Doomsday (And The Funny Way Ian McKellen Helped Fix That)

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After the Disney-Fox merger closed in 2019 and Marvel Studios gained the film rights to the X-Men, James Marsden expressed interest in returning as Cyclops if the opportunity were presented. Well, Marsden got his wish, as he and other X-Men alums are returning for Avengers: Doomsday in their full glory! Still, Marsden was initially “worried” about his reprisal for a key reason, but co-star Ian McKellen humorously alleviated his fear.

The last time that James Marsden played Cyclops was a brief cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past. 12 years later, the Jury Duty star will be kicking butt as he dons Scott Summer’s visor again in the highly anticipated Doomsday. Marsden recently discussed the experience with The celebrity.land, during which he discussed a concern that’s very in line with superhero projects:

I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to do any of this physical stuff, but it all worked out great. I still fit the costume! The costume looks great, it’s the Cyclops costume from the comics, so people are excited about that. And great to see my old friends again, to reunite with Patrick and Ian and Rebecca and everybody. It was a lot of fun.

As shown in the X-Men-centered Doomsday trailer, Cyclops wears his comic-book-accurate blue-padded suit with the yellow chest straps. The way in which the hero blasts those lasers through his eyes in full force looked so epic! So it’s interesting to hear that from a behind-the-scenes standpoint, Marsden was a bit concerned about the physicality involved in playing the role. While the Enchanted star eventually got his bearings, it seems that an A+ on-set moment involving Magneto actor Ian McKellen really changed his perspective first:

For the longest time, I didn’t think it was going to happen. I just thought, ‘okay, well, that’s kind of done, and they don’t want the 55 (year-old) version of me.’ But there Ian McKellen was pushing his stunt double aside going, ‘Let me try.’

That’s the way to do it! Seriously, why am I not surprised that the great Ian McKellen (who is 86) was eager to do some stunt work? Funny enough the actor even previously teased a massive moment in Doomsday involving Magneto. I’m ready to see the Master of Magnetism back in action as well as Marsden’s Summers.

I can understand why it may have originally been intimidating for James Marsden to jump back into superhero-centric stunt work and fit into his costume for Doomsday. Still, I’m glad to hear that everything ultimately worked out, and that wasn’t just the case for him. X-Men co-star Alan Cumming spoke about his experience after he wrapped his Doomsday scenes and said he was able to do his stunt work flawlessly as well.

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All in all, Doomsday has a lot of seasoned veterans of the superhero genre within its cast. Thor actor Chris Hemsworth even admitted to feeling like an “elder” millennial on set. Still, it’s incredibly exciting that so many of them, including X-Men alums like Patrick Stewart (Professor X) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), are returning.

I can’t wait for this movie, and James Marsden’s recent tease just makes me more excited. With the hard work Marsden put into his role, I’d like to hope Avengers: Doomsday will do right by Cyclops, portraying him as a strong leader and a formidable fighter. See the character return when the MCU’s next team-up movie hits theaters on December 18th as part of the 2026 movie schedule. In the meantime, stream classic X-Men films using a Disney+ subscription.