Cyclops actor James Marsden has admitted to lying about not being in Avengers: Doomsday, but now he’s free to tell the truth, he says he’s delighted with the comic-accurate X-Men suit.
Marsden’s return as Cyclops was perhaps the standout moment from all the recently released Avengers: Doomsday teasers. The X-Men themed trailer (co-directors the Russo Brothers have insisted they are neither teasers nor trailers) shows Cyclops letting rip with an enormous optic blast, complete with his X-Men costume from the comics, in what may be a last stand against the Sentinels at the X-Mansion. This is something fans have been waiting 20 years for, after Fox’s X-Men movies made a point of distancing themselves from the comics by going with black suits.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live back in January 2025, Marsden insisted he wasn’t in Avengers: Doomsday. Now, appearing on the same show this week, the 52-year-old actor admitted he’d lied.
“Not a very good liar. Not a very good liar,” he said, smiling. Then, remarking on the lie he told: “That’s me calculating as fast as I can what I can or cannot say about that movie. I was being coy. And yeah, I mean, I’ve learned these movies, you can’t say anything. Sorry I lied. Just a bold-faced lie.”
Marsden certainly isn’t the first actor to lie about not being in a superhero movie. Who can forget Andrew Garfield’s infamous lies whenever he was asked if he would appear in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home? In a The Ellen DeGeneres Show interview, after his appearance in No Way Home was confirmed, Garfield said: “I lied to the internet for two years, and it felt great. It was fun to keep it secret! You know when you’re planning a surprise birthday party for someone and they’re like, ‘I hate surprises, tell me is the party happening’… it felt like I was part of organising a surprise birthday party for a bunch of people who I knew would appreciate it.”
Garfield referenced his dishonesty in a subsequent GQ interview. “I’m gonna disappoint you,” he replied when asked if he was in this summer’s Spider-Man film, Brand New Day. “Yeah, no. But I know no one’s gonna trust anything I say from now on.” Perhaps the same can now be said of Marsden!
All jokes aside, Marsden sounds pretty excited about playing Cyclops again, although he had reservations about wearing a suit now he’s a lot older than the list time he was in an X-Men movie.
“I didn’t believe it until it actually happened, because there was chat about it for years,” he said. “The last movie I did was Days of Future Past and that was just a cameo. But 2006 was the third X-Men. I haven’t gone back in time aging wise. I’ve gotten older. At some point you’re like, well, I’m not going to be able to do this again, right? I’m in my 50s.
“Would I fit in it? What would it look like? I can tell everybody now because everyone’s seen it, the original X-Men Cyclops costume from the comics, which is pretty cool.
“And that’s his iconic pose from the comic. But yeah, the first movies where we were just in black leather, they were very very tight and we couldn’t really… very restrictive. We couldn’t move around. In fact, Hugh [Jackman, Wolverine actor] and I, I think the first day of filming, we had to jump over a little retaining wall outside the Statue of Liberty and we both were tripping over it. No joke, there’s a video online of us doing this and we’re just like, ‘Okay, we’re fired. That’s it.’ You know, you just don’t feel like a superhero in these.
“But then you put this on, it felt very cool, you know, felt very proud, and then the visor goes on. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah. I can’t see again.’”
Marsden isn’t the only Fox X-Men actor confirmed to be in Avengers: Doomsday. Kelsey Grammer will reprise his role as Hank McCoy / Beast, Patrick Stewart is once again Charles Xavier / Professor X, Ian McKellen is Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, Alan Cumming is Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, and Rebecca Romijn is Raven Darkhölme / Mystique.
Avengers: Doomsday is still shrouded in mystery, but hopefully it won’t be long before actual trailers shed light on what fans can expect ahead of the December release date.
Photo by Olivia Wong/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
