Slowly but surely, the pieces are beginning to fall into place for Marvel and Fox’s untitled X-Men pilot.
With Matt Nix and Bryan Singer locked in – the latter of whom will direct – today brings confirmation that Gotham‘s Jamie Chung is making the switch from DC to Marvel in order to play Blink, a character imbued with the powers of teleportation. Described as “sarcastic, lively and a bit of a tomboy,” Blink (AKA Clarice Fong) is a superpowered persona bursting with personality, though that naturally strong exuberance is left battered and bruised after a “sudden and traumatic upheaval of her life. As she adjusts to the new people and places that are suddenly ‘home,’ she is slowly becoming herself again.”
In light of today’s casting coup, Chung will star opposite Blair Redford (Switched at Birth), who signed on for an undisclosed role (Thunderbird? Warpath?) only a fortnight ago. Marvel and Fox’s collaboration has been pitched as a family drama, one that tells the story of a human couple trying to shield their extraordinary child from prying government forces. In a last-ditch attempt to survive, our unassuming family joins the ranks of an underground society of mutants, where Redford’s mysterious character is considered the strong-headed Native American leader. Indeed, his mutant is one of many superhero characters set to appear in Marvel and Fox’s as-yet-untitled pilot episode, indicating that the show’s casting spree is far from over.
All in all, it’s an exciting time for the grand X-Men universe. As Logan prepares to cap off Wolverine’s saga with style and grace on March 3rd, there have been rumblings that the next feature film, rumored to be titled Supernova, is gearing up to enter production later this year with Sophie Turner and, potentially, James McAvoy in tow. It’s still early, early days, but last night we caught wind that franchise stalwart Simon Kinberg had come into contention to direct. A match made in mutant heaven? We’ll find out very soon indeed.