Twenty years after first portraying the role in the original X-Men movie, star Famke Janssen wants to reprise the role of Jean Grey for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the Fox-owned X-Men movie universe came to an end last year after the release of Dark Phoenix, the plan now is for Marvel Studios to bring a new version of the X-Men into the MCU. It remains unclear exactly when this might happen or who will be playing any of the characters, and while she's not banking on getting the call from Kevin Fiege, Janssen still admits she'd be open to reprising the superhero role.

"I think the question is more if they would have any interest in bringing me back," Famke Janssen explained in a recent interview with the Observer. She adds: "With Days of Future Past, there was a surprise way of reintroducing certain characters that had been killed off. In some people's cases, it was to bring them back as well as the younger versions of their characters. I'd be curious to see what happens [with Marvel Films]. But, yes, I would be very open to it."

"The one thing that we can say for the X-Men is that there were a lot of women in our films. Strong, superhero women," Janssen also noted. "I think diversity across the board would be amazing. There's no shortage in any of these X-Men of what you can do and what you can find in terms of diverse characters. I'm assuming that's what they'll do anyway, but that is where the work should be headed everywhere."

Released in 2000, the original X-Men featured Janssen as part of an ensemble cast which also included Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Halle Berry (Storm), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Ray Park (Toad), and Ian McKellen (Magneto). Coming out before the superhero movie boom that would completely change Hollywood forever, the movie was perhaps a surprise success, resulting in a series of sequels and prequels that spanned nearly 20 years. For her part, Janssen starred as Jean Grey in five of these X-Men movies.

The X-Men will next operate under the Disney banner following the House of Mouse's acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. Until casting announcements are made for the rebooted team of superheroes led by Professor X, fans will certainly be speculating endlessly over who might play the newest versions of the fan favorite comic book characters. One particularly popular fan campaign is calling for Taron Egerton to play the next Wolverine, among other actors. Some performers are even doing their own campaigning for themselves, which includes Janelle Monae volunteering to play the next Storm in the MCU.

It remains to be seen who our next Jean Grey will be, but chances are the brass at Disney are looking to keep the new X-Men separate from the Fox movie series. Casting the same names to reprise any of the classic roles would certainly call more attention to the older movies, and the company may not be interested in such a strong link between the franchises. Of course, that probably also means it's unlikely we'll see Sophie Turner coming back as Jean Grey for the MCU as well. We'll see what happens. This news comes to us from the Observer.