No Guest Found in this category
Howdy, sugar! While the very mention of the X-Men typically conjures visions of adamantium claws, bald professors, and concussive eye-blasts, it’s hard to ignore the team’s sassy Southern Belle with a power-draining touch.
First created by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden for 1981’s Avengers Annual, Rogue would quickly rise through the ranks of Marvel fandom to become one of the X-Men’s most beloved and recognisable mutants. Initially brought to life in the original X-Men animated series by the inimitable vocals of November Supa-Star guest Lenore Zann, Rogue would later find herself gracing the big-screen courtesy of Anna Paquin’s recurring role throughout the Fox produced X-Men movies in the early 2000s.
Most recently, however, Zann returned to the role she helped make a household name in Marvel’s X-Men ‘97 revival series. Moreover, with Deadpool and Wolverine setting the stage for the X-Men’s proper introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans are already wondering when they’ll get another chance to see a live-action Rogue in action.
With Zann set to join us at our 99th show in Adelaide (2-3 November), and Brisbane’s three-day extravaganza (8-10 November), we thought it might be timely to look at what the future has in store for her iconic southern gal.
X-MEN ’97 SEASON 2
This year’s X-Men ‘97 was a busy time for Zann’s Rogue. Not only was her shocking past relationship with Magneto rekindled, but she was also even asked to become Genosha’s queen and to rule the mutant kingdom beside him.
However, Magneto’s promise of her becoming mutant royalty was short-lived, and when Genosha was attacked by an army of Sentinels, her long-term paramour Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, was killed in the ensuing conflict. Sparking an intense rage that would put even Wolverine’s foul temper to shame, Rogue then set upon a destructive path of vengeance that showcased exactly how powerful a mutant she really was.
Yet while Bastion, the mastermind behind the attack on Genosha, was captured in the X-Men ‘97 series finale, Season 2 will see Rogue facing a whole new kind of predicament. Trapped in the year 3000 B.C. with Nightcrawler, Professor X, Magneto and Beast, Rogue will not only have to contend with finding a way home to present day, but also the formidable En Sabah Nur, the ancient mutant that would eventually become Apocalypse.
At this stage, there is no official release date for X-Men ‘97 Season 2, though it likely won’t appear on Disney+ until sometime in late 2025 or early 2026.
THE X-MEN IN THE MCU
Ever since Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox, fans have been clamouring to learn when the X-Men would finally make their way into Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yet, despite a few in-universe teases that hinted that Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan was being reimagined as a mutant (rather than her comic origins as an Inhuman), there has been relatively little apparent movement on the X-Men front.
However, with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine recently becoming the first X-Men characters to officially cross the Fox/Marvel universe divide, the doors now seem wide open for the MCU’s broader introduction of the full X-Men line-up. Exactly how, or when, Feige and his MCU boffins will accomplish this remains to be seen, but with the MCU now officially steaming toward 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, most guesses point to that providing audiences with the necessary storytelling catalyst.
The question that remains, however, is whether audiences should expect to be introduced to a whole new Rogue, or whether Anna Paquin will follow both Jackman and Patrick Stewart by reprising her version of the character. While a Paquin cameo would certainly go a long way to ticking all the right fanservice boxes, Rogue deserves far more than just a fleeting cameo. Instead, most fans would agree that recasting Rogue, and the other X-Men would ultimately be the MCU’s best way forward.
Exactly who would make a good Rogue remains open to some debate, and various online fan-casting discussions have pointed at everyone from Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) and Alexandra Daddario (The Mayfair Witches) to Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) and Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets). Yet, regardless of who they eventually choose, one thing most people can agree on is that they’ll need to be able to nail Rogue’s trademark southern twang.
With only 31 days to go until Supanova Comic Con & Gaming’s milestone 100th event, come and meet Lenore Zann at our 99th show in Adelaide (2-3 November), and Brisbane’s three-day extravaganza (8-10 November), with tickets on sale now via Moshtix!
