The X-Men join the MCU, and Disney tends to stick with actors in their roles. Actors who may not have played a certain character in years suddenly get calls to reprise their roles in the new MCU or Star Wars pieces. We saw Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire return as Spider-Man in No way home. Temuera Morrison has been playing Boba Fett and every clone trooper for 20 years now. And Genevieve O’Reilly is back as Mon Mothma in the Star Wars series Andoroafter playing the part once, 17 years ago, in a scene that didn’t even make it into a movie.
That X-Men is part of the MCU, you wonder, will we see some of those Sony actors again? There has been talk of who will replace Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for a new one X-Men team, but will we see Jennifer Lawrence play Mystique? Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake? Elliot Page like Kitty Pryde? Page famously came out as a trans man in 2020 and was one of Hollywood’s most notable trans actors. After his transition, he was still willing to play female characters, despite some controversy. Would he reprise his role as Shadowcat? Because X-Men could be the perfect place for him to do it.
The X-Men are always inspired by world events
X-Men was created in the 1960s as a comic book that was a metaphor for racial tensions at the time. Professor X represented Rev. dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his peaceful approach to equality for African Americans at the time. And Magneto was more like Malcolm X, who was willing to use force to defend his people. But that’s not the only time X-Men took on social issues.
In 1988 the X-MenThe island nation of Genosha acted as a metaphor for South African apartheid. In Joss Whedon’s 2004 storyline, the mutant healing was analogous to conversion therapy, a practice that sought to “cure” members of the LGBT community. And in 2018, X-Men Red took over the concept of fake news when Cassandra Nova programmed people’s minds to flood the media with mutated hatred. X-Men has civil rights ingrained into his story. You could almost say it’s in the comic’s DNA.
Like every generation of X-Men talked about the conflicts of their time, you wonder if they will now tackle one of society’s most current issues: trans rights. The current storyline of the comic revolves around the mutated nation of Krakoa, as mutants are led to freedom and safety. The X-Men funny New mutants recently introduced a trans character. Escapade premiered in a one-shot and returns in October. It’s a huge step forward for X-Men, but it’s a different situation when a living human is behind a character. In order for Elliot Page to reprise his old role as Shadowcat, some problems may arise in reality that the X-men unable to address in their fictional universe.
For example, when Page said he would continue to play Vanya in Umbrella Academy, the reaction of some on the internet revolved around how a trans man can’t play a character who identifies as a woman. There has been a huge outcry for Hollywood to assign roles to talent who can accurately represent those roles. The movement aims to create more opportunities for unrepresented groups of people. But there seemed to be a much louder complaint around this particular trans man when he played a different assigned role. The Netflix show Umbrella Academy transferred the character of Vanya Hargreeves to Viktor Hargreeves to help Page play the part accurately and to avoid kickback.
Playing Kitty Pryde now offers a unique opportunity
Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, while a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in her bisexuality, is not a trans character. She identifies as a woman. And that identity could keep Page from playing the part. Some point out that Hollywood has a reputation for cisgender actors playing trans roles. And like white actors to blackface, cisgender actors have dressed up or pretended to be their opposite sex, sadly, often for the sake of comedy.
But now we’ve entered an era where characters designed to be of a particular race, gender, or sexuality are presented to a person who best reflects that character’s identity. It has created better opportunities for marginalized groups and made the Hollywood community in general more diverse. Movies are often made for specific actors or even highlight the struggles of certain groups of people.
If Elliot Page Played Kitty Pryde in X-Men, would it be enough for him to represent a member of the LGBTQIA+ community by playing a bisexual woman, or would Disney have Kitty switch to make the role a better fit for Page? Or would it even be necessary? Elliot Page has stated that he is still willing to play roles that identify as female. And while Page wouldn’t accurately represent a female character, his experience playing female roles and his reach as an actor should allow him to play the part well. After all, he still played female roles when he was actually a man.
Directors often design character-driven films with specific actors in mind, for example Brendan Fraser in The whale. And it’s done for the same artistic reason: the actor’s identity reflects the film’s story. But would allowing a trans man to play a female role increase the chances for trans people? Or would it just misrepresent cisgender characters? Transgender people are already poorly represented in Hollywood. And Elliot Page has a unique opportunity to add to the craft of acting itself.
He was more of a man when he played Kitty Pryde. Now that he identifies as male, he is still aware of the role. He could use real past experience to help him perform. If he wants, he can reinvent the skill of acting while also creating more opportunities for trans actors.