BY JPDSUMMERS24
How did you know Cyclops? And what do you think of him?
A douchebag from the 90s cartoons? A show where Cyclops, despite being an established team leader, was gut-punched by a much shorter hairy dude named Wolverine. A show where he, on its first 3 episodes, was immediately branded as the leader who abandoned Morph and Beast in a battle against the Sentinels.
Or, a dick from the Fox Studio movies in the early 2000s? A movie where Cyclops was played by a young James Marsden, and was gravely overshadowed by the bigger star Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine. A movie which showcased the lust-driven relationship between Wolverine and Jean Grey, rather than the love between Jean Grey and Cyclops - her husband/boyfriend.
And why am I so fascinated with Scott bloody Summers? Not in a creepy way like Mister Sinister, but here goes:
One of my first comic books is, of course, an X-Men comic book. Specifically, it's Uncanny X-Men #300 published May 1993. Out of all the X-Men characters, no one impressed me more than Cyclops. In the climax of this issue, we can see Cyclops take on the giant Acolyte member Isaac Javitz who stands 9'1" and weighs 1,200 lbs. Javitz was able to sneak behind Cyclops, grabbed and covered the face of the hero with his humongous hands. While restraining Scott in this position, Javitz proceeded to preach on how he had observed him for years. He continued on saying that the X-Men are suppressing mutants who didn't embrace the mainstream, and Cyclops is so eager to maintain the status quo. The point where Javitz continued to say that there are those who don't want to be oppressed by humans even if it means killing fellow mutants, Cyclops managed to open his visor, unleashing his optic blast through his opponent's hands. Cyclops responded with a simple archetypal rebuttal, but it sounded so classic and iconic:
"The X-Men fight to protect the rights of all living human beings -- regardless of whether they're humans, mutants -- friend or foe. You're welcome to live any life you want... up until the moment you threaten someone elses!"
At this point, I knew I already had my hero. Sporting the 90s Jim Lee uniform, I find it more of a heroic costume - much like Superman's traditional one - and not something to ridicule at, due to the fact that it still has its yellow underpants outside.
Cyclops only has one mutant power - absorbing ambient (mostly solar) energies and release it in a form of red, concussive force blasts through his eyes. The maximum force of the blasts are still unknown - Cyclops does not use his powers at such a level due to the preoccupation he has regarding his control (or lack thereof) of his abilities. At one point, when Cyclops was using his power, Iron Man managed to measure the energy output which was over 2 gigawatts, larger than a nuclear reactor. Cyclops also has an ability of spatial awareness - to ricochet these blasts and even disarm a room full of soldiers.
Devastating as it is, the optic blasts is not the only thing Cyclops was known for. Scott Summers is a natural born leader. He is an excellent tactician and strategist. Most in the superhero community - regardless of how they feel about him - regarded him as close second to Steve Rogers (Captain America) in terms of planning or directing overall military operations and movements in a battle. Me? I consider him as the best, of course.
But this is just Cyclops' character profile. How well do we know him? Really? In recent years, Cyclops has been very controversial and one of the centerpieces in the Marvel storylines. He might have gained more fans, but in the Marvel universe, he became one of the most hated characters. Funny thing here was - and I don't know if this was done intentionally or not but - Cyclops was often involved in moral conflicts that divided the opinions of the Marvel universe and even the comic book fans and readers. It's as if the Marvel writers are trolling the readers by having Scott do heroic stuff, and still paint him as a villain.
It all started when Scott gave in and had a telepathic sexual affair with a now-reformed White Queen Emma Frost. And believe me, I'm not complaining. Queen Frost is one of the hottest female characters in the Marvel, and was said to have the best body money can buy. Most of the X-Men hated Scott for this esp. his daughter in an alternate reality, Rachel Summers who even changed her name to Rachel Grey. Before Scott had a formal relationship with Emma, they had a mission in Hongkong. Scott maintained his fidelity to Jean inspite of Emma's seduction. Eventually, Scott gave in and Jean caught them in the middle of their psychic affair. Jean was abnormally furious. I say "abnormal" because she kissed Wolverine before that, and no one bats an eye. Apparently, having sex telepathically is a much heavier sin than physically kissing someone. Good job, Jean. You're the hypocrite #1 here.
In Avengers Disassembled and House of M, Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) casted a spell that depowered 90% of the mutant population and prevented the birth of new mutants. Cyclops initially wanted Wanda dead for her crime against mutants. Captain America intervened and told him no matter what she had done, she is still an Avenger and they take care of their own. Tough statement, Steve.
