Marvel Studios is filling out the founding roster of its mutant reboot. Ben Wang, fresh off leading Karate Kid: Legends and joining The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, has entered talks to play Bobby Drake, better known as Iceman, in the upcoming X-Men feature film.
Industry insiders note that Wang emerged as the frontrunner after screen tests that included Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans), Rhenzy Feliz (The Penguin), and Jackson Kelly.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Iceman debuted in The X-Men #1 in September 1963 as the youngest of Professor Charles Xavier’s original student class.
The character possesses cryokinetic powers, manipulating temperature and atmospheric moisture to freeze surroundings, construct slide pathways, and transform his physical body into living organic ice. Shawn Ashmore previously portrayed Drake across the 2000s Fox film run.
Assembling the New Class of Mutants
Should Wang finalise his contract, he enters an expansive ensemble that Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige began unveiling earlier this year.
The cast features Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, and Adam Driver as Mister Sinister.
Read more: Ben Wang Talks Everything ‘Karate Kid’ and Living up to an Iconic Legacy
The production also includes Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, and Asa Germann as Angel. Sink made an unannounced cameo appearance as Jean Grey in this summer’s cinema hit Spider-Man: Brand New Day, teasing the team’s arrival inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A Fast Rise Across Major Studio Franchises
Wang has built a busy slate across major film productions over the past two years.
He first gained attention in Disney+’s adaptation of American Born Chinese, before booking the lead role in Karate Kid: Legends opposite Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio.
In The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Wang portrays District 12 tribute Wyatt Callow alongside Joseph Zada’s Haymitch Abernathy.
His recent screen credits also include Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Long Walk, the 2024 musical reboot of Mean Girls, and the upcoming final season of Apple TV’s space drama For All Mankind.
Director Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts) will direct X-Men from a screenplay written by his BEEF collaborator Lee Sung Jin alongside Joanna Calo (The Bear).
