Though you may know James Marsden as Teddy Flood thanks to HBO’s Westworld, there was a time when the actor was front and center of the superhero scene.
Long before Marvel built its magnum opus in the MCU, and thoughts of a live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie were but a distant (and rather bizarre) dream, James Marsden took on the role of Scott Summers (AKA Cyclops) for Bryan Singer’s X-Men movies in the early 2000s. The actor later reprised that same role for The Last Stand, but the less said about that particular superhero sequel, the better.
So now that 20th Century Fox is under the ownership of Disney, and Marvel Studios has regained control of the X-Men, would James Marsden consider the possibility of reprising his role as Scott Summers/Cyclops for an MCU movie?
That very question was presented to the Westworld star during a recent interview with ComicBook.com, to which he replied:
Sure. It might be weird to be one thing to sort of rejoin Marvel or rejoin DC or something like that, but to actually rejoin X-Men as a different character might feel a little strange. But I would be open to it. I mean, that was a world I have great respect for and [I’m] very grateful to be a part of that family for a long period of time. It’s one of those special moments in my career and I would totally be open to that.
Marsden clearly has a lot of respect for the source material, so it’s understandable that he’d want to hold on to the role of Cyclops, should such an opportunity arise. Nevertheless, there are those mutants who have irrefutably closed the door on their time in the X-franchise, after Charles Xavier himself, Patrick Stewart, conceded that, after lengthy negotiations with Kevin Feige and the Powers That Be at Marvel Studios, he has decided against reprising his X-Men role. Perhaps the opposite will be true of Marsden?
One thing’s for sure: James Marsden is part of the new-look Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which is expected to make a beeline for theaters on February 14th.