James Marsden Talks Potentially Joining the MCU

Movies

It looks like James Marsden wants to put the visor back on. When asked in a recent interview with ComicBook.com whether he would want to play Cyclops in the MCU, Marsden gave an enthusiastic yes, expounding on what a great time he had being a part of the X-Men trilogy cast. At first blush, I had flashbacks of Chris Evans saying that he would play Johnny Storm again were Christopher Nolan to ask him. But it is clear from this interview, that Marsden looks back on his time as cyclops fondly, something that always been an open question in the fandom, particularly after how he was treated in X-Men: The Last Stand (granted, I’ve always thought that had to do with a scheduling conflict with Superman Returns). While the character always played second fiddle to Wolverine, it would be nice for longtime X-fans – particularly people like myself, who were fans of the 90s cartoon – to see Cyclops shine, something that might become a reality with this summer’s Dark Phoenix.

While the possibility of James Marsden reprising the role for Marvel is fairly remote, there’s no denying it would be pretty neat to see things come full circle and have Marsden portray a version of the character the fans can get behind. Don’t get me wrong; I love Tye Sheridan in the part. But for kids of the 90s who came of age with these movies, Marsden was our Cyclops (X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s Tim Pocock notwithstanding). When it comes to casting these new X-Men movies, Marvel faces a similar challenge to what they’ve had to combat with Sony when it came to casting J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man films: how do you replace perfection, as Magneto would say, particularly when you’ve cast the latter and his counterpart not once but twice? It’s a tall order, but if anyone can do it, Kevin Feige can.

Do you want James Marsden to play Cyclops again or do you think he’s put on the shades for the last time? Let us know in the comments!