Cyclops is one of the most legendary characters in Marvel history. He is the first X-Man and, more often than not, he’s been a crucial part of the team (for better or worse). At times, Scott Summers has proven himself to be one of the best heroes in the Marvel Universe, however, he’s also shown that he’s a not so great at being married, being a father and can be, generally, an off-putting character. At his worst, Scott Summers is an extremist that had a big hand in the downfall of the X-Men for a few years. Given the stark contrast of Scott’s heroism and his less-admirable traits, Cyclops has become a polarizing figure.
Some fans focus on the Scott we all used to know and love -- he was the ideal X-Man and Charles Xavier’s hand-picked leader of the X-Men. Other fans hone in on Summers’ wrongdoings and missteps, particularly as he damaged the legacy of the team. Still other fans pay attention to Scott’s reputation as a flawed husband and father. Who is the real Scott Summers? The truth is that Scott is an imperfect hero that’s doing what he believes is necessary to protect his people. Yes, he’s made some rather large mistakes, as his history of mistreating his romantic partners shows, but Scott can’t be defined by any one of these roles. Instead, he’s a mixture of all of them. To help paint a clearer picture of Cyclops’ legacy, we’re decided to give the fans a list of some of the often-forgotten facts about the First X-Man. By providing a more comprehensive look at Scott, we hope the reader can draw their own conclusions.
20 THE FIRST X-MAN
Fans often forget that Scott Summers was the first official student at Professor Xavier’s school. Retcons throughout the years have challenged this distinction; for example, later comics established that Charles Xavier helped Jean Grey years before the formation of the X-Men. Additionally, before he met Summers, Xavier also recruited a mutant named Sage but she was not a member of the original team.
Regardless, true fans will remember that Summers was Xavier’s first pick in the X-Men draft. It’s no wonder why the two have always had a particularly special, and complicated, relationship. Scott was always Xavier’s favorite and Cyclops owes his life to the Professor.
19 HOSTED THE PHOENIX FORCE
"Avengers vs. X-Men" was one of the biggest Marvel events in recent-ish history. This battle pit two of Marvel’s flagship teams against each other but the conflict didn’t quite live up to the hype. Nonetheless, the event provided many memorable moments, with Scott Summers hosting the Phoenix Force being just one of the many story elements that fans will remember for a long time.
Scott has almost always been linked, one way or another, to Jean Grey, the most famous host of the Phoenix Force. The tables turned in "AvX", when the entity possessed Scott and other X-Men. As a host of the Phoenix Force, Scott went off the rails and he went so far as to end the existence of his longtime mentor, Charles Xavier.
18 RIVALRY WITH WOLVERINE DIVIDED X-MEN
In the history of the X-Men, few rivalries match the intensity of the disdain between Cyclops and Wolverine. The two heroes got off on the wrong foot and they’ve (increasingly) hated each other ever since. Both men love Jean Grey, and the competition for her affection ruined any chance of Scott and Logan getting along.
It’d be one thing if their rivalry didn’t affect the team but it certainly has. The antagonism between two of the top X-Men eventually led to a split within the team. This schism was a result of a difference in leadership styles and general philosophy, and it’s fair to argue that the team never really recovered.
17 POWERS HAVE BEEN RETCONNED
Retcons and comic books go together like peanut butter and jelly. At the very least, they’re permanently linked because writers are always looking for ways to add new life to characters that have been around for decades. Cyclops is one of the many comic book characters that has experienced various retcons. Specifically, the energy source of his optic blasts has been changed for the better.
At first, Scott could simply absorb sunlight, like a plant, and expel that energy in the form of optic blasts. After writers realized this power source limited Cyclops' usefulness at night, the source of the beams’ energy changed drastically -- they became an opening to a different dimension. Since then, Summers has enjoyed an endless energy supply for his optic blasts.
16 FATHER ISSUES
When it comes to problematic father and son relationships, the bond between Cyclops and Corsair doesn’t take the cake. The extent of their difficulties is a result of a plane crash that separated the two characters for many years. Scott Summers believed his father passed away in the crash. In reality, Christopher Summers was taken by the Shi’ar Empire -- Scott and Christopher unwillingly went their separate ways, and Scott had to grow up without a father.
By the time they found each other, they lived in different worlds. Scott grew up to become Cyclops, leader of the X-Men, while Christopher became Corsair, a space pirate with the Starjammers. The two were practically strangers and it took quite some time to rebuild that relationship.
15 EXPERT MARKSMAN
Heroes have to maximize their effectiveness in battle. Scott Summers particularly needs to make the most of his power set because, in a line-up with Jean Grey and the Beast, Scott’s only obvious skill is his optic blast. While the blasts are remarkably powerful, Summers has made them even more efficient. Scott has become a master of aiming and targeting these blasts, which has made them much more than a blunt instrument.
