Adam Driver has explained what finally persuaded him to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Mister Sinister in the “X-Men” reboot. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he pointed to his love of the franchise, director Jake Schreier's idea, Kevin Feige and the script, Variety's Jack Dunn reported.
“I mean, I was a fan of the other things too, but this one felt like the right time,” Driver said, in Variety's account. “It was really ‘X-Men,’ Jake Schreier, who’s the director, his idea for it, and that it’s Kevin Feige. It all kind of came together. The script is really cool.”
His attachment to the characters goes back to childhood. “I was a big X-Men fan when I was a kid,” Driver told Kimmel, as The A.V. Club reported. He recalled playing Wolverine while his cousin Tony played Sabretooth. “It’s a big deal,” he said.
The decision followed years of passing on Marvel offers. Marvel Studios president Feige had described those refusals on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, according to Variety. “But it’s a tradition to Zoom with him and then he passes,” Feige said. “That’s a long-lived tradition. He couldn’t be more cordial.”
Driver will play Dr. Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mister Sinister, the film's main antagonist, Variety reported. His enthusiasm comes with some apprehension about the audience the project will attract.
As Variety quoted Driver: “a lot of people are going to watch it, and if it’s bad, you know, a lot of people will see you being bad. Plus, I don’t want to mess it up.”
