The writers of Avengers: Endgame have shared their thoughts about bringing Cyclops into the MCU, and specifically how they would treat the character if given the opportunity. It’s been inevitable for a while that the X-Men would eventually be joining the MCU, and the news follows recent comment by Cyclops’ original actor James Marsden stating that he would be open to returning to the role.
Although audiences have long been calling for it, Marvel Studios making an X-Men film was previously precluded by the film rights for the property having been retained by 20th Century Fox since the company bought them back in 1994. With the completion of the recent merger between Fox and Disney (Marvel’s parent company) all rights have essentially transferred back, meaning that the door is now open for the mutant superteam to finally come home.
The writers of the screenplay for Avengers: Endgame, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have stated an interest in retooling Cyclops for his appearance in the MCU, and brought up while speaking to ComicBook. Although the duo have not yet been assigned any further projects for the film saga, they talked about the inherent appeal of having the opportunity to explore the incoming characters, including Cyclops, in different ways than previously seen. The attraction for them comes from their desire to portray him as a “real hero” rather than a “punching bag,” referencing his portrayal in film so far.
Cyclops has always been a part of the X-Men, being one of the original members of the team back when the comic first debuted in 1963 and the group consisted of a mere half dozen individuals, and has remained one of its most consistent presences since then. An embodiment of the selfless hero archetype, his prominence allowed him to remain as one of the most popular and recognizable of the multitude of characters to have been part of the team over the decades, and has appeared in several of the mainline X-Men films, set to conclude next month with the release of Dark Phoenix.
Now that the trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home has confirmed the existence of the multiverse (assuming Mysterio wasn’t lying) there is a neat opportunity to bring the X-Men (as well as others such as The Fantastic Four) into the MCU and have their absences up until this point explained away as them existing in different realities. It wouldn’t be uncharitable to suggest that Cyclops’ interpretation in film has been less than engaging, with his presence being hampered by the writers being unsure exactly what to do with him, even going as far to unceremoniously kill him off in The Last Stand, before the saga was retooled with First Class and the timeline became snarled in inconsistencies. When the appearance of the X-Men does eventually happen, if Markus and McFeely, the creative minds behind some of the MCU’s best instalments, are at the keyboard, perhaps X-Men fans will finally get the Cyclops they always deserved.
Source: ComicBook.com