announced by Marvel.
The MCU Phase 5’s new cast members
We’re used to seeing lots of MCU leaks from various sources. Most are anonymous, trying to hide their identity while revealing purported Marvel secrets. That’s why this MCU Phase 5 casting leak is so surprising. It comes from a reporter who isn’t hiding at all.
According to Emmet Kennedy, the following actors have signed deals with Marvel for roles in MCU Phase 5:
Kennedy claims the leak is legit, despite not having any proven history of providing inside information about the MCU. Not only that, but the mods of the MarvelStudiosSpoilers subreddit dispute the validity of the claims above. So you should certainly keep all of that in mind before getting too excited bout this crazy leak.
But what if it’s accurate?
If Kennedy has somehow stumbled upon this massive scoop, some of these actors will join Kevin Feige at D23 Expo this week. That’s why we’re entertaining this rumor in the first place. We’ll know soon enough if it’s true or false.
What Marvel characters would these actors play?
With that in mind, we can easily speculate on who these actors might play.
John Krasinski’s inclusion on that list must mean he’ll play Mister Fantastic in Fantastic Four and other MCU crossovers. Could he appear early in Phase 5? He certainly could. And we do expect Marvel to reveal the Fantastic Four cast and director at D23 this week.
Henry Cavill was also rumored to be on the list of potential Reed Richards actors. But other reports said he’ll play a villain, Hyperion of Squadron Supreme. Hyperion will eventually serve Kang, and will first appear in Loki season 2.
Giancarlo Esposito has appeared in various MCU rumors so far. Most recently, the actor said he would like to play a superhero rather than a villain. Professor X is one possibility for Esposito. At least that’s what he said he wants.
But does that mean Marvel will bring the MCU’s Professor X to the forefront in Phase 5? Rumors say that Marvel won’t have standalone X-Men stories in the MCU until 2025 at the earliest.
Getting back to the Fantastic Four team roster, Jodie Comer or Daisy Edgar-Jones might play Sue Storm. The former appeared in a different casting rumor for the Invisible Woman. But it’s unclear what the other role is. They won’t both play Sue, after all.
Are the X-Men coming?
As for John Boyega, there was one rumor that said a former Star Wars actor was in talks with Marvel for Mister Fantastic. But what if he’s actually going to play a different role? Since Fantastic Four is the likeliest focus of D23, we can speculate that Boyega could play a Johnny Storm variant. Or is he going to become The Thing?
Finally, there’s Denzel Washington in this MCU Phase 5 cast list. That’s certainly a massive surprise if accurate. And it would be a huge win for the MCU.
We have no idea which character Washington might play. But what if he’s a villain? Considering what Marvel did with Thor: Love and Thunder, the studio might continue to bring in prominent actors for temporary villain roles in the MCU.
But what if Washington ends up playing a certain Eric Lehnsherr opposite Giancarlo Esposito’s Charles Xavier? Again, this is all speculation and wishful thinking based on a leak that, on the surface, doesn’t seem to make much sense.
D23 Expo kicks off on September 9th, so we’ll soon see whether any of these actors appear on stage during Marvel’s announcements.
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