They’ve got Jean Grey. They’ve got Emma Frost. And now, Marvel Studios is adding another key piece to its X-Men puzzle: Scott Summers, aka Cyclops.
Deadline reports that Kit Connor, star of the Netflix series Heartstopper as well as the A24 film Warfare, is Marvel’s choice to play the iconic mutant and leader of the X-Men in an upcoming film directed by Jake Schreier. Casting for the film has been ongoing all summer and, according to the trade, a small group of actors tested back in July. Then, after some back and forth over the next few weeks, Connor was finally chosen.
While the upcoming film does not yet have a release date, rumors have been swirling that a cast announcement was imminent. Many expected it at San Diego Comic-Con, but with this news just breaking, it seems like the whole team was far from set. It also didn’t help that one of the main characters’ identities was being treated as a huge spoiler for another upcoming film, so Marvel had to protect that for a few extra weeks.
In addition to Warfare and Heartstopper, Connor has already racked up a few pretty awesome credits, especially in animation. For example, he’s the voice of Brightbill in io9’s favorite movie of 2024, The Wild Robot. He was also the voice of Pantalaimon in HBO’s His Dark Materials series. Of course, both of those were years ago, and he’s grown up considerably since, but each of those performances showed great range.
And now he’ll find himself torn between Sadie Sink and Samara Weaving.
It’s still unclear what other X-Men need to be cast for the upcoming film, or when we’ll find out, but Disney’s D23 convention takes place in a week, so there’s a good chance we’ll learn more then.
What do you think about the casting? Are we ready for decades of this Cyclops?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
