Adam Driver Talks About His Upcoming Turn as Mister Sinister in the X-Men Reboot

Adam Driver, best known for his turn as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, is finally going to be a part of the MCU after years of speculation. But instead of playing Magneto as rumors suggested, he landed the role of Mister Sinister in the upcoming X-Men reboot.

During a recent Jimmy Kimmel segment, Driver spoke briefly about the role and what drew him to it. “I was a big X-Men fan when I was a kid,” Driver said. “The TV show was right in my generation. It’s huge for me. Me and my cousin, Tony, he would be Sabretooth and I would be Wolverine — it’s a big deal.”

In the comics, Mister Sinister is the persona of Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a London biologist obsessed with engineering humanity into a perfect race of superhumans. When Kimmel mentioned the name of the supervillain on the segment, Driver couldn’t help but smile.

It’s a character he’s clearly excited about playing. As Kimmel pointed out on the show, Driver has been offered multiple roles by president of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige, but he’s turned them all down. He’s never wanted to be a part of the MCU, until now.

“I was a fan of the other things too, but this one felt like the right time, and it’s X-Men,” Driver said. Driver credited part of his willingness to take the role on working with director Jake Schreier, best known for the brilliant Netflix show Beef, and Marvel’s Thunderbolts.

“[Schreier's] idea for it, and Kevin Feige, it all came together, the script is really cool,” he said.

Wrapping things up, Kimmel asked why Driver is so careful when he says yes to a project. “A lot of people are going to watch it, and if it’s bad, people will see you being bad,” Driver replied. “Plus, I don’t want to mess it up. I’m a huge fan of X-Men.”

So far, Marvel Studios has confirmed a long list of names for its new MCU X-Men movie reboot, with its cast now including Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister, Maya Boyd as Storm, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, and more.

Photo by Matei Horvath/FilmMagic.