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Jonathan Bailey is having one heck of a year. On top of returning to Bridgerton for its smash-hit third season and starring in Wicked, one of 2024’s most-anticipated films, he’s also in the midst of filming what is no doubt going to be one of 2025’s biggest movies. Namely, the umpteenth installment in the never-ending Jurassic-verse, Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Universal flung a first look at the new film our way this week, offering a tease at Bailey alongside new franchise lead Scarlett Johansson. While the Black Widow icon plays covert ops expert Zora Bennett, tasked with leading a squad into a dino-filled biosphere, Bailey is on board as paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis — the latest in the Jurassic Park series’ long tradition of sticking hot people in glasses and calling them nerds.
The funny thing is, Bailey is in danger of getting typecast as Hollywood’s go-to “hot nerd” actor after also recently appearing opposite Matt Bomer in the acclaimed miniseries Fellow Travelers and his upcoming guest turn in Heartstopper season 3. Like one viral tweet put it, “jonathan bailey is collecting hot nerd roles like they’re infinity stones.”
Infinity Stones, huh? That gets you thinking — with his star on the rise, a Marvel role seems, well, inevitable at this point, so which character would be the best fit for Bailey in the MCU? Well, here’s an idea that might seem a little out of the blue, but bear with me…
Is it just us, or is Jonathan Bailey crawling ever closer to his perfect MCU role?
The MCU’s X-Men are coming, and after the uber-success of Deadpool & Wolverine, they are likely coming fast. That movie showed just how much buzz can be generated if the right popular actor is cast in a fan-favorite role — see Channing Tatum as Gambit — so clearly that’s what Marvel needs to do when rebooting Professor X’s mutant men and women in the not-so-distant future. And, Kevin Feige, if you’re listening, Jonathan Bailey should be at the top of the list.
You may be thinking you can guess where this is going. With his looks, Bailey could make a solid Scott Summers/Cyclops. Allow me to teleport another contender into the ring, however. Just ponder the question, what if… Jonathan Bailey was Nightcrawler? Although we’re used to Alan Cumming and Kodi Smit-McPhee playing a gawkier version of the character, a look at the comics incarnation will tell you how Kurt Wagner is often more swol than shy.
Many a talented actor have already acquiesced to having their body painted blue, green, or grey in service of joining the MCU — most of the Guardians of the Galaxy, in fact — and Bailey could be a canny next candidate. Once he’s painted up, dons some yellow contact lenses, and gets himself a CGI tail, he would be eerily close to the depiction of Nightcrawler on the page. Anyone know if he can do a German accent? I bet he can do a German accent.
His Bridgerton co-star Rege-Jean Page was rumored for a Marvel role last year, but nothing ever came of that. Let’s hope this means Feige is a secret binger of the Netflix banger, though, and that the Anthony icon is on his radar. And, if he isn’t, maybe ScarJo can use her connections to make some magic happen. We’re here for Jonathan Bailey’s rebirth as designated hot nerd guy, if leads to him bamf-ing into the MCU soon.