After 20 years, the MCU has finally redeemed one of the most underrated X-Men movie heroes

While Marvel fans have good reason to love Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, the MCU will finally redeem one of the most underrated X-Men movie heroes, 20 years after being brutally sidelined. It is thanks to Avengers: Apocalypse released in late 2026, featuring a large ensemble of characters, including X-Men from Fox’s Marvel film universe.

As Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Gather Again in 2026 Avengers: Apocalypsethe heroes of Earth-616 will also be joined by the Fantastic Four of Earth-828 and various X-Men played by the same actors from the Fox franchise which began in 2000.

This group of X-Men is expected to include James Marsden’s Cyclops, who finally seems to get some much-deserved redemption in the new MCU film.as evidenced by Avengers: Apocalypse new teaser focused on X-Men.

Cyclops never got his due in Fox’s X-Men films

At Fox X-Men franchise, James Marsden’s Cyclops was introduced as the team leader responsible for the X-Men, although the films never seemed to trust Scott Summers to carry any real narrative weight.

Instead, Jackman’s Wolverine was positioned as the main protagonist, dominating most of the spotlight alongside Famke Janssen’s Jean Gray and Patrick Stewart’s Professor

THE X-Men the films made Cyclops even dirtier with the 2006 ones X-Men: The Last Standwith Scott Summers murdered off-screen by Jean Grey’s Phoenix in the first act.

Although he had a small appearance in late 2014 X-Men: Days of Future Pastconfirming his survival in the newly altered timeline, it’s pretty clear that Marsden’s Cyclops had so much potential that was massively underutilized in Fox’s. X-Men franchise.

It should be mentioned that The Young Cyclops by Tye Sheridan in the later prequels, he received a greater share of the attention compared to Marsden’s version, although there still seems to be this enduring misconception about Scott’s value as an on-screen X-Men leader to mainstream viewers.

The Avengers: Doomsday trailer X-Men finally redeems the Cyclops

NOW, Avengers: Apocalypse The new X-Men-focused trailer hints that Cyclops will finally receive some long-overdue validation in the upcoming MCU film.

Resistant a blue and yellow X-Men costume faithful to the comics and unleashing devastating optical blasts, Scott Summers is introduced at the end of the teaser as both incredibly powerful and a central character, teasing that he might finally be able to achieve his deserved status as a marquee hero rather than a supporting character like we’ve seen in previous X-Men films.

More importantly, the footage shows Cyclops experiencing some pretty intense emotions and perhaps even grief. After all, it appears that mutant-killing Sentinels are in the background of what appears to be the remains of Xavier’s school. As such, this implies that Marsden’s return as Cyclops will be a central hero among the larger MCU ensemble we’ll see in doomsday.

After twenty years, it certainly seems like the MCU intends to treat Cyclops better than Fox, with the goal of showing his full potential as one of the greatest X-Men heroes and leaders of all time.

Avengers: Apocalypse is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 18, 2026 by Marvel Studios.

Release date

December 18, 2026

Director

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Writers

Stephen McFeely, Michael Waldron, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Cast

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  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman

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  Johnny Storm / Human Torch

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  Ebony moss-Bachrach

  Ben Grimm / The Thing