With the X-Men just entering into a new era under the innovative mind of Jonathan Hickman, new rosters and series were recently announced that will follow the current House of X and Powers of X series that tease the future of Marvel's merry mutants. The main X-Men series features Cyclops and Jean Grey alongside the other various members of the Summers Family, including Scott Summers younger brother, Alex Summers/Havok.
The mutant brothers have rarely worked together on the same team following their early time on the X-Men together, preferring to each lead their own respective squads. With the two set to appear together in Jonathan Hickman's X-Men, the age-old debate over which Summers brother is more powerful has risen anew, so today we are going to examine a few reasons why Havok is more powerful than Cyclops, and a few reasons why he never will be more powerful than his older brother.
10 MORE POWERFUL: POWERED BY COSMIC ENERGY
Alex Summers holds the advantage over his brother when it comes to the origins of their powers, as Havok draws his energy from the universe itself. Havok's body acts as a cosmic battery, absorbing the ambient energy of the stars.
While Scott Summers abilities were originally solar-based, Havok's ability to siphon energy from the stars around him, as well as other cosmic energy sources while out in space push Alex's power levels well beyond Scott Summers, especially given Cyclops' retconned power origins.
9 NEVER WILL BE: ENERGY DEPLETION
While Cyclops'abilities were originally similar to Havok's in that he was a solar battery the same way Alex was a cosmic battery, this was later altered. Cyclops still absorbed solar energy, but instead of powering his optic blasts the energy was used to power the dimensional rift in Scott's eyes that releases his powerful energy blasts.
Because of this change, and the numerous times we've seen Havok deplete his own energy stores in battle, Cyclops takes the edge in endurance. Havok can expend huge amounts of energy with explosive and deadly results, but in an extended battle his abilities wouldn't hold up at that level for long.
8 MORE POWERFUL: ABLE TO CONTROL HIS POWERS
One of the biggest differences between Cyclops and Havok's mutant abilities is that Cyclops is unable to control his optic blasts without the use of his ruby quartz visor. This is a result of a childhood injury to his head during a plane crash, though Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run made his inability to control his optic blasts more mental than physical.
Over the years Havok has required various technological enhancements built into his costume that helped him control his abilities by measuring his energy absorption. However, he has learned to control his abilities on his own, whereas Scott is forced to live behind rose-colored glasses for the rest of his life.
7 NEVER WILL BE: EASILY MIND CONTROLLED
The X-Men deal with telepaths or mentalists or hypnotists on an almost daily basis and most of the team have developed powerful psychic blocks with the help of Professor Xavier, Jean Grey, Psylocke, Emma Frost, or others. unfortunately, none of these powerful telepaths seem to have assisted Havok with his own mental defense.
Havok has repeatedly fallen under the control of other individuals, from Madelyne Pryor in Inferno, to the Genoshan governments and even the AoA's Dark Beast. He's even been possessed by an evil alternate-reality version of himself and been psychically inverted into a villain, where he almost further and fatally mutated mutant-kind.
6 MORE POWERFUL: ABSORBS RADIATION
While Havok primarily absorbs ambient cosmic energy, he has reacted to radiation as well. Alex is able to absorb and rechannel all kinds of radioactive energy, including x-rays and gamma radiation. During a battle with the Hulk, Alex grew so powerful the resulting explosion knocked both Alex and the Hulk out.
Alex was even able to contain the black hole that existed in Xorn's skull, and in Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown, acted as a human control rod to avert a nuclear reactor meltdown. After absorbing the radiation and energy from the nuclear plant in meltdown, he ejected the energy into space with a powerful blast that his brother would never be able to match.
5 NEVER WILL BE: CONCUSSIVE BLASTS
While Alex is able to generate more energy output, especially when given sufficient time to absorb and rechannel another energy source, that energy is rechanneled as superheated plasma blasts as opposed to his brother's alternate energy source. We previously mentioned Cyclops' optic blasts technically emanated from another dimension, as opposed to being produced by solar energy.
What some fans might not know is that they are actually almost entirely made of concussive energy. Cyclops is able to punch a hole through a mountain with a fully unleashed optic blast, no charging required. Havok may be able to unleash massive amounts of energy in time, but when it comes to concussive blasts vs superheated plasma, Cyclops packs the punch.
4 MORE POWERFUL: AREA OF EFFECT
There is no denying that Havok can be a powerhouse, which may be best represented by the explosive waves of energy that radiate from his body in circular plasma bursts. By Cyclops' very nature, his entire power set is focused on tight control, whereas Alex's powers are loosely controlled mayhem.
While Cyclops is able to provide room-clearing blasts when needed, they are one-directional and generally reliant on line-of-sight, though Cyclops' unique spatial awareness gets around that hurdle. Havok can bring down the building just by standing in the center of it and would be a master level clearer in any video game with his intense AoE attacks.
3 NEVER WILL BE: TACTICS AND PRECISION
With that being said, Cyclops' previously mentioned spatial awareness and unique understanding of the makeup of his optic blasts allow him to bounce his blasts around a room much like Captain America's shield, and with his visor he is able to focus his blast into a razor-thin beam, something Alex would struggle to pull off without any tech enhancements in his suit.
Furthermore, while Alex is an accomplished leader of various X-Men squads as well as his iconic run with X-Factor, Scott is without a doubt the better leader and tactician, and the X-Men are better with him in command. Sure, Alex was put in charge of the Avengers Unity Squad by Captain America, but his time as leader was plagued with problems.
2 MORE POWERFUL: ENHANCED STRENGTH
Cyclops may be in peak physical condition, but Havok has an advantage over his older brother that has nothing to do with his workout regiment. As Alex is a cosmic battery, he is able to repurpose his absorbed energy in various ways that don't always include projecting the energy outward.
Havok discovered that he is able to project the energy inward and boost his own physical abilities, resulting in increased endurance and enhanced strength. He used this ability most dramatically during a battle with his other brother Gabriel/Vulcan, who will also be appearing on Hickman's upcoming X-Men roster.
1 NEVER WILL BE: HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT
While Havok may be able to give himself a physical boost, he doesn't often use this ability in battle. And when it comes down to a straight fight between Scott and Alex Summers, it is rarely determined by their abilities. This is largely due to the fact that Scott and Alex are immune to each other's powers.
So when optic blast cancels out plasma burst (and vice-versa), the brothers often come to physical blows during the few occasions they have fought. While Alex has had some training with the X-Men and specifically from Wolverine, Cyclops is a master hand-to-hand combatant, with extensive training in Judo, Aikido, and other fighting disciplines.