MarvelBlog News for August 14th, 2026

This week: Marvel chooses its Cyclops and sets up a ten-year love triangle.

We’ll discuss The Mutants and so much more in MarvelBlog News.

Meet Kit Connor

James Marsden and Hugh Jackman first played Cyclops and Wolverine in 2000.

In 2026, they’ll reunite in Avengers: Doomsday, which tells the whole story.

I don’t know if you were even alive in 2000, but if you were, are you still doing the same thing today?

Exactly. Few careers last a quarter-century, which makes this story so important.

Marvel has reportedly cast its Cyclops for the upcoming X-Men.

Amusingly, when I first wrote this story last week, I listed a different performer.

I was hearing it would be Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, until last Wednesday.

Suddenly, Kit Connor emerged as the frontrunner, which Deadline confirmed the following day.

I mention this because it tells an important story about the MCU.

Marvel head Kevin Feige understands that the X-Men are the de facto Avengers of the next decade.

The popularity of this team will largely define Marvel’s success in the 2030s.

As such, Feige and his team have to get the casting right for every character.

Cyclops wasn’t the only role that went down to the wire, nor will it be the last.

X-Men director Jake Schreier is heavily involved with the decision, but it’s ultimately up to Feige.

We’d previously learned that Sadie Sink is Jean Grey thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Soon afterward, Samara Weaving claimed the role of Emma Frost.

Anyone who knows Marvel comics (or X-Men ’97) knows that Jean Grey and Emma Frost are romantic adversaries.

Both women have engaged in lengthy relationships with Cyclops.

So, his casting completes the trifecta, although it also likely crystallizes some plots.

Too Young to Fall in Love

Sink and Connor were both born in the early 2000s, while Weaving is a relative dinosaur from 1992.

As such, I don’t think Marvel will have the 22-year-old Connor’s Cyclops date the 34-year-old Weaving’s Emma Frost.

Well, Cyclops and Frost don’t really “date” per se anyway, but you get my point.

Marvel has enough headaches right now without having “are they age-appropriate” discussions.

For this reason, the classic Jean Grey/Cyclops romance appears back on the menu.

If there is to be a third, an outside threat to the relationship, it’ll be Wolverine.

Obviously, that’s THE most important casting in the X-Men, but we don’t know the timeline.

Since Ryan Reynolds just announced another Deadpool movie, Hugh Jackman could return.

Would Marvel announce his replacement this soon, even as he plans another project?

Actually, yeah, I think they might. Even so, we should also allow for another possibility.

The first X-Men movie could either lack Wolverine or even use Jackman in the role.

I wouldn’t do that, but since everyone else is speculating, it’s worth mentioning.

Before then, we WILL find out who will play Rogue in the X-Men franchise.

At least one recognizable actress is already playing coy about their casting.

Some semi-creditable insiders have explicitly named an actor as the new Beast.

More trusted insiders have suggested those reports are premature, while none of the trades has covered it yet.

With Disney hosting the 2026 D23 Expo this weekend, we may learn something soon.

In fact, you may know most or maybe even all the X-Men by the time you read this.

I’m posting this on Friday this week for this very reason.

Marvel Miscellany

I’m going out on a limb to say that Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a hit.

In fact, on my media podcast, I’d said last week that the film could surpass Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Since that film is number eight all-time in global box office, it’d be an impressive feat.

To my infinite amusement, Brand New Day may do that by Sunday!

Right now, the film has a legitimate shot at becoming the biggest blockbuster ever.

To do so, the latest Spidey film would need to beat Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.

So, I’m being a bit premature since both films are in the $2.8-$2.9 billion range.

The fact that we’re even having this conversation is simply incredible.

The big question right now is whether Avengers: Doomsday will benefit from this.

If Tom Holland appears in that film, Marvel should be screaming it from the rafters.

If it wasn’t planned for him to be in it, Marvel should be filming something right now!

Marvel Miscellany 2

Similarly, Sony should already be cycling through potential story ideas for the sequel.

But there’s a problem. Remember how Tom Holland negotiated this deal?

He freaked Sony out with the whole “don’t want to be playing Spider-Man at 30” thing.

While he is under contract, Sony and Marvel work under a “picture-by-picture” deal.

Producer Amy Pascal recently confirmed as much in a Deadline interview.

Currently, director Destin Daniel Cretton isn’t even under contract for a sequel.

Pascal herself indicates that she wants Cretton back for Brand New Afternoon.

Yes, that’s what I’m calling it. Anyway, with no deals in place, Sony needs to get busy.

A new Spider-Man film should be filmed and in theaters within three years.

After a staggering success like this, Sony must strike while the iron is hot.

Otherwise, we’re looking at Morbius 2 and Kraven the Hunter vs. Madame Web.

Literally no one on the planet would want any of that. Sony’s got just one egg in its basket.

Thankfully, Spider-Man struck gold this summer, the kind that’s unprecedented in Hollywood.

 

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