Summers has an expert-level understanding of trigonometry, which allows him to bounce his blasts off other surfaces. For Cyclops, his blasts are akin to the Oliver Queen’s arrows -- he never misses.
14 OPTIC BLASTS DEFEAT MR. SINISTER
Mr. Sinister used to be a recurring thorn in the Summers family’s side; he always had a manic obsession with the family’s genes. As a result, Sinister repeatedly attempted to acquire the Summers’ genes. The villain is one of the most powerful members of the X-Men’s rogues gallery, so his maniacal plans always put the Summers family in dire straights. Luckily, Cyclops is one of the few heroes that can stop Sinister in his tracks.
Cyclops’ optic blasts have always been Sinister’s kryptonite, though it’s never been fully explained why the blasts are so harmful to such a powerful mutant.
13 QUESTIONABLE END
Inhumans vs. X-Men featured a war between two of the most powerful races in the Marvel Universe. The two sides were fighting for survival -- the X-Men learned that the Terrigen Mist was dropping the mutant population, while the Inhumans needed Terrigen for the well-being of their race. The event featured many suprising twists, and chief among them was the passing of Cyclops.
Originally, it seemed that Cyclops fell in a battle with Black Bolt. Later in the series, we all learned that Scott Summers was a victim of the Terrigen Mist, and Emma Frost manipulated everyone by making them believe that Summers was alive and well. Emma used Scott as a martyr for a war that, ultimately, saw both sides lose.
12 POWERFUL GENES
What is it about the Summers’ genes that draws Mr. Sinister’s interest? Perhaps it’s the fact that several Summers have become powerful mutants: Cyclops, Cable, Havok and Vulcan all boast power sets that would be quite useful for a supervillain trying to create the strongest mutant ever. In Sinister’s mind, kidnapping Cyclops is always a necessary part of the plan.
Some readers may wonder why Sinister targets Scott instead of his relatives. Cable and Scott’s brothers are arguably more powerful than the First X-Man, so they would be more logical targets. Instead, Sinister has a strange, focused fascination with Scott.
11 HIS PARENTING SKILLS
One could argue that it’s not Cyclops' fault he turned out to be a bad parent. Still, it must be noted that Scott Summers has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a mediocre father. For starters, he let the Avengers, some of the Earth’s most powerful heroes, attackt his son, Cable. Scott’s failure to protect Cable is one of the most glaring examples of Cyclops' shortcomings as a father.
Scott’s parental missteps date back to his son’s early childhood. When Cyclops learns that Jean Grey is alive and well, he harshly abandons his wife (a clone of Jean, actually) and his newborn son. Talk about a bad dad.
10 CINEMATIC SHORT-CHANGE
Scott Summers always got the short end of the stick in Bryan Singer’s X-Men franchise. In the first two films, Cyclops was a fairly static character -- he was little more than the cliche “boy scout” superhero. Naturally, fans hoped that the third film in the trilogy, X-Men: The Last Stand, would give Summers a chance to succeed.
Instead, due to scheduling conflicts, Cyclops was essentially written out of the movie. James Marsden, the actor that played Scott, was simultaneously working on Singer’s Superman Returns. As a result, Summers played a small part in The Last Stand, which robbed fans of a chance to see a more fleshed out version of the first X-Man.
9 HAS BEEN AN ACTUAL CYCLOPS
A character named Cyclops might make many fans think of the mythological creature of the same name. It’s fair to expect that, at some point, Marvel would show some recognition of this connection between Scott Summers and the one-eyed beasts from Greek mythology. Frankly, it’s surprising that Marvel hasn’t exploited this link in a more direct manner (maybe that’s a good thing). Still, there’s been at least one time that Summers, like his name sake, only had one eye.
During "Age of Apocalypse", Summers lost an eye in a fight with Wolverine. This “edgy” version of Cyclops grew out his hair to conceal his lost eye, so fans never really got to see a one-eyed Scott Summers.
8 HAS BEEN A DJ
Plenty of comic book stories have explored the idea of a superhero working “normal” jobs. The X-Men are no exception to this fact, as the whole team once had to find employment in the real world. When the FBI forced the X-Men to disband, Scott Summers chose a career that didn’t exactly line up with his personality -- he became a DJ.
Can’t you imagine how this storyline could play out nowadays? “Introducing DJ Slim Shades!” -- it practically writes itself. Cyclops’ career as a DJ was short-lived and it hasn’t stood the test of time. At least for a moment, it’s fun to remember this bizarre juxtaposition of a man and his job.
