It is inevitable that one day Marvel’s comic book mutants will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the MCU expands, properties previously part of FOX’s franchise have been folded back into Marvel Studios. With Marvel seemingly wanting a cohesive universe through movies in theaters and shows streaming on Disney Plus, they’ll likely want to make familiar characters their own instead of using the existing storylines and actors from the previous X-Men and Fantastic Four properties. One of those familiar characters is Cyclops.
Cyclops appeared in both X-Men trilogies created by FOX, played by James Marsden in the original trilogy, and by Tye Sheridan in the rebooted movies. A member of the first X-Men team in the comics, Scott Summers became the team’s leader, and has maintained that position in different incarnations of the comics, movies, and animated series. While the character is beloved by fans, he’s not always beloved by his teammates, and an actor would have to walk a fine line of being the hero they can root for and the sanctimonious man the team doesn’t always want to listen to. These actors could do just that.
Dacre Montgomery
Dacre Montgomery has proven himself a hugely versatile actor with just two projects, though he has many more under his belt. He’s shown himself as both the leader and the villain thanks to a rebooted movie franchise and a popular Netflix series.
He played the team leader, and a troubled teen with a heart of gold, in Power Rangers. Though the movie didn’t end up getting the sequels many hoped for, Montgomery shined as Jason, the Red Ranger who has to grow into his leadership role. Those growing pains and teen angst are exactly what a young Cyclops could use. Likewise, Montgomery was the violent and angry older brother of Max on what is arguably Netflix’s most popular series, Stranger Things. That role was a bit edgier for him, demonstrating he can handle the drama if Marvel decides to go for a darker X-Men route.
Rahul Kohli
Though Rahul Kohli doesn’t have a plethora of roles on his resume (yet), the ones he takes on have all earned him a legion of fans and an impressed audience. He’s appeared in several genre projects including iZombie, The Haunting Of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass that have all seen critics sit up and take notice.
Kohli is also no stranger to comic book-inspired projects. So far, most of them have been adaptations of DC works, like his guest-starring stint on Supergirl, or appearing as the voice of the Scarecrow in the Harley Quinn animated series. Dabbling in the Marvel universe might also be a fun challenge for him. He’s jokingly remarked that he’d like to play Emma Frost for Marvel, but Cyclops would be an interesting role for him to take on. His past roles have already shown he’s got the gravitas and the charm to make the audience respect and like the character.
Camrus Johnson
Though Camrus Johnson has been in the industry for the better part of a decade, his breakout role came fairly recently thanks to a DC comic adaptation: Batwoman. In the series, he plays Luke Fox, who starts out as tech support, or the man on the other end of the superhero’s earpiece, but the show has grown into a true ensemble with everyone taking their turn on the earpiece or out in the field.
That’s allowed Johnson to grow into the superhero role of Batwing, the masked identity of his character’s comic book counterpart. The depth Johnson’s given to Fox’s grief over losing his father, his difficulty in adjusting to new teammates, and his desire to do more than sit at the computer demonstrates just how great he would be as someone like Scott Summers, who wrestles with his nearly every decision as a team leader.
Ryan-James Hatanaka
With quite a few TV and live theater credits over the last decade, Ryan-James Hatanaka has no shortage of trying on different hats for different characters. Most recently, he’s joined the cast of the CW”s Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew might be one of the best pop culture detectives out there, but Tanaka’s Detective Abe Tamura is no slouch either.
He provides a stern foil for Nancy and her friends, someone who is ultimately on their side when it comes to catching the bad guys and getting justice, but someone who is also a stickler for protocol and procedure that they tend to ignore. That means he’s got that same strict demeanor that Scott Summers can break out when his team doesn’t listen to him, but he’s also got that same desperate need to do the right thing.
Chris Pine
Just what age the actor playing Cyclops would need to be is still unknown. If the future of the X-Men in the MCU doesn’t involve their early days learning to control their mutant abilities, someone a bit more seasoned on-screen might be a good approach for the part. That someone could be Chris Pine.
Pine is a genre fan’s dream of an actor. He’s played the cocky Captain Kirk in Star Trek, the noble soldier Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman, and even the daydreaming Cinderella’s prince in Into The Woods. It seems like there’s no role out of reach for him. While he has already appeared in a Marvel project, it’s not in the MCU. Pine voiced Peter Parker for Into The Spider-Verse, so he wouldn’t really be doubling up on MCU roles. The trouble is, with so many projects in development, like a Dungeons & Dragons adaptation, another Star Trek movie, and the potential for him to appear in another Wonder Woman, Pine might not be available to Marvel.