Backrooms Star Renate Reinsve Reportedly Met Marvel For Major X-Men Movie Role

Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve's star has risen, and Marvel Studios is reportedly taking notice. According to Knight's Edge Media, Reinsve recently took a meeting with Marvel Studios for the part of Moira MacTaggert in its upcoming "X-Men" film. A majority of the "X-Men" cast, including Christopher Abbott as Professor X himself, was announced at Disney's D23 event in August. Since then, more castings have trickled out, such as Asa Germann ("Gen V") as Angel and Ben Wang ("The Long Walk") as Iceman.

Reinsve is known for her work with Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, who directed her film debut (2011's "Oslo, 31 August"), her international breakout role (in 2021's "The Worst Person In The World"), and her first Best Actress Oscar nominated performance (for 2025's "Sentimental Value"). This past year, Reinsve starred in the creepypasta-inspired horror blockbuster "Backrooms" as Dr. Mary Kline, and she's one of the leads in the Norwegian social drama "Fjord." Incidentally, both of those teamed her up with leading men who've already joined the Marvel machine: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sebastian Stan, respectively.

Now, Reinsve's casting as Moira is not confirmed yet. She's also previously said, on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, that "I don't have anything against [Marvel], and I respect that, but I don't think I could do it." But regardless of whether this casting goes through, this news suggests Marvel has a role planned for Moira MacTaggert in its "X-Men" films, which is news in and of itself.

Moira MacTaggert was co-created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, and she debuted near the very beginning of what would be Claremont's titanic 16-year run on the X-Men comics. She has consistently been one of Professor X's primary love interests alongside Shi'ar Queen Lilandra, as well as one of the X-Men's most important supporting characters.

In 1975's "X-Men" #96, Moira shows up at the X-Mansion's door and introduces herself as the X-Men's new housekeeper. In issues to come, she soon reveals she's much more. A genius geneticist with an expertise in mutants and a longtime ally of Professor Xavier, she maintains a "Mutant Research Center" on the fictional Muir Island (off the coast of her native Scotland).

One purpose of the Research Center is to contain dangerous mutants. Moira has a personal stake there, which comes to a head in an arc spanning "X-Men" #125-128 (by Claremont and John Byrne). Though Moira is seemingly a human herself, she's the mother of Proteus (Kevin MacTaggert), a malevolent mutant with reality-warping and body possession powers. (Kevin was conceived when Moira's then-husband Joseph MacTaggert raped her, and this original arc regressively suggests that Proteus is so evil because he's a child of rape.)

Moira has appeared in previous "X-Men" films. She briefly showed up in "X-Men: The Last Stand," played by Olivia Williams. Her research allows Xavier (Patrick Stewart) to resurrect himself by placing his consciousness inside his braindead twin brother. Moira played a bigger role in the prequel "X-Men" films. Portrayed by Rose Byrne in both "X-Men: First Class" and "X-Men: Apocalypse," this Moira was reimagined as an American CIA agent to fit the "James Bond" riffing of "First Class." But I say let the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Moira be Scottish, which was another touch to the internationalism of the "Second Genesis" X-Men team. (Wolverine is Canadian, Storm is African, Nightcrawler is German, Colossus is Russian, etc.)

Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum's "X-Men" #104, when the X-Men first visit Muir Island, cheekily acknowledges the retcon that Professor X and Moira had been working together for many years. Cyclops tells Moira, "I've been with Professor Xavier from the beginning, and this is the first I've heard of your Mutant Research Center." Later writers would reveal Charles and Moira were hiding much deeper secrets than that.

Claremont ended Moira's journey in the 2000 crossover "Dream's End," when Moira perishes from her injuries after the Brotherhood of Mutants attack Muir Island. Unusually for a superhero comic character, she stayed dead for a long time — it took 19 years to reveal her death was faked, in Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and R.B. Silva's interlocking miniseries "House of X/Powers of X."

This series revealed Moira is not only still alive but actually had been a mutant all along. Her power? Reincarnation. When she dies, the entire timeline resets around her, and she returns to the moment of her conception with all her memories. "House of X" #2 shows Moira has lived nine lives and, in most of them, she has tried and failed to find a solution to save mutantkind from annihilation by humanity and their robotic Sentinels. In her current life, her 10th, the solution is creating a mutant homeland: Krakoa.

While Jonathan Hickman consults on Marvel Studios scripts, it's not clear if the studio plans to adapt his "X-Men" stories. Moira's multiple lives, especially, might be tricky if Marvel wants to leave the multiverse storytelling behind after the boondoggle Multiverse Saga. But pulled off well, it could be as mind-blowing a twist as it was in the comics.

"X-Men" is set for a May 5, 2028 theatrical release.