James Marsden kickstarted his career in 1993 with the role of Margaret Sheffield’s boyfriend Eddie in the CBS sitcom The Nanny. Following this, he had guest roles in TV shows like Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Party of Five. He famously appeared in the movie X-Men, based on the eponymous Marvel Comics superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Marsden played the role of the mutant superhero Cyclops in the movie. However, he once opened up about the superhero role that he would liked to play.
James Marsden on the Superhero Role That He Would Have Liked to Play
James Marsden embodied the character Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops, in the first three movies of the X-Men franchise. He also had a cameo as the character in the franchise past his appearance in these three movies.
Although Marsden has enthralled fans with his performance as Cyclops for several years, that is not the Marvel superhero role that he thought he was made to play. In an interview with Out Magazine, when asked which other mutant he wished he could have played in the X-Men franchise.
Surprisingly, it is not another X-Men character that Marsden expressed his interest in playing. Instead, he said:
“I always kind of thought of myself as more as a Spider-Man guy.”
Every person has their own preference. So, it seems fair for the actor to have an interest in playing the web-slinger. However, so far, he has not gotten the chance to appear as the character and there is a chance that he might never get to do it.
James Marsden is Proud of Playing Cyclops
Marsden might be interested in playing Spider-Man, but this does not imply that he does not love playing Cyclops. In the same interview, he also said:
“My allegiance is with Scott. I’m proud to have been Scott Summers.”
The Notebook actor’s character was slashed out of the many other movies made in the franchise such as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine trilogy, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool movies, or the prequel films X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse. This is probably because 20th Century Fox Studios had been trying to move in a different direction with the franchise.
James Marsden is Willing to Reprise the Role of Cyclops
After so many years, one would think that Marsden has lost interest in playing the role of the mutant superhero, especially since he was replaced by Tye Sheridan in the films released as a part of the series between 2016 and 2019.
However, in an interview with ComicBook.com, he said that he would like to reprise the role if and when it is introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
“Sure, I’d be down. I think that world, there just are no rules. You can do whatever you want. If there’s some iteration down the line where we’re involved… that’s been a special thing to be a part of for a good period of my life and I love those fans and I love playing that character, so yeah, I’d be totally open to that.”
Fans would definitely love to have Marsden back as the character in the MCU. However, whether he will be made a part of the MCU or not remains to be seen.
