James Paul Marsden is an American actor. He began his acting career guest starring in the television shows Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993), Touched by an Angel (1995), and Party of Five (1995). Marsden gained fame for his portrayal of Cyclops in the X-Men film series (2000–2014) and for his roles in the films The Notebook (2004), Superman Returns (2006), Hairspray (2007), Enchanted (2007), and 27 Dresses (2008). He portrayed John F. Kennedy in the drama film The Butler (2013) and starred in the comedy films Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).

Cyclops is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the comic book The X-Men. Cyclops is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Cyclops emits powerful beams of energy from his eyes, and can only control the beams with the aid of special eyewear which he must wear at all times. He is typically considered the first of the X-Men, a team of mutant heroes who fight for peace and equality between mutants and humans, and one of the team's primary leaders.