We kind of knew this was coming, but it looks like we now have confirmation that the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past follow-up X-Men: Apocalypse will introduce young versions of even more mutants from the original X-Men series.  Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 film X-Men: First Class successfully rebooted the franchise with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence playing 1970s versions of Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique, respectively, and then Bryan Singer’s time-twisting follow-up Days of Future Past brought both casts together in a compelling and fun sequel.  However, Apocalypse moves away from the time travel aspect of DOFP and into the 1980s, so with Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, etc. back out of the picture, Singer and Co. are looking to fill in the gaps with younger versions of some more mutants.

Which mutants, you may ask?  Well a new report unveils a list of actors that are being eyed to play a young Jean Grey and a young Cyclops.  More after the jump.

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Image via Summit Entertainment

The folks over at The Wrap report that Chloe Grace Moretz, Hailee Steinfeld, and Elle Fanning are among the actresses that are being considered to play young Jean Grey, while Singer is going the newcomer route for Cyclops with Ben Hardy (EastEnders), Charlie Rowe (Red Band Society), and Timothee Chalamet (Interstellar) under consideration for the laser-eyed character.

The report mentions that Moretz and Fanning have apparently met with Singer about the part of Jean Grey, though other actresses remain in the mix.  Both Jean Grey and Cyclops are poised to recur in future X-Men movies (obviously) so whoever takes on these roles will be signing on for multiple films.

The addition of fresh blood makes quite a bit of sense, as the deals for McAvoy, Fassbender, and Lawrence are likely up after their third appearance in Apocalypse.  It’s unclear if any (or all) of them may choose to renegotiate and remain with the franchise for more films to come, or if they might opt to call it a day after Apocalypse.  The latter option doesn’t sound too unlikely, especially since Lawrence initially joined the franchise as an actress on the rise and is now one of the most popular performers working today, easily slipping between franchise filmmaking and Oscar-winning dramas.

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Jean Grey and Cyclops are key characters in the X-Men franchise and were played by Famke Janssen and James Marsden in the previous X-Men films, so whoever nabs the roles will certainly be stepping up to a challenge.  It’s tough to suss out which actor/actress is the better fit since we don’t really know what this iteration of the characters looks like in Simon Kinberg’s script, but I’m very curious to see which other young mutants will be joining the franchise.  Might a Mohawk-wearing Storm be on tap?

Singer is also working to cast the villainous role of Apocalypse in the picture, a very old mutant who brings about destruction to what’s been described as a “disaster-level event” movie.  Tom Hardy was previously reported as being sought for the role, but he’s currently in negotiations to star in Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad, which would conflict with the spring 2015 shooting schedule of X-Men: Apocalypse.  The film is scheduled to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.

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Image via 20th Century Fox