Original 'X-Men' Considered Casting Janet & Michael Jackson, Shaq, Mariah Carey

On the occasion of Logan, all things X-Men are fair game to chitchat about once again. Screenwriter/actor David Hayter, who penned the first X-movie in 2000, plus its 2003 sequel as well as Watchmen, got the memo. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hayter told of an alternate universe where some very big names nearly played the Mutants.

Such as: Storm, played by Halle Berry, could have gone to Janet JacksonMariah Carey or Oscar nominee Angela Bassett, who was the No. 1 choice but wanted more money than the film could afford. Shaq thought about playing Bishop. And, of course, as has been revealed in years past, Michael Jackson seriously wanted to play Professor X, who eventually was embodied—as he is in Logan, for the final time—by Sir Patrick Stewart. Terence Stamp, who played General Zod in 1980's Superman II and voiced Jor-El on Smallville, was also a potential Charles Xavier.