Kit Connor was one of the seven officially announced X-Men cast members who took the stage at D23 last Friday. The Heartstopper star, whose casting had been revealed by the trades beforehand, is set to play Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, in Marvel Studios' long-awaited reboot.
If you were concerned that the 22-year-old wouldn't get into superhero shape to play the team's fearless leader, worry no more!
A photo of Connor alongside personal trainer Mark Humphreyes has been shared online, and the actor has clearly been putting the work in at the gym.
Cyclops and Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) are believed to be the main focus of the new film, and with Mr. Sinister's (Adam Driver) involvement, there's a decent chance the main plotline will revolve around the villain's attempt to harvest the couple's DNA to create the "ultimate mutant weapon."
It might be a little early to introduce Madelyne Pryor (an evil clone of Jean), but the groundwork could be laid for major Sinister-related storylines based on "Mutant Massacre", "Inferno", or "X-Cutioner's Song."
The rest of the officially announced cast are: Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, and Maya Boyd as Storm.
We are expecting a few more additions (Beast and Magneto, at the very least), but it's looking like the rumor that the core team will consist of the OG comic book crew (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, Ice-Man, and Angel) may not have been accurate.
Director Jake Schreier said the following in a post-event interview with GMA.
“Digging into those comics like the Chris Claremont run and the newer Jonathan Hickman stuff. There are so many stories that are still untold.”
Sonny Lee Sung Jin (Beef) and Joanna Calo (The Bear) recently came aboard to write a new draft of Michael Lesslie's script.
Kevin Feige teased Marvel's plans for the X-Men shortly after SDCC.
"Acquiring the X-Men rights isn't just about... for example, Wolverine is an outstanding character, and we were able to team him up with Deadpool, which is great. But the X-Men are far more than just Wolverine, far more than the original team; fundamentally, it's a universe, a multi-stage saga. Much of that is what we're working towards."
"We’re constantly changing, constantly evolving, but having some guidance helps us act more purposefully, especially with X-Men—it’s already had 10 movies, some very, very good, some I think haven’t lived up to expectations—how do we plan the 'mutant saga' in a very grand way?"
"That being said, we have many more characters to explore in the future—the schedule is already booked until 2042, especially the X-Men," Feige added. "The X-Men have many unexplored characters from the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, which we're very eager to explore. That's why I'm excited about the X-Men: we can show the world different types of heroes."