7 USED TO BE "IDEAL" X-MAN
In recent years, Cyclops has become a polarizing figure among X-Men fans. One explanation for this divide among readers is that Scott Summers used to be the ideal X-Man. Summers, for a long time, was the model of Xavier’s mission. The 2010’s saw Cyclops devolve, arguably, into a very aggressive and militant leader. Many fans felt that Summers had fallen a long way from the halcyon days of the early X-Men.
The time-displaced Summers has spent a while rebuilding the character’s image, both to fans and to other heroes. Scott’s adult self dug a deep hole when he ruined his image, but young Scott has done an admirable job proving himself as a virtuous hero.
6 HOSTED APOCALYPSE'S MIND
While Cyclops used to be the ideal X-Man, Apocalypse is often viewed as one of the team’s most notable rivals. At one point, to spice up this rivalry, writers merged the two characters in a one-sided Freaky Friday situation. In X-Men #97, Cyclops' body became a host for Apocalypse’s mind, and the end result was staggering.
Cyclops still had his legendary optic blasts with the added bonus of Apocalypse acting as a power-up. In the end, the hybrid didn’t last long, as Jean and Cable eventually freed Cyclops. Ironically, this story showcased that, sometimes, Scott can be a good father because he sacrificed himself to protect Cable.
5 OPTIC BLASTS BREAK ADAMANTIUM
Scott Summers certainly had an eventful arc in "Age of Apocalypse". We’ve already mentioned that he lost an eye, and during that same fight with Wolverine, Cyclops didn’t quite take an eye for an eye literally but he definitely returned the favor. Summers took out one of Logan’s hands in a moment that floored readers.
Adamantium is one of the strongest metals in comic books and it was once thought to be indestructible. Wolverine’s skeleton is fused with the metal, which makes him even more unstoppable. When Cyclops uses his optic blasts to take out Wolverine’s hand, Scott demonstrated the sheer strength of his blasts.
4 CREATED X-FORCE
There were several moments in the Cyclops-Wolverine rivalry that escalated the conflict to the point of no return. One such progression includes Summers’ formation of a new X-Force, with the group’s sole purpose being to do the X-Men’s dirty work. Everything about X-Force symbolized the stark shift in Summers’ leadership philosophies.
Cyclops moved away from Xavier’s vision of a peaceful team of X-Men and embraced one that valued survival above everything else. Wolverine is known for his (sometimes) reluctant willingness to do what’s necessary, so Scott chose him to lead the team. Logan vehemently objected to Summers’ placement of a young X-23 on the team and this clash was another nail in the coffin of the relationship between Scott and Logan.
3 COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP WITH JEAN
Everyone knows that Scott Summers and Jean Grey are the First Couple of the X-Men. Sure, most fans know their relationship is a complicated one, but the depth of this convoluted and sometimes questionable romance is a lesser known fact. When Jean’s existence temporarily ended at the conclusion of the "Dark Phoenix Saga", Scott was heartbroken, thinking he'd never love again. Then, he met Madelyne Pryor, who had an uncanny resemblance to Jean -- it was love at first sight (again).
Of course, Jean came back to the land of the living. The two picked up their relationship, and it’s been a winding road ever since. For example, both characters have moved on to the next life, returned to this one and both have had their fair share of indiscretions.
2 LIFE AS A HUSBAND
We don’t mean to belabor the point but Cyclops is not an admirable man when it comes to how he is with his significant others. He cheated on Jean and he didn't seem heartbroken either time his ex-wife, Madelyne Pryor, met her end. Scott tried to leave his wife and son to fulfill his obligation to the X-Men, but Storm won leadership of the team. Then, Scott actually ditched his family when Jean Grey returned.
Even when Cyclops’ primary love interest shifted to Emma Frost, his behavior wasn't the best. He lied about being over Jean and these lingering feelings were a constant problem in his relationship with Emma. One thing remains clear, ladies: stay away from Scott Summers.
1 BLURS LINES OF HERO/VILLAIN
Scott Summers used to be the ideal hero or, at the very least, he was supposed to be. Particularly in recent years, Cyclops has fallen far from that supposed mountaintop. Scott Summers has blurred the lines of heroism and villainy. Near the end of his existence, adult Scott arguably became Magneto-like in his attitude and aggressive defense of mutantkind.
Summers adopted a militaristic approach when it came to enlisting kids in the X-Men’s fight for mutant rights. In an ironic twist, Wolverine became the more virtuous hero while Cyclops became the man who did what was necessary. It can be hard to tell where exactly Summers falls on the hero-villain scale.