Kit Connor Reportedly Eyed to Play Cyclops—and Some Fans Missed the Point of the X-Men

Marvel Studios may have found the leader of its next generation of X-Men.

Marvel reportedly wants Kit Connor to play Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops, in its upcoming X-Men movie. Connor is best known for playing Nick Nelson in Netflix’s Heartstopper.

Neither Marvel nor Connor has confirmed the casting. For now, this remains a report rather than an official announcement.

Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier will helm the new movie. Marvel currently plans to release it after Avengers: Secret Wars.

Connor would follow James Marsden and Tye Sheridan, who previously played Cyclops in Fox’s X-Men films. He would also join his Heartstopper co-star Joe Locke in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Locke played Billy Maximoff in Agatha All Along.

For many comic readers, the report offers some hope. Cyclops deserves a live-action adaptation that treats him as more than Jean Grey’s stern boyfriend.

Unfortunately, some social media users focused on Connor’s sexuality instead.

Apparently, it is time for an X-Men history lesson.

Kit Connor Is Bisexual, Not Gay

First, an important correction: Connor has publicly identified as bisexual.

In 2022, the then-18-year-old actor said online harassment forced him to discuss his sexuality before he felt ready. People had accused him of queerbaiting and spent months speculating about his private life.

Connor responded by saying those critics had missed the point of Heartstopper. The series centers empathy, identity and the right to understand yourself on your own timeline.

Four years later, people are once again using his sexuality to decide which roles he can play.

Apparently, they missed the point twice.

Connor’s bisexuality does not prevent him from playing a character who has primarily dated women. Acting does not require performers to share every trait with their characters.

Casting Connor also would not erase Scott’s relationships with Jean Grey, Emma Frost or anyone else.

It would simply mean a bisexual actor plays Cyclops.

That should not be difficult to understand.

Cyclops Was the First X-Man

Cyclops debuted in X-Men #1 in September 1963. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character alongside Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel.

Scott became Professor Charles Xavier’s first student. He soon emerged as the team’s field leader.

He is not simply “the guy who shoots lasers from his eyes.” His eyes release powerful optic force blasts, which he cannot naturally control.

That danger shaped almost every part of his personality.

Scott became disciplined because carelessness could kill someone. He became a tactician because his teammates depended on his decisions.

He also learned to bury his emotions. Xavier taught him that control kept everyone safe.

Marvel has long portrayed Cyclops as one of its greatest strategists. He remains one of mutantkind’s most important leaders.

In other words, Scott Summers is not a mascot for heterosexuality.

He is a traumatized mutant commander with weaponized eyeballs, a catastrophic family tree and world-class emotional repression.

Cyclops Spent His Life Protecting People Who Hated Him

Early in his story, Scott faithfully follows Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence.

Then he watches humanity repeat the same cycle for years.

Governments register mutants. Scientists experiment on them. Sentinels hunt them. Extremists call their existence an abomination.

Again and again, humans demand that mutants prove they deserve to live.

Those experiences change Scott.

After mutantkind nearly faced extinction, Cyclops focused more heavily on survival. He established Utopia as a refuge for mutants.

Scott also stopped acting like Xavier’s obedient student. He challenged his mentor, world governments and other superhero teams.

His goal remained the same: protect mutant lives.

That evolution inspired the phrase “Cyclops was right.”

Scott has made terrible mistakes. He has hurt people, crossed lines and carried the consequences of disastrous choices.

Still, one responsibility drives nearly every version of the character. He believes he must keep his people alive.

That makes the backlash against Connor especially ridiculous.

Some viewers apparently oppose a bisexual actor playing a leader who protects a hated minority from persecution.

Subtlety has never been everyone’s strength.

The X-Men Have Always Been About People Targeted for Being Different

The mutant metaphor has never represented only one real-world community.

Over six decades, X-Men stories have explored racism, homophobia, religious extremism, disease stigma and state violence.

The comics have also examined forced registration and the pressure to hide your identity.

God Loves, Man Kills offers one of the clearest examples. Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson introduced Reverend William Stryker, a religious extremist who called for mutant extermination.

Stryker used fear, faith and political influence to justify hatred.

Queer readers have connected with the X-Men for decades. The comics often used queer subtext before Marvel openly identified characters as LGBTQ+.

Northstar became Marvel’s first superhero to come out on-panel. Iceman later came out as gay.

Mystique and Destiny also share one of the franchise’s longest-running queer relationships.

None of that means every mutant secretly represents a queer person.

It means the franchise speaks to people who understand judgment, fear and forced secrecy.

The X-Men’s central message has never been hard to find.

People should not face punishment for the way they were born.

The Real Question Is Whether Marvel Understands Cyclops

Fans can ask legitimate questions about Connor’s possible casting.

Can he capture Scott’s intensity? Can he command a room? Will audiences believe the team follows his orders?

More importantly, will Marvel finally understand Cyclops?

Previous films often reduced him to a romantic obstacle between Jean Grey and Wolverine. Scott deserves better than that.

He ranks among Marvel’s greatest tactical minds. He has led the X-Men through wars, extinction events and impossible moral choices.

Cyclops can be rigid, frustrating and emotionally unavailable. He can also inspire loyalty from some of Marvel’s most powerful heroes.

That complexity should drive the casting conversation.

Connor’s bisexuality should not.

Marvel has not officially announced him as Scott Summers. The studio may still choose another actor.

Should Connor receive the role, he does not need to prove that he is “straight enough” to wear the visor.

He only needs to convince audiences of one thing.

When Cyclops gives an order, the X-Men follow it.

Anyone angry that a bisexual actor may lead a franchise about persecuted minorities should reread the comics.

They clearly missed something.