The X-Men are on their way into the MCU…eventually. Though the studio must be keen to get to grips with the horde of new characters they’ve just inherited from Fox, Marvel will wait a few years before rebooting mutantkind in order to work out the best way to handle things following the previous version of the franchise. One smart way of doing it would be to prioritize characters who were underused in Fox’s films, though.
Characters like Juggernaut, perhaps? That’s what we’re hearing, anyway. We Got This Covered has been informed by our sources – the same ones who told us Bill Murray would return for Ghostbusters 3 and that a Green Lantern show was coming to HBO Max – that Cain Marko is likely to be involved in Marvel’s X-Men reboot. What’s more, we’ve been told that the MCU iteration will be much closer to the comics. Specifically, he’ll be portrayed as the brother of Charles “Professor X” Xavier and be part of Magneto’s Brotherhood of (Evil) Mutants.
For such a prominent comic book character, Juggernaut was severely underutilized in Fox’s universe. He made his cinematic debut in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, with Vinnie Jones in the role. Needless to say, that take on the villain was pretty awful. So, it’s a good thing that, just before the franchise closed down, a slightly improved version was introduced in 2018’s Deadpool 2. Ryan Reynolds featured in a double role as a fully-CG version of Marko.
DP2 alluded to Juggernaut’s familial history with Xavier, but it would be good to see this fully explored on screen. It’s also worth mentioning that Cain wasn’t originally a mutant in the comics, as he got his powers from a mystical artifact called the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak. This evil deity is part of the Doctor Strange mythos, so Marvel could create some interconnectivity here if they decide to go down that route.
The X-Men reboot won’t be here for a while yet, but hints may be dropped as soon as next year’s The Eternals. Deadpool’s also due to enter the MCU within the next couple of years, so we could get our first tease of Juggernaut sooner than expected.