‘Avengers: Doomsday’: James Marsden Says “World Is Ready For This Movie & These Worlds To Collide” With X-Men Finally Joining MCU Sequel

It’s hard to be upset that actor James Marsden (“Westworld,” “Sonic The Hedgehog” films) is getting another shot at playing “X-Men” member Scott Summers/Cyclops in The Russo Brothers’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” and the actor is hyping up the collision of the two Marvel Comics franchises.

Marsden attended The Emmys over the weekend and was asked by Variety about what it was like stepping on the set for “Avengers: Doomsday” and getting the rare opportunity to reprise the Cyclops role 20 years later.

READ MORE: ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Actor Channing Tatum Says Russo Brothers Will Present Gambit A Bit More Serious Than In ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’

“It’s exciting. You can feel that it’s something special,” Marsden told Variety on Sunday. “The world is ready for this movie and these worlds to collide.” He also reflected on getting called up by Marvel Studios to play Summers again, “I thought there was a chance. I think once 10 years passed, and then 20 years passed, it was like, ‘Well, that was a nice idea.’ But, now…waiting for all of us to get a little grey in the hair and long in the tooth to bring us back.”

He’s not the only original cast member showing up in “Avengers: Doomsday” as we’ll also see Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), and Kesley Grammer (Beast). The latter showed up toward the end of “The Marvels” in another universe within the greater Multiverse, and could be where these iterations of the mutants are from (school is out officially if we’ll indeed see Deadpool, Wolverine, Colossus, or Laura will be showing up from their own universe after confirmation we’re getting Channing Tatum’s Gambit again)

Cumming has teased that mutants could be coming into conflict with Pedro Pascal’s Mister Fantastic and the rest of the “Fantastic Four” lineup in the film (set images have teased comic-accurate Sentinels could be involved) after detailing a fight scene between Nightcrawler and Reed Richards.

Fans are well aware of the messy and botched character iterations in the Singerverse (Cyclops being one of the mangled heroes), Marsden’s Cyclops was ultimately and unceremoniously killed off in the opening act of Brett Ratner’s “X3: X-Men United” as he was ironically busy shooting Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” as Lois Lane’s husband and never really got the fair shot at the character, as they attempted more of an antagonistic jock take on Summers as more of a romantic rival of Wolverine than a true leader.

The revival animated series “X-Men ’97” did an excellent job rebranding the character for a new generation, and we’re hopeful the Russos will take a similar swing with Marsden’s MCU take on the mutant hero before Jake Schreier’s “X-Men” reboot.

You can watch Marsden’s brief exchange on the red carpet with Variety below.

James Marsden says "it's exciting" to return as Cyclops for #AvengersDoomsday: "You can feel that it's something specia. The world is ready for this movie and these worlds are ready to collide." pic.twitter.com/7yWd3bMS9u

— Variety (@Variety) September 14, 2025