Marvel Studios has cast Kit Connor, who is best known for the gay romance series Heartstopper, to portray one of the most famous superheroes in an upcoming reboot of the X-Men film series.
According to Deadline, the 22-year-old Connor will play Cyclops in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The character, a mutant with the ability to shoot lethal laser beams from his eyes, has been a pillar of the comics series and its film adaptations.
The British actor shot to prominence for his lead role in the gay romance British Netflix series, Heartstopper, where he plays a high school rugby player who falls in love with a nebbish, openly gay fellow student (Connor’s co-star Joe Locke has also appeared in a Marvel Studios show, the one-season Disney+ series Agatha All Along). The series was aired from 2022 to 2024. Based on the series of books and comics by young adult author Alice Oseman, the series frequently depicts gay sex among teens and also transgender characters.
The actor now headed for the X-Men franchise confirmed that he is bisexual in an X post in October of 2022, after rumors swirled about his sexuality.
The annoyed actor wrote, “I’m bi. Congrats for forcing an 18 year old to out himself. I think some of you missed the point of the show. Bye,” according to Variety.
Connor was under attack by fans who found it unacceptable that a straight actor would portray a gay teen.
He later complained that the cancel culture made him speak out about his sexuality before he was ready to do so.
“I think ‘forced’ isn’t the right word I would use, but I would say that I would have preferred to do it another way. I also don’t know if I would have ever done it. But at the end of the day, I don’t regret it. In many ways it was really empowering,” he told British Vogue.
The Cyclops character is a founding member of the X-Men superhero team, appearing as far back as 1963 when the series was created by Marvel legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Cyclops, whose civilian name is Scott Summers, is usually portrayed as the captain and leader of the X-Men team. On the silver screen, he was first played by James Marsden in three films between 2000 and 2014. Ready Player One star Tye Sheridan took on the role in a prequel trilogy between 2016 and 2019. Marsden will also reprise his Cyclops role for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
The X-Men series has been a hit or miss series for critics — mostly misses — though they still earned well at the box office. However, the comic book team is a perennial favorite among fans.
Marvel has been a target of complaints from the far-left for years for not being “inclusive” enough for the LGBTQQIAAP2S+ lobby.
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