After months of fan casting and online speculation, Kit Connor is reportedly set to join Marvel Studios’ X-Men reboot as Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops.  In the comics, Cyclops is the X-Men’s disciplined field leader, a strategist whose optic blasts are matched by his responsibility toward the team. Connor’s previous work already shows why Marvel may have been drawn to him.

From tender romance and wartime fear to fantasy voice roles, these five performances reveal the range he could bring to the mutant leader.

Kit Connor’s breakthrough role came with Netflix’s Heartstopper, in which he plays Nick Nelson, a popular rugby player whose life changes after he develops feelings for Charlie Spring. At first, Nick appears confident and socially secure, but Connor gradually reveals the uncertainty beneath that exterior. His performance is built around small reactions, awkward pauses, and the tension between what Nick feels and what he believes he is expected to be.

Connor makes Nick’s emotional journey convincing because he does not treat the character’s self-discovery as a single dramatic revelation. Instead, the process unfolds through hesitation, fear, affection, and growing honesty. That ability to portray a character learning how to lead with empathy could be valuable in the role of Cyclops, a character often burdened by responsibility and emotional restraint.

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Next, Connor trades the warmth of Heartstopper for the unfiltered terror of modern combat.*

In Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare, Kit Connor plays Tommy, an enthusiastic newcomer serving with a group of American soldiers during a 2006 Iraq mission. The film uses a real-time, intensely confined structure to immerse viewers in the confusion and fear of combat, leaving little space for traditional heroic posturing.

Connor’s performance stands out because Tommy’s youthful energy gradually becomes inseparable from the danger around him. He begins as an eager member of the unit, but the film places him inside an environment where training, confidence, and courage cannot prevent trauma.  

The Guardian specifically highlighted Connor as the youthful newcomer within the film’s ensemble, while other reviews praised the cast’s vulnerable and emotionally exposed work. Warfare is useful preparation for his reported Marvel role because it shows Connor working inside a team under extreme pressure, a quality central to Cyclops’ identity.

Before playing a soldier shaped by battle, Connor portrayed a young musician discovering his extraordinary talent.

In Rocketman, Kit Connor plays teenage Reginald Dwight, the future Elton John, while Taron Egerton portrays the musician in adulthood. The film moves between fantasy, musical spectacle, and emotional autobiography, but Connor’s scenes establish the quieter foundations of Elton’s transformation.

His performance captures a teenager whose musical ability is already obvious but whose emotional needs remain largely unmet. Connor presents Reginald as observant and vulnerable, allowing the character’s talent to coexist with loneliness. He does not attempt to imitate Egerton’s adult performance. Instead, he creates a believable earlier version of the same person, one still searching for confidence and affection.

The early scenes are especially important because they show the difference between natural ability and personal freedom. Reginald can play brilliantly, but he has not yet learned how to become Elton John. Connor gives those moments a softness that makes the later flamboyance feel earned.

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From the real-world story of a musical icon, Connor moves into an expansive fantasy universe.

Kit Connor also lent his voice to Pantalaimon, Lyra Belacqua’s dæmon, in the BBC and HBO adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. In the world of the series, dæmons are external manifestations of a person’s inner self, making Pantalaimon more than a conventional animated companion.

The performance required Connor to communicate loyalty, fear, curiosity, and emotional intimacy through voice alone. Pantalaimon’s relationship with Lyra is central to the series, and Connor’s vocal work helps express the closeness between them even when the character is not driving the action.

This role highlights a different part of Connor’s skill set. Without facial expressions or physical movement, he had to shape the character through rhythm, tone, and response. 

Next, Connor’s voice takes flight in one of DreamWorks Animation’s most heartfelt adventures.

In The Wild Robot, Kit Connor voices Brightbill, a gosling who becomes closely connected to the robot Roz after she takes on the role of his mother. The animated film follows their relationship as Brightbill grows from a vulnerable hatchling into a young bird preparing to find his place in the natural world.

Connor brings warmth and emotional clarity to Brightbill, whose development depends on the bond he shares with Roz. The role demands a voice that can sound young and uncertain at first, then gradually more independent as the character gains confidence. His performance helps make Brightbill’s growth feel personal rather than merely functional to the plot.

The film also shows Connor’s ability to work within a story built around found family, mentorship, and responsibility. Those themes connect naturally to the X-Men, where young mutants often depend on one another while learning how to control their abilities. The Wild Robot may be animated, but it offers another reminder that Connor can create emotional weight without appearing on screen.

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What do you think of Kit Connor as Marvel’s reported Cyclops? Let us know in the comments.