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Cast member Lucas Till attends the premiere of "Hannah Montana the Movie" in Los Angeles April 2, 2009. Reuters/Phil McCarten

“X-Men: Apocalypse” star Lucas Till has gone from being a mutant to playing the role of a television icon in the 80s and 90s. Last week, CBS named the 25-year-old actor as the new “MacGyver” for the series reboot.

The ingenious character, made famous by Richard Dean Anderson, created a loyal following among those who were impressed with his ever-resourceful ways. The series told the adventures of Angus MacGyver, a secret agent working for the Department of External Services in the US. Fans of the series, which ran from 1985 to 1992, looked forward to MacGyver’s unconventional ways of tackling various challenges, and how he turns ordinary objects into useful tools. MacGyver was also identified with a Swiss Army knife, which he brings along everywhere.

Reports of a “MacGyver” reboot by CBS surfaced in October 2015. Till emerged as the new recruit to play the title role after the network’s exhaustive search. He recently finished shooting for “X-Men: Apocalypse,” where he plays a mutant named Havok.

The news was welcomed with mixed reactions from Twitter users. Some are excited Till’s take on the iconic character, while some are not agreeable with CBS’ choice.



Some Twitter users, on the other hand, joked about how the new MacGyver would live in a world filled with today’s advanced technology.



The original MacGyver seems to share sentiments about new technologies which may challenge the series reboot. “Part of the reason I’m not interested in starting it up again is that there is so much technology today that every human being on the face of this side of the planet anyway has got a cell phone,” Anderson said in an interview with Inquistr. Adding that this is not a “MacGyver-friendly world” anymore, he said that if would be “kind of iffy” if the new MacGyver does not carry a cell phone.

The Hollywood Reporter said that the new “MacGyver” will follow the life of the lead star as he gets hired by a secret organisation to help prevent catastrophes. “Fan Girl” actor Joshua Boone will play the role of Gunner, MacGyver’s high school buddy. The pilot episode will be directed by David Von Ancken, who will also be the executive producer along with the original “ MacGyver” creator Lee Zlotoff.

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