The X-Men are in a weird place right now, but that doesn’t mean bad. In a lot of ways, this was always going to happen. The Krakoa Era was a huge deal, and even though a lot of fans weren’t exactly happy with it by the end, there was still a lot of esteem for this status quo. No matter what Marvel did at the end of the Krakoa Era — barring bringing Jonathan Hickman back to the X-books — fans were going to complain. The current “From the Ashes” status quo has been talked by a lot of fans as the wrong direction to take the X-Men in. There are numerous reasons for this, but we’re not here to talk about them. Instead, we’re going to talk about what the X-Men books have been doing right.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The X-Men has always had great members, but one often got all of the attention: Wolverine. He was the break out star of Uncanny X-Men back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, and became the biggest character in the Marvel Universe. Many X-Men fans kind of hate Wolverine for this reason, because they feel he takes attention from their favorites. One hero that has been the biggest victim of the diminutive mutant is Cyclops. He was the wet blanket leader, the uncool one. Well, all of that is starting to change. Cyclops is a big deal now, and as a Wolverine fan, I want to say that it’s about time.
Cyclops Is Becoming the Star He Should Have Been
Wolverine is the best there is at what he does, and what he does is sell books. Everyone loves the mouthy loner with a heart of gold, the violent man who has chosen to do the right thing. His mysterious background and long life gave him so much to explore, and it’s led to hundreds of Wolverine stories. It’s hard to argue against Wolverine being a star; the character has all of the ingredients needed to get attention. He was often placed in opposition to Cyclops, and that hurt the leader of the X-Men.
However, recent years have seen Cyclops change as a character. Instead of being the stick in the mud, he became the general who was willing to do anything to allow his people to survive. Scott Summers became even more complex and interesting than ever, and he was played as the ultimate leader. They were positioning him to be the star of the X-Men, and it was working. I used to hate Cyclops with a passion, and that changed. He became a better character, and plenty of people who disliked him for years started to like him. He’s basically become the new Captain America, and it is the perfect way to showcase him.
We all know the X-Men are coming to the MCU, and that one of the reasons why we’ve gotten such a basic, milquetoast status quo is because Marvel wants to get the team ready for MCU synergy. The X-Men need to put their best foot forward and that’s not Wolverine. There’s so many other places to read Wolverine stories, and they are often different from X-Men stories. However, Cyclops is the perfect character to showcase what the team is all about, because he’s the ultimate X-Man. His life is built around the team and its mission, and putting him forward will give new fans (which won’t be a lot; the MCU doesn’t drive comic sales) what they need to understand the team.
Pushing Cyclops is also a door to other characters getting a push. It used to be that the characters who were related to Wolverine were the ones who got the most popular, but Cyclops is becoming more of a kingmaker. Look at Psylocke and Magik; while you can say that Marvel Rivals helped their star rise, the fact that they’ve become Cyclops-related in the comics has played a big role in that. Speaking of Marvel Rivals, everyone wants him in the game, and the moment he gets there, he’s going to blow up. Marvel putting as much Cyclops out there as possible is great, because Rivals does actually drive people to the comics. Cyclops is the leader of the team, and the leader should always be the star.
It’s Past Time for Cyclops to Be the X-Men’s Star
In the last 20 years, Cyclops has grown and grown. He’s become something quite different than the character he used to be, and this has played dividends. I can’t impress upon you how little I liked Cyclops for years; I found him so boring. However, getting to see him became the perfect soldier, getting to see him deal with the terrible realities of mutantkind, and watching him grow into a greater leader than Captain America (we all know it’s true) has been a treat. We’re living in a Cyclops world, and it’s about time.
Cyclops has had his ups and downs over the years, and the biggest problem with the character has been, in a lot of ways, Wolverine. Wolverine made him look lame, and it hurt him. However, we’ve been seeing the character in an all-new light in the last 20 years, seeing him as the tough guy that Wolverine used to be. They’ve found the Cyclops sweet spot, and it’s going to do more for the X-Men than any other character. He’s the perfect star and I can’t wait to see what comes next for the character.
What do you think about Cyclops? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Courtesy of Crunchyroll
