When 20th Century Fox announced it was making a live-action X-Men film in the late 1990s, comic fans had strong opinions on who should play the role of Storm, one of the first Black woman comic book superheroes and a powerful mutant who can control weather systems, fight like a badass and fly.
Ultimately, Halle Berry was cast as Storm, leading to controversial fan reaction — partly because a light-skinned actress was cast to portray a dark-skinned African woman. But during a recent appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” Janet Jackson revealed that she had to turn down Storm due to her touring schedule.
When asked if she was going to be in “The Matrix,” the “Control” legend explained that it was “X-Men” she was offered,
“But I couldn’t, because I was just embarking on the Janet Tour,” Jackson said.
It would’ve been interesting to see where Jackson would’ve taken the superhero. But since it feels like Fox was never that committed to the character, I’m not sure her presence would’ve made much difference to the presentation or story.
For her part, Berry did the best she could with what she was given considering Storm was never given the writing she deserved: Through four movies, she constantly played second fiddle to Wolverine and Jean Grey’s complicated relationship.
At one point, producers allegedly tricked Berry into signing on for “X-Men: The Last Stand.” Director Matthew Vaughn revealed that he dropped out of the project because producers showed him a Storm-centric scene they had no intention of including in the film. The scene was just part of a ruse to get Berry to come back for a third movie.
Whatever you think of Halle Berry as Storm, you have to agree that the “X-Men” producers did her dirty.
With the MCU deep into the multiverse and Hugh Jackman returning as Logan in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” there’s a chance we could see Berry back as Storm, but let’s hope she gets more to do this time and perhaps even finds herself in Wakanda.