What role did Adan Canto play in ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past?’

Adan Canto has sadly passed away after a battle with appendiceal cancer. The 42-year-old Mexican actor was perhaps most recognizable for his TV roles, in such hit shows as The Following, Designated Survivor, and Narcos, but Marvel fans will know him best for his turn in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Landing a part in a major Hollywood blockbuster like Days of Future Past, which released in 2014, was an impressive achievement for Canto. After first embarking on a career as a musician, Canto switched to acting and appeared in numerous Mexican productions in the early 2010s, only getting his big break in America in 2013. The fact that he turned up to play a fan-favorite superhero in a comic book event movie just a year later is a testament to his talent and how much he’ll be missed in the industry.

But who did Canto play in the much-loved X-Men film?

Adan Canto’s X-Men: Days of Future Past role, explained

Canto appears in Days of Future Past as Roberto Da Costa aka Sunspot. This marked the popular comic book hero’s very first appearance in live-action media. Sunspot is memorable for his pyrokinetic powers — although he appears similar to Fantastic Four’s Human Torch, Sunspot’s abilities come from his mutant knack for absorbing and manipulating solar energy.

If you’re struggling to recall how Sunspot fits into the plot, due to Days of Future Past‘s complex time-traveling storyline, Canto features in the part of the narrative set in the dystopian future timeline. Da Costa is part of Kitty Pryde’s (Elliot Page) team of rebel mutants which also includes Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Fan Bingbing), and Warpath (Booboo Stewart). Sunspot is killed by mutant-hunting robots the Sentinels, although his death is undone when Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine successfully rewrites history and the dystopian timeline never happens.

Despite only being a supporting player in the film, Canto took his chance to embody Sunspot seriously, revealing to Fox News Latino in 2014 that he did a deep dive into his origins. “I kept to the comic books because I didn’t want to have a visual distraction,” he explained, before summing up his personal insight into Roberto. “He didn’t (always) have the capability and he was kind of a victim of it,” Canto surmised. “It was more of a burden than a superpower for him.”

As for what appealed to him about the character, as well as the X-Men in general, Canto revealed: “(The films) create a parallel for people feeling misunderstood. Sunspot is a very fiery guy. As a teenager I got angry quickly (like him) until I learned to process it all and not be a hot head.”

Canto already has a strong legacy within the X-Men universe as the role of Sunspot has since been passed on to Henry Zaga for 2020’s The New Mutants. The character is also set to appear in X-Men ’97, the upcoming animated series from Marvel Studios, as voiced by Gui Agustini. It’s tragic that Canto’s career has been cut far too short, but thanks to his performance in Days of Future Past, he’ll always be a part of Marvel history.