Jinkx Monsoon urges Marvel to cast trans woman as Mystique in upcoming X-Men reboot

Broadway star and RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Jinkx Monsoon has called on Marvel Studios to cast a trans woman as Mystique in its forthcoming X-Men reboot, sparking a wave of support and conversation across the entertainment world.

Speaking on Vulture’s Good One podcast, Monsoon passionately expressed her desire to see the iconic shape-shifting mutant reimagined through a trans lens. “Can I manifest something?” she asked. “Marvel has now regained the rights to X-Men. I think it would be really cool to have a trans woman be Mystique. She is my favourite Marvel character of all time, and I relate to her so much”.

Monsoon, who identifies as trans-femme and uses she/her pronouns, explained that Mystique’s ability to change her appearance resonates deeply with many in the trans community. “We think about how nice it would be to just blend in and not have everyone pay attention to us if we don’t want to,” she said. “And then, we also relate to the fact that she’s not accepted in her original form, so she has to transition to even walk around”.

The performer, currently starring in the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Oh, Mary!, revealed she has already taken steps toward her dream role. “I texted my agent, I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on there, but please start dropping my name,’” she joked.

Mystique has previously been portrayed by Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence in earlier X-Men films. Romijn is set to reprise her role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, but with Marvel actively developing a new X-Men saga, the door may be open for fresh interpretations of the character.

Monsoon’s comments come amid fan speculation that Euphoria star Hunter Schafer could also be in the running for the role. Schafer responded to the rumours earlier this year, saying, “Yeah, that would be cool! These fan-casts come around every once in a while and it’s very sweet, and always for a character that I really like”.