Cast: Hugh Jackman (in talks) (Logan, AKA Wolverine), Patrick Stewart (in talks) (Professor Charles Xavier), Shawn Ashmore (Bobby Drake, AKA Iceman), Daniel Cudmore (Piotr Rasputin, AKA Colossus), Alan Cumming (Kurt Wagner, AKA Nightcrawler), Famke Janssen (Dr. Jean Grey), James Marsden (Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops), Sir Ian McKellen (in talks) (Erik Lensherr, AKA Magneto), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Mystique); other cast not announced or confirmed as signed yet.

Wolverine Note: (6/1/03) Officially, Hugh Jackman has not yet signed on for 'X3.' However, he is a bit of a Catch-22, because there have been several remarks made to the effect that Fox will never do an 'X-Men' movie without Wolverine. In other words... if he doesn't sign on, the movie probably won't happen. So, I suspect that Fox will do what they need to do to get Jackman to sign on (ie, I think finding a new actor for Wolverine at this point is probably not what they will pursue).

Cast Unlikely to Return: (6/1/03) The cast member from the first two movies most likely to not return for the third movie is Halle Berry (Ororo Munroe, AKA Storm), due to her rising profile as an A-list star, and the script difficulties of keeping Storm's role in each of these ensemble movies large enough to do her status justice. There are rumors that Fox may someday develop a 'Storm' movie for her to star in, however. (11/18/03) According to USA Today, Halle Berry is still considering returning for this third film. According to her costar Shawn Ashmore (via X-Men Hype!), besides budgetary concerns, the biggest requirement for Berry to return might be for her hours to be shortened, and her role lengthened. Although that sounds contrary, what he *means* is that she doesn't want to have to stay in Vancouver for six months during the entire shoot like most other cast members have to.

Possible Returning Cast: (6/1/03) Several actors/characters who were in the second movie might return for this third one. First off, Kelly Hu revealed recently that she is signed on for a sequel, but there is no word yet about whether that would be 'X3' (or 'X4' or 'X5,' etc.). Other possibilities from the first two movies who might return are: Steve Bacic (Dr. Hank McCoy, AKA Beast), Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly), Bryce Hodgson (Arthur "Artie" Maddicks), Shauna Kain (Theresa Cassidy, AKA Siryn), Tyler Mane (Sabretooth), Ray Park (Toad), Cotter Smith (President McKenna), Aaron Stanford (John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro), Katie Stuart (Kitty Pryde) and Kea Wong (Jubilee).

New Mutant Notes: (6/2/03) In a special screening of X-Men in Los Angeles the week before the release of X2, screenwriter David Hayter revealed that the character most likely to be introduced in this third movie is original X-Man Dr. Hank McCoy, AKA The Beast. What is unclear is whether the same actor who had a small cameo as McCoy, Steve Bacic, would return in the role, or if Fox would seek someone a bit more famous. Of course, if Dr. McCoy has already evolved into the blue-furred version of Beast by the time of this movie, that problem may solve itself. Other likely candidates that have been mentioned or rumored for either 'X2' or 'X3' in recent years are original X-Man Warren Worthington III (AKA 'Angel') and Remy LeBeau (AKA 'Gambit'). In that same talk, Hayter said that he doubted Gambit would ever have more than a small role because he's too similar to both Cyclops (powers-wise) and Wolverine (personality-wise).

(12/23/03) Talking recently to Dark Horizons, producer Lauren Shuler-Donner confirmed that Beast is a strong possibility for this third movie, and threatened that she might also push to include Gambit. I say threaten, because I am among that vocal portion of the fanbase that is rabidly anti-Gambit. Whereas most of the X-Men characters thus far adapted for the movies are cool, Gambit is "kewl" and "kewlness" sucks. He's a relic of a dark time in comic book history when style was valued over substance, and probably the character that most singularly divides fans into two camps: the Gambit fans and those Gambit bugs. I would pity any actor who ends up playing Gambit; the down side is potentially huge... even if you please the Gambit fans, you still have to deal with all of the people who think the character just plain sucks.