Saying that James Marsden rose to fame as Cyclops (Scott Summers) after he starred in Fox’s 2000 flick adaptation of the mutant team, X-Men, won’t be wrong. Playing the mutant Scott Summers, who shoots intense energy beams from his eyes, Marsden made his X-Men team debut alongside Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, and Halle Berry’s Storm.
Despite being a prominent character in Marvel Comics, Cyclops’ role in the X-Men films was nevertheless greatly diminished. And he seemed so unimportant that the third installment of the series, X-Men: The Last Stand, could have done without him.
Let us discover more about the film first.
Behind-the-Scenes: Hugh Jackman’s X-Men: The Last Stand
Director Brett Ratner took over X-Men: The Last Stand after Bryan Singer left the series to work on Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns, as per the report from Variety. Written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, the 2006 flick is a follow-up to Jean Grey’s death in X2: X-Men United. It combines two distinct comic stories, Joss Whedon’s Gifted, and The Dark Phoenix Saga.
In the 2000 film X-Men, Marsden made his debut as Cyclops. He later returned to the character in the 2003 film X2: X-Men United and the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand. He also made an appearance as the character in a cameo in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, where Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine reset the timeline shown in The Last Stand. It also marked Marsden’s character’s demise. Cyclops came back to life after the timeline was reset.
Some fans believe that Marsden never really got a chance to fully embody Cyclops in the X-Men films he starred in. During his tenure, Cyclops was mostly ignored because the films were ensemble pieces and the plot centered mostly on Wolverine, especially in the second and third installments.
Cyclops was eventually reintroduced in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, portrayed by Tye Sheridan, following the franchise’s shift to prequel movies following The Last Stand. Later, in 2019’s Dark Phoenix, the Ready Player One actor, 27, reprised the role.
The Superhero Movie That Almost Stole James Marsden Away From X-Men: The Last Stand
James Marsden broke down his career in a 2020 Vanity Fair interview, almost putting Superman Returns and X-Men: The Last Stand to a vote.
Bryan Singer, the X-Men and X2 director, stepped away from the franchise to direct Superman Returns, and he reached out to Marsden regarding a potential part. When a third X-Men film was being developed, Marsden jumped at the chance to star; however, he found himself in a precarious situation when The Last Stand began production. As Marsden clarified:
“There was a moment where it felt like it might’ve been an either/or. Like, make a choice. It turned out that we were able to work out the schedules. And then when I finished actually shooting ‘Superman Returns,’ I was able to go back and do a couple of weeks on, about a week and a half, on ‘X-Men 3,’ where Cyclops meets his end.”
Marvel Studios has released just a few of the episodes from their newest animated series, X-Men ‘97, to much fanfare. Charles Xavier’s death is shown in the trailer, which even continues where X-Men: The Animated Series left off.
Based on the initial reviews found on Rotten Tomatoes, X-Men ’97 is expected to rank among the best Marvel Studios series due to its superb animation and outstanding voice acting. In addition, it seems to fix a mistake that Fox continued to make with Cyclops’ character in their live-action films. At last, Cyclops is getting the respect he so richly merits in Beau DeMayo’s animated series!
X-Men ’97 has two episodes available for streaming onDisney+. Also, X-Men: The Last Stand can be watched on Disney Plus.
