Ben Wang has entered talks to play Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, in Marvel Studios’ X-Men, Deadline reported Monday. Variety also reports that Wang is in negotiations for the role. The deal has not closed and Marvel has not announced the casting. X-Men opens in theaters May 5, 2028.
Deadline also said it heard that Gabriel LaBelle, Jackson Kelly and Rhenzy Feliz tested for the part, though the outlet described that detail as unconfirmed.
Wang, 29, plays District 12 tribute Wyatt Callow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which opens Nov. 20. His other credits include Karate Kid: Legends, The Long Walk and the Disney+ series American Born Chinese.
If the deal closes, Wang would join a cast that includes Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, Asa Germann as Angel and Christopher Abbott as Charles Xavier. Adam Driver plays Mister Sinister. Jake Schreier, who directed Thunderbolts*, is directing. Marvel revealed part of the cast and the release date at D23 in August.
Iceman would give the film four of the five founding X-Men, with Knight Edge Media reporting that Peter Claffey has been cast as Beast. Marvel has not announced Claffey in the role. Knight Edge Media also reports that Iceman will already be living at the X-Mansion and is expected to be the first mutant Jean Grey meets. Marvel has not confirmed any plot details.
Deadline has reported that filming will begin in early 2027, and Knight Edge Media places the production in the UK.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created Iceman, who first appeared in The X-Men #1 in September 1963. Shawn Ashmore played the character in 20th Century Fox’s X-Men films from 2000 to 2014. In the comics, Bobby is often written as the youngest of the original team, while Wang would be older than most of the actors playing the other founders.
A teenage version of Iceman came out as gay in All-New X-Men #40 in 2015 after Jean Grey read his mind, and a later issue of Uncanny X-Men established that the adult Bobby is gay as well. There is no word yet on whether the film will address that part of the character’s history.
Sources: Deadline | Variety | ComicBook.com | Knight Edge Media | Inverse | ComicBookMovie | Epicstream | TechRadar | PinkNews | Wikipedia
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