‘Lucky’ Star Drew Starkey Was “Super Open” to Joining the MCU as Cyclops

Drew Starkey has spent the past seven years defined almost entirely by one role, playing Rafe Cameron across all five seasons of Netflix’s ‘Outer Banks.’ With the show’s final season dropping August 20, the actor now finds himself, for the first time since signing onto the series, without any contractual obligations tying down what comes next.

That newfound freedom has already translated into an unusually packed slate. Starkey is currently juggling promotion for three separate projects at once, including Apple TV’s ‘Lucky,’ where he plays Anya Taylor-Joy’s mob-connected husband Cary, alongside Adam Wingard’s upcoming A24 slasher-action film ‘Onslaught,’ opening in early September.

Amid that momentum, one particular rumor briefly put Starkey at the center of superhero casting speculation. In an interview with GQ, timed right as chatter began circulating that he was in talks to play Cyclops in Marvel’s upcoming ‘X-Men‘ film, Starkey confirmed just how open he’d be to stepping into that world, telling the outlet, “I’m super open to stuff, to MCU, DCU. I think it’d be cool.”

The role ultimately went to ‘Heartstopper’ star Kit Connor just a week after that conversation took place, closing the door on Starkey’s potential MCU debut for now. Still, his comments make clear that a future superhero role remains something he’d genuinely welcome rather than actively avoid.

Starkey has described his post-‘Outer Banks’ approach as seeking out roles that scare him, gravitating toward projects that feel strange or don’t immediately make sense on paper. That instinct shaped his preparation for ‘Onslaught,’ where he plays an MDMA-fueled government agent, a process that involved reading Aleister Crowley texts and volunteering to fully shave his eyebrows for the character’s look.

Wingard, who directed ‘Onslaught,’ praised Starkey’s instincts on set, telling GQ that in every scene they shot, Starkey would always add one extra element that pushed the moment further than expected, something Wingard said he specifically looks for in actors. He went on to predict that Starkey is on the verge of becoming a major leading man, describing a charisma he believes represents what a future movie star looks like.

That trajectory has also opened the door to other high-profile projects, including ‘Deep Cuts,’ an A24 adaptation of Holly Brickley’s novel for which Starkey learned guitar, piano, and singing, and Jeff Nichols’ ‘King Snake’ alongside Margaret Qualley. When asked about rumors he might reunite with ‘Queer’ director Luca Guadagnino on an adaptation of ‘American Psycho,’ Starkey offered a coy “no comment,” before admitting he’s read the script because Guadagnino is a friend.

Even as Starkey looks toward roles far removed from ‘Outer Banks,’ he’s been careful not to distance himself from the character that made him famous. He told GQ he’s proud of Rafe, describing him as someone who deserves love and who did the best he could despite his flaws, while still joking that the character needs therapy.

‘Outer Banks’ co-creator Jonas Pate echoed that sentiment, crediting Starkey’s commitment to Rafe’s uglier traits for making audiences empathize with a character who probably didn’t deserve it, and predicting that once someone finally casts Starkey as an outright hero rather than an antihero, people will realize they’ve only seen one chapter of what he’s capable of.

With the MCU door closed for now but clearly not off the table for Starkey personally, his openness to a future superhero role, paired with an increasingly varied slate of genre-bending projects, suggests his next chapter could take shape in almost any direction.

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