Samara Weaving & the New ‘X-Men’ Cast Take Over D23 – First Look at Marvel’s Mutant Team Revealed

D23 has a way of turning even the smallest candid moments into major fan events, especially when a newly assembled cast is still getting to know each other in real time. For Marvel’s incoming ‘X-Men’ ensemble, this year’s convention offered exactly that kind of behind-the-scenes glimpse, capturing the cast bonding away from the spotlight of the main stage.

That unscripted energy has been part of the story since the very beginning of this casting process. Kevin Feige himself noted during the official reveal that many of these actors were meeting each other for the very first time backstage at D23, making the entire rollout feel less like a polished press tour and more like a genuine introduction between future co-stars.

Fan-captured footage from the event showed Samara Weaving, who plays Emma Frost, mingling with members of the new ‘X-Men‘ cast backstage following their big group reveal. The candid moment quickly circulated online, giving fans a rare, unfiltered look at the chemistry building among the ensemble before cameras officially start rolling.

Weaving’s casting as Emma Frost was actually confirmed ahead of D23, with Deadline first reporting that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and director Jake Schreier had landed on the Australian actress after meeting with a number of candidates for the role. The studio made no official comment on the news at the time, leaving Weaving’s casting as one of the few details fans knew heading into the full reveal.

Weaving brings a résumé built largely on genre and horror-comedy work to the role, having broken through with 2019’s ‘Ready or Not’, a performance that firmly established her as one of Hollywood’s rising scream queens. Her earlier credits include ‘Mayhem’ and ‘The Babysitter’, both released in 2017, alongside an ensemble accolade for her work in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’.

In the comics, Emma Frost has one of the more complex character arcs among the X-Men roster, evolving from supervillain to superhero over the course of her decades-long publication history. Her telepathic abilities have made her one of the franchise’s most formidable mutants, and she’s previously been portrayed on screen by both Tahyna Tozzi in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ and January Jones in ‘X-Men: First Class’.

Weaving joins a rapidly assembling roster that includes Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm. Adam Driver rounds out the group in a villainous turn as Nathaniel Milbury, an alias for the comics’ Mister Sinister.

Driver’s own reveal added a memorable moment to the night’s proceedings, delivered via a surprise video message from Pinewood Studios rather than in person. “Kevin and I have been talking for years about maybe joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” Driver said during the reveal, before playfully teasing a Magneto casting only to correct himself with his real role.

Feige made clear during the panel that this wasn’t the complete cast list, hinting that more casting announcements are still to come as the ‘X-Men’ roster continues to take shape. Director Jake Schreier, known for his work on ‘Thunderbolts*’, is set to lead the ensemble when the film arrives in theaters on May 5, 2028.

Fan reaction to the backstage footage has been overwhelmingly warm, with many expressing excitement over seeing genuine camaraderie forming among the cast so early in the process. For a franchise this steeped in fan anticipation, these small, unscripted moments have quickly become just as newsworthy as the official announcements themselves.

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