James Marsden is finally back as Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, in Avengers: Doomsday, but it doesn’t look like a happy return. Marsden hasn’t played the mutant since X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), with the role passing on to Tye Sheridan for the final two X-movies of the Fox era. Avengers: Doomsday‘s X-Men teaser trailer reveals his return, along with Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian McKellen as Magneto, with Cyclops unleashing an almighty optic blast at the very end of the footage.
Videos by ComicBook.com
That’s a reminder of just how powerful Cyclops really is, and a sign that, among the X-Men characters at least, he will be getting some real focus. While he is typically the leader of the team in the comics, the films tend to put more focus on Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. While he is also rumored to be in Doomsday (though that’s not yet confirmed), Cyclops may well be at the heart of things based on this teaser. Not only is he using his powers in an epic way, but he’s doing so while crying and screaming, meaning something has left him visibly shaken and desperate. Combined with some notable absences, could that mean death for several X-Men characters?
Is Jean Grey Dead In Avengers: Doomsday? What About Other X-Men?
The Doomsday X-Men trailer portends doom, or rather, Doom. Even before the scene with Cyclops, we hear an ominous speech about death, and its inevitability. Throw in what looks like chaos, destruction, and some Sentinels, and it all combines to suggest that several X-Men members have been killed, which would certainly justify the reaction from Cyclops. Scott is typically the more disciplined, traditionally heroic and good character among the team, and often reluctant to fully unleash his powers. If he’s doing this, then something major has to have happened (there is, of course, the possibility it’s a sequence from the Danger Room, but the level of emotion says otherwise).
The most obvious choice here would be the death of Jean Grey, the woman that Scott loves. That, above anything else, would provoke this kind of response, and Famke Janssen is absent from Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast, and has played down a return (though that doesn’t necessarily rule it out). Several other original X-Men characters and actors are also missing, though, including Rogue (Anna Paquin), Storm (Halle Berry), and Iceman (Shawn Ashmoore), and they could have been killed as well.
If the Sentinels are involved, then it’s possible they are being used by Doctor Doom, who seems to be targeting different worlds and groups of heroes, likely related to multiversal incursions. Killing off multiple X-Men would be a good way of establishing him as a major threat, and giving a greater, more emotional reason for the remaining members to join the fight against him. The only thing working against this theory, really, is that it’s almost too obvious, especially for an early teaser that could be looking to misdirect audiences. Now, we just have to wait until December to learn exactly why Cyclops is so upset and angry.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theaters on December 18th, 2026.
What do you think of the Avengers: Doomsday X-Men teaser and Cyclops’ role? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
Image Courtesy of Prime Video
