X-Men Director Remembers Norm Spencer on the Anniversary of His Death

By Cameron Bonomolo

X-Men: The Animated Series director Larry Houston is paying tribute to late Cyclops voice actor Norm Spencer on the anniversary of his death. Spencer, who voiced the mutant field commander and the "previously on X-Men" introductions for all five seasons between 1992 and 1997, died on August 31, 2020, at age 62. While the cause of death is not known, Spencer's longtime X-Men co-star Cal Dodd — the voice of Scott Summers' rival and teammate, Wolverine — announced the Canadian actor's passing on social media. On Wednesday, Houston took to Twitter to post a remembrance of Spencer on the second anniversary of his death.  

"Remembering today, the passing of actor Norm Spencer aka Cyclops, the powerful voice of authority in the X-Men series & also the voice of our "Previously, on X-Men" recaps," the X-Men series director and producer wrote. "Norm, know that you are greatly missed but never forgotten." 

Spencer reprised the Cyclops/Scott Sumers role on two episodes of the '90s Spider-Man: The Animated Series and voiced another Marvel character, Drax the Destroyer, on episodes of 1998's Silver Surfer: The Animated Series. The Canadian actor also provided the voice of Cyclops in multiple Marvel video games, including X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. His other roles included Canadian firefighter Billy Blazes in the animated Rescue Heroes, Sly Fox on Dumb Bunnies, and live-action roles on Top Cops and the sitcom Majority Rules!  

Along with Spencer's Cyclops, the beloved '90s animated series featured the voices of Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Chris Potter (Gambit), Alyson Court (Jubilee), Cedric Smith (Professor X), and David Hemblen (Magneto). 

Dodd, Zann, Buza, Sealy-Smith, Potter, Disher, and co-stars Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler) and Christopher Britton (Mister Sinister) are among the original X-Men cast members returning for Marvel Studios' X-Men 97, an all-new animated Disney+ series set in the 1990s timeline of the beloved show. 

Houston, along with original showrunner and series developer Eric Lewald and writer Julia Lewald, are consulting on the revival debuting in fall 2023 on Disney+. Beau DeMayo is serving as head writer and executive producer for Kevin Feige's Marvel Studios, which has already ordered a second season of the sequel show. 

All episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series are available to stream on Disney+.

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