Next, in Messiah CompleX, Cyclops had formed a black ops X-Force to target any potential threat to mutantkind. Take note: this is the time when mutants were already an endangered species. This is necessary. X-Force was able to get the job done and as soon as it was finished, Cyclops disbanded it. Upon learning about the X-Force, Beast (Hank McCoy) left Cyclops' team. Hank went to side himself with Wolverine's team, even though Wolverine continued operating the X-Force after Cyclops disbanded it and Hank knew about it. Nice move, Hank. You're hypocrite #2.
In Schism, Cyclops and Wolverine had a moral argument that divided the X-Men for a very long time. Wolverine became a soft marshmallow to the "kids" in the X-Men and didn't want them to fight. He just wanted them to be kids. Cyclops, on the other hand, wanted to train them. When a giant Sentinel attacked Utopia, and the other tenured members were not present, Scott rallied the kids to prepare to fight. Wolverine had bombs placed in Utopia and wanted everyone to escape. Scott wanted the kids to stand their ground and destroy the Sentinel. The kids agree, but Wolverine won't let them which led to a fight with Cyclops. While Scott and Logan are kicking each other's asses, the kids decided to fight the Sentinel themselves, and eventually emerged victorious. Now this is idiotic: Logan continued his moral high ground even when Scott offered to have elections. Wolverine still decided to leave Utopia and start a new team. Surprisingly, the kids went with Wolverine, even though they clearly in favor of Cyclops' decision to stand ground and fight the Sentinel. This will be part of Wolverine's history: there was a time when this hairy midget split the X-Men in their vulnerable moment. Weird thing here was, Wolverine was likened to Professor X and Cyclops to Magneto.
In Avengers vs. X-Men, Cyclops was painted as a full blown villain. Most people believe that the cosmic Phoenix Force only brings destruction. But Cyclops believes it will jumpstart the mutant population that was cursed by Scarlet Witch. The Phoenix Force had a long history with the X-Men, esp. with Cyclops. If anyone knows that the cosmic being is all about destruction, it's him. But why did Cyclops have a different perspective? Let's go back to Avengers: X-Sanction. Cable attempted to assassinate the Avengers. He already seen a tragic future where his adopted daughter Hope died and it's because of the Avengers. Fast forward at the end of the story, Cyclops and Cable were talking in astral plane, and Cable revealed that Hope is a Phoenix avatar and the mutant messiah. Of course, no one saw or heard their conversation.
Continuing the story of AvX, the Avengers found out that the Phoenix Force is coming to Earth and Hope Summers is the one its looking for. Scott trained Hope harshly to be the Phoenix avatar. Meanwhile, Captain America asked Wolverine for advice and said that Cyclops won't sit well with it. So Steve stormed in the beaches of Utopia and demanded to take Hope. Cyclops disagreed, and they had a heated argument. Apparently, if there's an Avenger involved, Cap doesn't want anyone to interfere. Now, that a mutant is involved, and obviously, the X-Men knew the Phoenix more than anyone else, Cap wanted to stick his nose in. Captain America is hypocrite #3.
Then, there was a wild goose chase involving the Hope with Wolverine, the Avengers and the X-Men. At this point, I consider Wolverine a traitor of the mutant community siding with the Avengers and even attempted to kill Hope. Yes, this decades-old guy - who should be the one of the smartest people on earth - always had "killing" as his solution to every problem.
Then, everyone ended up in the Blue Area of the Moon. While the Phoenix Force was coming, Iron Man intercepted it and fired the machine he invented to destroy it. The Phoenix Force was not destroyed but it had split into five and went to the X-Men present: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik and Namor the Submariner. Thus, the Phoenix Five are born.
The Phoenix Five had a good initial run eliminating world hunger, drought, giving unlimited supply of energy, basically making Earth a better place. However, the butthurt Avengers kept attacking the Phoenix Five and the X-Men, and the reason is that they will be corrupted in the future. Mister Fantastic Reed Richards pointed this out to his fellow Illuminati members.
Furious, Namor had enough and flooded Wakanda, effectively creating a huge rift between Wakandans and mutants. The catastrophe even costed the marriage of Black Panther and Storm. With the help of Scarlet Witch, the Avengers managed to defeat Namor. Namor's portion of the Phoenix Force left him and was divided equally to the remaining Four. Nearing the end, it all came down to Cyclops and Emma Frost, each having 50% of the Phoenix Force. With the combined forces of Avengers and X-Men attacking them, Emma confessing her infidelity and wanted to burn the Earth, and Xavier attempting to shut off his mind, Cyclops had lost it. Cyclops put down Emma to gain all the power of the Phoenix Force, and - with the influence of the full power of the Phoenix Force - killed his mentor and father figure Professor Charles Xavier. Devastated, Cyclops went Dark Phoenix and became a full-fledged villain. Struggling with his will, Scott gave up the Phoenix Force after hearing Jean's voice, and Hope and Wanda delivering the final blow. Ultimately, Hope became the Phoenix avatar and with the help of Scarlet Witch, they wished the Phoenix Force away from Earth.
