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Slowly but surely, Marvel Studios has been assembling its lineup for the X-Men movie that will be out in 2028. As of this time of writing, Asa Germann is in "final talks" to play Angel (Warren Worthington III), so it looks like we'll be seeing a good portion of the Original Five X-Men (Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Angel) alongside later-gen mutants like Storm and Rogue in the Jake Schreier film. 

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of Asa Germann being in "final talks" for Angel, noting that the actor originally auditioned for Cyclops, but lost out on the role to Kit Connor. Marvel Studios liked Germann's performance so much, however, that he was offered Angel instead. 

So what does this all mean? You might recognize Asa Germann from his role as the troubled Sam Riordan on Prime Video's Gen V show. Out of all the young "supes" on Gen V, Sam was the most volatile, as he was subjected to medical experimentation and kept in a windowless cell. To make matters worse, Sam also had schizophrenia and an unstable relationship with his parents. Over the course of Gen V, Sam goes from being a traumatized kid constantly in fight-or-flight mode to a more rehabilitated state, thanks to support from his friends. Germann portrayed the character with a genuine sense of rage, distress, and vulnerability, and Sam's emotional journey is one of the highlights of the show. 

I tell you all of this because Germann's character on Gen V has a lot in common with the X-Men's Angel. Despite being one of the Original Five X-Men, Angel didn't get to do much aside from being the wealthy kid on the team until he was transformed into one of the Horsemen of the villain Apocalypse (Death, to be exact). Later adopting the name Archangel, our feathered friend became brutal, blue-skinned, and brooding, using the metal feathers on his wings as lethal projectiles against his enemies. Angel's 

Angel's time as Apocalypse's Horseman of Death would prove to be psychologically traumatizing for him, while also giving his character a compelling hook that was followed up in succeeding comics. His psychological and emotional instability is explored to devastating effect in Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña's "Dark Angel Saga" in their run on Uncanny X-Force. In effect, Angel's descent into his Archangel persona was practically an origin story for the character in and of itself. 

While we don't know if Jake Schreier's X-Men film will have Asa Germann's Angel crashing out emotionally, the director's previous Marvel Studios film, Thunderbolts*, was essentially one long emotional crash out. So perhaps the stars will align. 

To me, my X-Men fans. Want more about Marvel's mutants? You don't need Cerebro to find what you should read next... we made a list!

• The best X-Men comics
• Every Omega-Level X-Men mutant ranked by power
• How to read the Marvel Comics' X-Men in order following the Krakoa era
• Why the Krakoan Age of X-Men was ended by Marvel
• How to watch the X-Men movies in order