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The man who isn't MCU's Professor X is glad he didn't get the role

Ozark's Tom Pelphrey describes the "very long, serious commitment," of working in a space like the MCU's X-Men franchise

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Tue Aug 25 2026

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The whole of the Marvel-loving internet (and indeed, your pals at Popverse) have been abuzz lately in news of the MCU's official X-Men casting, chatting here and there about the excitement of folks like Inde Navarrette joining the team and wondering who else, if anyone, will join the roster. However, for every lucky actor that got cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's take on the Children of the Atom, there are legions of folks who missed out. Still, for at least one actor, that isn't such a bad thing.

The actor in question is Ozark and Task star Tom Pelphrey, who up until recently, was speculated to be in the running for the X-Men's team lead, Charles Xavier. Of course, we now know that the role will be going to Christopher Abbott, but Pelphrey doesn't seem to have any hard feelings. In fact, according to an interview Pelphrey did with The Hollywood Reporter, there's a pretty big silver lining to not nabbing the role.

"When it comes to opportunities like [Professor X]," said the actor. "I am always of two minds. I am always a little torn in half. That’s a very long, serious commitment, and that makes me genuinely nervous because a lot of things can change in that time. So half of me thinks an experience like that could be cool and exciting, while the other half of me is a little worried about what could happen."

Pelphrey's got a point. Consider the fact that Hugh Jackman has been appearing as Wolverine since 2000 (!), or that the cast of the last film with an X-Title - that is, 2019's X-Men: Dark Phoenix - were slinging their mutant powers on screen since 2011. Hell, even the characters we once thought were super gone - such as the original cinematic Professor X, Patrick Stewart - are still set to return one last (?) time for this year's Avengers: Doomsday.

I'm just saying - it seems like everybody who's answered the call of 'To me, my X-Men,' is bound to keep coming back. Even the person who sent that call.

Marvel Studios' X-Men heads to theaters May 5, 2028.

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!

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.