Before we condemn Scott Summers in AvX, let's take a look at his intentions:
- As stated by Cable, Hope is the Phoenix. Cyclops believed him, and it did happen. So training Hope to be the Phoenix avatar is the end-solution - which was Cyclops' plan in the first place.
- Cyclops also believed that the Phoenix Force is also a symbol of rebirth, not just destruction, and it will jumpstart the mutant population, which it really did.
- Cyclops also buried Captain America in their debate saying they (Avengers) did not do anything to help mutants. Steve Rogers creating the Uncanny Avengers (Avengers Unity Squad) and putting Havok as its leader only proves that Cyclops was right.
After AvX, Cyclops and Emma was imprisoned. Colossus, Magik and Namor disappeared. Strangely, Cap and even other X-Men (esp. Storm, Iceman and Beast) only blamed Cyclops on what had transpired. They even said he wasn't sorry enough. It's funny that not one of them blamed the other Phoenix Three. They are just concerned on arresting Cyclops and Emma (but it's mainly Cyclops). While in prison, Wolverine visited Cyclops and uttered the single most hypocritical line in Marvel history:
Cyclops had no intentions of breaking out of prison, even though Magneto was secretly talking to him and wanted to set him free. It was until Jake - a mutant he befriended in prison - was murdered by the human prisoners. Together with Magneto, Magik, Danger and lastly, Emma Frost, Cyclops escaped prison and formed a more aggressive X-Men team that proactively fights everyone who oppressed the newly emerged mutants.
Cyclops became more and more popular in the Marvel universe, as well as the readers. I myself found Cyclops more and more interesting in this phase of his character development. With his leadership, the X-Men humiliated the Avengers in Australia when Eva Bell (Tempus) created a time bubble.
Cyclops and Emma were able to explain in front of the media how the Avengers were also at fault in AvX, and how they are hypocrites by trying to arrest Cyclops. Despite of this, Cyclops still clarified to their human supporters that the Avengers and Fantastic Four are not the enemies and the X-Men will still continue to help and protect humans and mutants from evil.
In The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier, the blame on Cyclops worsened. He was repeatedly put down by Storm, Wolverine, Iceman and Beast. And even though Xavier had chosen Scott as his heir to all his possessions, Scott transferred everything to Storm and said that he loves all of them. Everyone was still angry at him, except for Firestar who sympathized on him. I really liked Firestar for this gesture. All other X-Men members whom Cyclops had the most time with was angry at him, but the new member Firestar had the heart and gull to say that Cyclops is also in pain.
Anyway, another character assassination was the revelation of Matthew Malloy. He was said to be an Omega-level mutant who has the largest mutant power source Cerebro has ever registered. He has the ability to tap into an extra-dimensional power source that allows him to warp reality to his will. No one attempted to really "talk" to Malloy except for Cyclops. He actually did his best, and was better than anyone else. He could've helped Malloy more if the S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't interfere and kill Malloy, Cyclops and Magik. But Malloy used his powers resurrect them. Finally, Tempus then used her powers to go back in time and, with the help of the Professor X of the past, managed to make Malloy's parents never meet, causing him to never have been born. Weirdly, Tempus blamed Cyclops for everything. What the hell, Eva? Are you freakin' blind? At the end of this arc, Cyclops was able to unite all humans and mutants in one place - in peace, ultimately achieving Charles Xavier's dream.
Then came Secret Wars. Cyclops has something up his sleeve: he has a Phoenix egg. I don't know how he got it, but he did. Once it hatched, Cyclops once again bonded with the Phoenix Force, and used it to destroy the Children of Tomorrow and the rest of the forces of the Ultimate universe (Earth-1610). He was also able to go toe-to-toe with Doctor Doom. Unfortunately, this is God Emperor Doom, and although Phoenix-powered Cyclops was able to seemingly hurt him, he was still no match and was killed. This is death #1.
