You may recall a rumor from a few weeks back that suggested several members of the lineup for Josh Boone’s New Mutants movie, and although that rumor was predictably denied by Fox, Boone seemingly confirmed those characters for his X-Men spinoff just last week. We can add another rumored character to the confirmed pile, as producer Simon Kinberg has revealed that Professor X does indeed have a role in New Mutants, which could begin filming early next year.

In an interview with Collider, Kinberg confirmed that James McAvoy’s Professor Charles Xavier has a role in New Mutants — or at least the current iteration of it. The script could change between now and early 2017, which is when Kinberg says they’re hoping to begin production on the X-Men spinoff.

The Fault in Our Stars filmmaker Josh Boone is set to write and direct the New Mutants film, which — according to his own Instagram posts — features a lineup that includes Wolfsbane, Magik, Mirage, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock. Except for Warlock, that’s the roster that was previously rumored. That same report suggested that Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is in talks to play Wolfsbane, with The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik and X-Men: Apocalypse star Alexandra Shipp reprising her role as Storm.

With Fox eyeing an early 2017 start date, we should learn more about the project pretty soon. That start date depends in part on Boone’s schedule, as he’s set to write / direct an adaptation of Stephen King’s Revival, and has been developing a screenplay for an Interview With the Vampire reboot.

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