Jinkx Monsoon has expressed her desire to play Mystique in a Marvel Cinematic Universe reboot of X-Men.
In an interview on the Good One podcast, hosted by Jesse David Fox, the two-time Drag Race champion said, “Can I manifest something? Marvel has now regained the rights to the X-Men. I think it would be a really cool idea to have a trans woman be Mystique.”
The anti-hero, previously portrayed by Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence in Fox’s beloved franchise, has long resonated with trans audiences thanks to her fluid identity and shape-shifting abilities — traits that echo the experience of gender exploration and transition.
“She’s my favourite Marvel character of all time, and I relate to her so much. I think a lot of trans people do,” Jinkx explained. “Think about how nice it would be to be able to just blend in and not have everyone pay attention to us if we don’t want.”
The Broadway queen, who currently stars as Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s Tony-winning play Oh, Mary!, continued: “We also relate to the fact that she’s not accepted in her original form. So she has to transition to even walk around people.
“I texted my agent and I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on there, but please start dropping my name.’”
While Romijn is confirmed to reprise her role as Mystique in the 2026 blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday, alongside many familiar MCU characters, speculation has long swirled that a new iteration of the X-Men will soon arrive on screen.
Despite the lack of official confirmation of an X-Men film in the MCU, Hunter Schafer was rumoured to be in the running for the role of Mystique.
She commented on the rumours in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, saying: “I did see [that]! My dad texted me about that, yeah. Yeah, that would be cool. These fan casts come around every once in a while, and it’s always very sweet — and always for characters that I really like.”
Whether it’s Monsoon or Schafer, one thing is clear: Mystique being played by a trans actress would feel correct!
Latest
