Famke Janssen is excited to see her former X-Men cast members return for Avengers: Doomsday, but it sounds like, at the moment, she will not be part of the team. Janssen played Jean Grey in the 2000s X-Men, and later reprised her role in X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, and had small cameo roles in The Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Many of Janssen’s former X-Men co-stars have returned to the MCU, with Hugh Jackman appearing as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine, while James Marsden, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will return as Cyclops, Magneto and Professor X, respectively, in Avengers: Doomsday.
However, one of the names not shown in the Avengers: Doomsday epic cast announcement was Famke Janssen, implying Jean Grey will not be part of the upcoming MCU film. Speaking with Screen Rant‘s Grant Hermanns, Janssen looked back on her time on the X-Men films, saying, “Those were great films to be part of, and they’ve done so many good things for my career.” She was asked if she would return as Jean Grey in Avengers: Doomsday, to which the former Jean Grey actress said:
“Yeah, to be honest with you, I don’t really know the storyline, so I’m not sure. It’s not my world, it’s never been my world, really, that whole comic book world. I should know by now, I’ve been in it long enough. But I’m really excited to see when it comes out. Just like everyone else, I’ll find out what those storylines are and how it all ended up.”
Many High-Profile ‘X-Men’ Actors Are Not Confirmed for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
While Alan Cumming, Kelsey Grammer, and Rebecca Romilijn are also among some of the former X-Men actors returning for Avengers: Doomsday, many fans were shocked at the absence of high-profile names like Janssen’s Jean Grey. Halle Berry was not among the cast members announced, meaning Storm will not appear in the movie. Then there is Hugh Jackman, who, despite returning as Wolverine in the $1.3 billion hit Deadpool & Wolverine, is not in the cast list for Avengers: Doomsday.
With Avengers: Doomsday possibly being an Avengers vs. X-Men movie, not including Jean Grey feels like a missed opportunity. She is the X-Men’s most powerful member, and fans would certainly like to see how the Phoenix Force fares against the likes of Thor or The Sentry. Part of the reason Jean Grey might not appear in Avengers: Doomsday is that Marvel Studios has big plans to introduce their own version of the character very soon. Rumors are circulating that Sadie Sink’s mysterious character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is, in fact, none other than the MCU’s version of Jean Grey.
Now there is a chance that Janssen is playing coy, and either is in talks to return when the movie undergoes reshoots, or maybe has already filmed a few scenes. It wouldn’t be the first time an MCU actor lied about their involvement in a project, as Andrew Garfield has proven. Avengers: Doomsday is still over a year away from release, so there is plenty of time to give Janssen a brief role in either Avengers: Doomsday or possibly Avengers: Secret Wars.