Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot is beginning to come into focus. After years of speculation surrounding which actors would inherit some of Marvel’s most iconic mutant roles, the studio has reportedly found another key member of Charles Xavier’s team. Just days after reports emerged that Samara Weaving had landed the role of Emma Frost, the leader of the X-Men has now been cast.

According to Deadline, Kit Connor has been chosen to play Cyclops, also known as Scott Summers, in Marvel Studios’ upcoming X-Men reboot. Neither Marvel Studios nor Connor’s representatives have commented on the report. It had been speculated that Disney and Marvel were keen to sort out the casting before D23, and it looks like that might be the case.

Connor will be the third actor to play Cyclops in live action following James Marsden, who played the character in Fox’s original X-Men trilogy, and will reprise the role in this year’s Avengers: Doomsday, and Tye Sheridan, who took over the role in the franchise’s younger timeline. According to the report, director Jake Schreier and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spent several months meeting and testing actors for the role before ultimately settling on Connor last week.

Connor joins what is becoming an increasingly high-profile cast for Marvel’s long-awaited reboot. Reports earlier this week claimed that Weaving had been selected to play Emma Frost following an extensive casting search, making Connor the third major mutant reportedly cast for the project. That’s because Jean Grey has already appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Stranger Things star Sadie Sink taking on the role and appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day as the film’s main antagonist.

Connor first broke out as Nick Nelson in Netflix’s Heartstopper, earning widespread acclaim before returning in the upcoming feature continuation, Heartstopper Forever. Since then, his career has accelerated rapidly with major roles in Alex Garland’s acclaimed war drama Warfare and the filmmaker’s upcoming adaptation of Elden Ring.

Who is Cyclops?

Cyclops has been one of the most important members of the X-Men since the team’s debut in Marvel Comics in 1963. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Scott Summers serves as the team’s field leader, using a specially designed ruby quartz visor to control the devastating optic blasts emitted from his eyes.

The X-Men is Marvel Studios‘ biggest project since the first Avengers movie, having taken the super successful brand back from Fox when Disney purchased the studio. However, they’ve been patient and taken their time, and now, the time has arrived.

Marvel Studios’ X-Men does not yet have an official release date.

via Collider