X-Men Writer Wants Idris Elba to Play Bishop

The casting of any central character is one of the most crucial parts in making a movie. The filmmakers have to make sure the actor has both the look and the talent to do the part justice. The actor has to be just the right fit—especially if they're playing an already-beloved character that fans know inside and out. With comic book adaptations, it's even more important (as a seemingly "wrong" casting choice has been known to spark a major backlash on more than one occasion).

But X-Men comics writer Chris Claremont, who has written some of the superhero team’s greatest adventures, doesn't think that casting the role of Bishop, the series' time-hopping mutant, would be difficult at all: They just need Idris Elba.

"Speaking purely from my X-pective, he is so totally perfect for (my vision of) Bishop," Claremont wrote on his Facebook page.

This is not the first time Elba has been the first choice to play a classic character. The 46-year-old Golden Globe winner has also been called on to be the next James Bond. Even Claremont mentioned the 007 role in his post (which you can read in full above).

If Elba—who'll next be seen in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw—did join the X-Men franchise, he would not be new to the Marvel universe. He has already played Heimdall in Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).