Famke Janssen is one of the beloved actors from Fox's X-Men movies that fans are hoping to see return in Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine, but it sounds like the Boy Kills World star is not expecting a mutant rebirth. Janssen played Jean Grey/Phoenix in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past between 2000 to 2014, before Sophie Turner took over the role as the young version of her character in two prequels, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). Janssen's last appearance was in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, where she made a brief cameo, but there has been no confirmation about her X-Men return in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Janssen's former co-stars Kelsey Grammer and Patrick Stewart have since reprised their respective roles as Beast and Professor Xavier in the MCU, and Hugh Jackman will be reprising his iconic role as Logan / Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine. With the latest trailer revealing the cameos of actors and characters from Fox's X-Men films, fans are wondering if there's a good chance that Janssen's Jean Grey will show up more than a decade since her last appearance. During an interview with Comicbook.com, she was asked about the possibility, and although she said that she didn't expect to return as Jean Grey after her character died in Fox's X-Men universe, she didn't respond with a straight "no".
Is Famke Janssen returning as Jean Grey in Deadpool & Wolverine?
"I don't know. I mean, I didn't expect to come back after dying as Jean Grey," Janssen told Comicbook.com. "I came back as the Phoenix [in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand], and I came back in flashback scenes in The Wolverine, and then in Days of Future Past."
If you can recall what she said during an interview with ScreenGeek earlier this month, she did not give the same response. That time, she clearly said "no" to the same question. “I’m not in [Deadpool & Wolverine]. No. Everybody keeps asking. So, at some point, I was like, ‘Wait, am I in Deadpool, and I just don’t know it yet?’ But, no. I’m not. No, no," Janssen said. "Everybody keeps asking. So, at some point, I was like, 'Wait, am I in Deadpool, and I just don't know it yet?' But, no. I'm not. No, no."
Janssen's latest response should give fans a bit of hope on her potential X-Men return, but one thing is for sure: We can expect Deadpool & Wolverine to have a lot of surprises. In last month's interview with Variety, Karan Soni, who reprises his role as Dopinder in Deadpool & Wovlerine, teased that the movie will have some surprises, but he didn't share any spoilers.
"This new MCU version is ultra-secretive,” he said. “There are a lot of surprises. Let’s just say a lot of people traveled to London.”
Last month, Hugh Jackman may have teased Channing Tatum's potential debut as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine. While rumors have been circulating about Tatum making a cameo appearance as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine for years, there hasn't been any official confirmation from Marvel Studios or Disney.
The confirmed cast members joining Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) are Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead), Stefan Kapicic (Colossus), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), Shioli Kutsuna (Yukio), Lewis Tan (Shatterstar) Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Aaron Stanford (Pyro), Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), and Karan Soni (Dopinder).
Directed by Shawn Levy, Deapdool & Wolverine is set to release in theaters on July 26, 2024.
