2020 is just not letting up with devastating losses. Veteran voice actor, Norm Spencer, who provided the voice for Cyclops on X-Men: The Animated Series, has passed away at the age of 62. Spencer's cause of death was not made clear as of this writing but the word of his passing comes from his former co-star Cal Dodd, who voiced Wolverine on X-Men.
X-Men: The Animated Series premiered on the Fox Kids Network on October 31, 1992. The show turned into a huge hit with Marvel fans and it immediately became a staple of the Fox Kids lineup. The show followed the adventures of the X-Men over the course of five seasons, wrapping its run in 1997. Along with Spencer and Dodd, the series also featured the voices of Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Chris Potter (Gambit), Alyson Court (Jubilee), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Cedric Smith (Professor X) and Iona Morris and Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm).
In addition to providing his vocal talents to the role of Cyclops on the animated series, Spencer also voiced the role for multiple episodes of Marvel's Spider-Man cartoon series and in several video games, including X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. Spencer also took on the recurring voice role off Draz the Destroyer on the Silver Surfer animated series as well as Sly Fox on Dumb Bunnies, Hades on Mythic Warrior: Guardians of the Legend, and Billy Blazes on Rescue Heroes.
There has been recent interest from fans to see X-Men: The Animated Series revived in some capacity. The creative team and many of the other original voice actors have also expressed their interest in rebooting the show, especially now that the series has found a new life on the Disney+ streaming service. Producer Larry Houston has since said that the team did pitch an idea for revival to Disney and now the ball is in their court. One has to wonder if longterm fans will want anyone to voice Cyclops but Spencer because his voice was so distinct to the role. James Marsden and Tye Sheridan have played the character in live-action films but many fans consider Spencer's animated version to be the ultimate Scott Summers/Cyclops.
At this time, we would like to offer our condolences to Spencer's family and friends, and may he rest in peace.