X-Men Resurrection: Cyclops Returns in Extermination's Finale

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Extermination #5, by Ed Brisson, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Joe Sabino, on sale now.

After their extended stay in the modern Marvel Universe, the time-traveling teenage original X-Men finally got a fitting send-off in Extermination. And in a surprise twist, that miniseries also marked the return of one of the X-Men's most iconic members—Cyclops.

On the last page of Extermination #5, a young version of Cable, who's unofficially called Kid Cable, reveals that he's been working with Cyclops to restore the X-Men's timeline and set the stage for Cyclops' proper return.

Thanks to his appearances on the covers to several upcoming issues of Uncanny X-Men, including next month's Annual, Scott Summers' return isn't a complete surprise. However, the nature of his resurrection raises a few big questions.

At the beginning of Extermination, the presence of the teenage Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel in the modern day quickly evolved into a serious issue. When the time-traveling cyborg Ahab tried to doom the X-Men's future by hunting the time-displaced X-Men, Kid Cable intervened. Despite his good intentions, Kid Cable killed an older Cable for failing to protect the timeline, abducted the teenage X-Men and grafted feather wings back onto Angel's body.

While Kid Cable (who hates that name) was ultimately successful in taking the original teenage X-Men back to their place in history, it's unclear how much this adult Cyclops knew about his son's brutal methods. If Cyclops knew how the young time-traveler was accomplishing his mission, it means that Cyclops was fine with one version of his son, Kid Cable, killing another version of his son, the adult Cable, who he had grown fairly close to during their shared time on the X-Men.

Even though that kind of cold calculation is in-line with some of Cyclops' decision-making, the time-traveling teenage Scott Summers just spent years trying to grow into a different man, and Kid Cable's actions could mean that the young Cyclops went through all of that angst for nothing.

NEXT PAGE: What We Know About Cyclops' Death and Resurrection So Far

While the time-traveling teenage Cyclops was a big part of the X-Men's recent adventures, the adult Cyclops hasn't been a steady part of the X-Men's world for the past few years.

In the early 2010s, Cyclops evolved from being the X-Men's longtime leader into an outlaw mutant revolutionary who killed Professor X while under the influence of the Phoenix Force. After playing a minor role in 2015's Secret Wars crossover, he disappeared during an eight-month time jump the X-Men titles took in-universe.

In 2016, the Death of X miniseries filled in that gap in the X-Men's history, which included the apparent death of Cyclops. When a cloud of Terrigen Mist was released on Earth, the substance that gives the Inhumans their powers proved to be deadly to mutants. In that series, Cyclops contracted the Terrigen Plague and quickly died. To give him a more meaningful death, Emma Frost, a telepathic X-Man and Cyclops' occasional partner, created a telepathic illusion of the X-Man that seemingly died fighting the Inhumans.

While it's not yet clear how Cyclops recovered from his death, it's worth noting that the adult Cyclops is wearing one of his older costumes in his Extermination appearance. Instead of the intimidating black-and-red suit he favored during his revolutionary phase, Cyclops is seen in the blue-and-gold he started wearing in Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men.

In Marvel Universe continuity, this costume was explicitly designed for its media-friendly appeal, but it's also the costume that Cyclops wore during his last phase as an unequivocal superhero.

Since Kid Cable is a time-traveler, this raises the possibility that Kid Cable could have pulled this Cyclops from this point in the X-Men's history. Even though that would likely spell even more trouble for the X-Men's timeline, an action like that isn’t out of the question for someone as desperate as Kid Cable.

Even if Cyclops was resurrected through other means, his costume choice is still meaningful. By returning to his Astonishing X-Men costume, Cyclops is visually presenting himself as a superhero instead of as the leader of a mutant nation, or as a revolutionary figure.

Salvador Larroca's cover to the upcoming Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 depicts the friction between Cyclops' various roles as a classic superhero rumble. As Extermination #5 notes, Cyclops' story will continue in that issue.

Shortly after that, Cyclops will reunite with his occasional friend, frequent romantic rival and longtime teammate Wolverine in Uncanny X-Men, where the two iconic X-Men will apparently assemble a new team of X-Men.

According to a few upcoming Uncanny X-Men covers, Cyclops will apparently start wearing the Jim Lee-designed costume that he wore in the 1990s. This is arguably Cyclops' most famous costume, since he wore it on X-Men: The Animated Series. If this costume truly is returning, it's the most clear visual hint that Cyclops will returning to his roots as a tried-and-true superhero as he takes the X-Men's reigns once again.

Cyclops' return will continue in Uncanny X-Men Annual #1, by Ed Brisson and Carlos Gomez, on sale Jan. 23, 2019.