A fan artist has imagined what it would look like if Keke Palmer really joined the MCU's X-Men as Rogue. Rogue is a key character in the X-Men franchise, having joined the team after originally appearing as an antagonist in Avengers Annual #10. She is known for the distinctive gray streak in her hair and her mutant ability to absorb the life force and superpowers of people she touches, which have through time proven to be both a useful skill and a challenging curse. Rogue has appeared in many X-Men projects both on the page and the screen, but perhaps her most widely known appearance is in the original X-Men film trilogy, where she was played by Oscar-winner Anna Paquin.
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Now that Marvel Studios has acquired the rights to include X-Men characters after buying 20th Century Studios, there has been talk of a new X-Men project in the works, this time as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper rather than 20th Century's isolated X-Men universe that also included the Wolverine and Deadpool films. After Patrick Stewart appeared as an alternate universe version of Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans speculated if some of the original actors would be reprising their roles, though many have begun fan-casting their own new versions of the team. One recent video casting Palmer, who recently held a leading role in Jordan Peele's alien invasion film Nope, as Rogue garnered a positive response from the actress, who said "Come on agent."
On Instagram, Argentinian graphic designer Valentin Romero has imagined exactly what it would look like if Palmer actually got cast in the role. The design shows the actress posing in a leather X-Men jacket wearing dark lipstick and a mane of hair with a subtle white streak. The caption reads "the vision has never been clearer. #SorryToThisXMan," referencing a viral moment from a Vanity Fair lie detector test video where Palmer didn't recognize a photo of former Vice President Dick Cheney and said "sorry to this man." Check out Romero's post below:
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A post shared by Valentin Romero (@valentinromeroart)
So far, Marvel has taken advantage of now owning the X-Men in several small ways, including using the word "mutant" for the first time in the Ms. Marvel season finale. Although the studio has largely been tight-lipped about their progress on any new projects, they recently revealed that it will still be awhile yet before X-Men comes to fruition. This likely means that they haven't quite gotten to the point of casting yet, so fan posts like this may actually influence the probability of Palmer getting the role.
Indeed, fan casting is the reason that John Krasinski appeared as Fantastic Four's Reed Richards alongside Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That was an alternate universe that may not spell out the Office alum being cast in the role for good, but it's still a sign that Marvel is listening to the fans. Given Palmer's enthusiasm for the role, it's entirely possible that it will eventually be announced that she has joined X-Men.