Once the Secret Wars ended, the stories released by Marvel comics took an eight-month jump ahead. It was established that Cyclops was already dead within that gap and was branded as an international terrorist. Wow. This is a complete turnaround. Anyway, the death of Cyclops was explained in Death of X. What happened was, the Inhumans had spread their Terrigen mist/cloud in some parts of the globe. These mists are part of the process of turning a human to activate their Inhuman genes and ascend as meta-humans. This is part of the Inhuman culture, and stopping the spread of the mists is like preventing the growth of their population. Unfortunately, the Terrigen mist is deadly and poisonous to mutants. Cyclops and his team of X-Men went to Muir Island due to a distress call sent by Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man). The island was engulfed in Terrigen mist, and Madrox eventually died. Storm went to Medusa to formulate a plan on what to do. However, Cyclops does not want to waste time because mutants are dying. With the help of Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos, Cyclops delivers a telepathic message to the entire world about the Terrigen mist - because it is the truth. This can put the X-Men (and the rest of the mutants) at odds against the entire Inhuman community, but truth is the truth. Mutants are dying, and I don't know how Cyclops was seen in the wrong here. Then, Cyclops was able to recruit Thomas Jones (Alchemy) who has the ability to alter the chemical composition of anything he touches into its elemental components. By touching the first Terrigen cloud, Alchemy was able to change the nature of it, making it harmless for all (humans, mutants, Inhumans) but unusable for Inhumans. However, the process exposes him to the mist and he dies after completing it. Then Cyclops had a stand off against Black Bolt and Medusa. Medusa said that Cyclops just declared war against the Inhumans and needs to stand down before things escalate further. Cyclops stood his ground and, at Medusa's signal, Black Bolt murdered Cyclops.
Plot twist: Cyclops already died in Muir Island, and the "Cyclops" everyone interacted with afterwards was only Emma's telepathic projection of him. Emma didn't want Cyclops to die in vain, and effectively made Cyclops a mutant martyr in the process.
This is one of those moments when I really adore Emma Frost. For me, she is the best and ultimate woman who loves Scott genuinely. This stunt that Emma did in Death of X is something Jean (or any other woman in Scott's life) will not be able to do. Ever. Anyway, this is death #2.
Come Inhumans vs. X-Men, it's Emma's turn for character assassination. The funny thing here was, after the truce between Inhumans and X-Men after Death of X, Storm and the rest eventually declared war against the Inhumans - which was what Cyclops did earlier. Such a bunch of hypocrites. Storm is hypocrite #4. Apparently, if Cyclops declared war against the Inhumans, he was a terrorist. But if Storm did it, it's okay. At the end of this story, Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos uncharacteristically use the powers to turn the Inhumans against themselves. At this point, fully understanding the gravity of the situation, Medusa destroys the cloud herself, voluntarily ending the war. But Emma continued her assault, becoming a full blown villain of the story.
Then, Marvel writers decided to resurrect Jean Grey. In her resurrection, she had a final confrontation with the Phoenix. The Phoenix Force wanted to bond with her, but she flat out refuses. Wanting to tempt Jean out of desperation, the Phoenix resurrected Scott Summers. This should be a classic moment. But Jean, knowing what the Phoenix was doing, still refuses to bond with it, making the resurrected Cyclops crumble with age and die again. This is death #3. Marvel writers seem to be fascinated on killing Cyclops over and over again.
As we all know, death in Marvel comics (or maybe in the entire comic universe) is not permanent. After all those character assassinations in the past, the writers decided to resurrect Cyclops, and in an epic way to say the least. This goes back to the time, I think, very close to the founding of the Original Five X-Men, based on the costume. Cyclops saved a man named Paul Douek from a rampaging villain. Out of gratitude, Douek offered to help Cyclops on anything. Fast forward to Kid Cable, who time-jumped on several timelines, got the Phoenix Cage from the Avengers and brought it to Douek to fix it. At this point, Douek was already an established scientist, top of the class at M.I.T. and one of Tony Stark's sharpest employees. Kid Cable commanded him to construct a smaller version of the Phoenix Cage, the size of a pill, that can siphon off a small portion of the Phoenix Force willingly running through it. They put it inside Cyclops' dead body, and when The Phoenix resurrected him to tempt Jean Grey, part of it was trapped in the Cage. What happened next is, Cyclops was revived, blasting his way out of his grave. Cyclops is alive!
After several years of trolling the readers, Marvel finally admitted on January 2019 that Cyclops was right. This was posted on the official Marvel website written by Blair Marnell. Click here to read it.
Backlash from the readers about Cyclops' character assassination has been ongoing for several years that when Marvel.com created a poll for "Hero of the month" in May 2015, Cyclops won with over 800 votes from his closest competitor. The choice of heroes were Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers), Quake, Silver Surfer, Vision and female Thor (Jane Foster). The website is currently not working anymore but some fanpages were able to secure a screenshot.
So, do you still think you know Cyclops? If you didn't know who he was, maybe - just maybe - you know a little bit of him right now.
