The X-Men have given readers some of the coolest moments in comics. The team started out as the least popular of Marvel’s Silver Age offerings, but in 1974, they would come roaring back with Giant-Size X-Men #1,which introduced readers to the All-New, All-Different version, bringing Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus to the group. Writer Chris Claremont revolutionized the team, and their adventures pushed so many boundaries. Over the years, we’ve seen the best villains, the coolest fights, the most heartwarming romances, and the most tragic deaths in their comics. It’s also given us one of the greatest grudges in comics: the one between Wolverine and Cyclops.
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They were oil and water; Cyclops was trained to be the ultimate mutant soldier, given a purpose by Charles Xavier and taking his responsibility to the team and his people seriously. Wolverine was another kind of soldier, a killer who pushed everyone in his life away out of fear of loss. He was a gruff loner, and he didn’t take well to the skinny young man in the visor bossing him around. However, there’s another factor in their grudge: their love of Jean Grey. Ask most fans and they’ll say Wolverine’s crush on Jean Grey is the source of their enmity. However, longtime X-Men fans know this isn’t the case at all, because their early clashes tell a different story.
Wolverine and Cyclops Were Clashing From the Start
Two men fighting over a woman is one of the oldest stories around, so fans assuming that Wolverine and Cyclops hate each other because both of them love Jean Grey isn’t that strange. Over the years, many stories have showcased this part of their grudge, and readers got to see the origins of it in the back-up story to Classic X-Men #1, titled “First Night”. This story took place after the events of Giant-Size X-Men, after the new team rescued the old from Krakoa and the two groups were gathered in the mansion. Logan and Jean were shown to be immediately attracted to each other in this story.
Classic X-Men #1 came out in 1986, but fans had already seen that the two characters were in love. However, readers didn’t learn that until after Jean rejoined the team in 1976’s X-Men (Vol. 1) #101, where she became the Phoenix. Logan and Jean shared many moments, and Cyclops was not happy about that in the least. It’s safe to say that their love of Jean, the competition between them for her, made their grudge worst, but it ignores the two heroes’ in the issues leading up to Jean rejoining the cast of the book.
Cyclops is known as the team’s boy scout nowadays, his cool under fire being his most recognizable trait. However, back in the early days of the return of X-Men (Vol. 1) to prominence, Scott Summers was much more prone to anger. Maybe it was dealing with the new mutants, but there are plenty of scenes from this time of an angry Cyke screaming orders at the team. And every time he yelled about his orders, Wolverine clapped back. Their grudge came not because they loved the same woman, but because they couldn’t stop sniping at each other.
Those early issues starring the All-New, All-Different team were drawn by Dave Cockrum, an artist who was amazing at character acting. He captured the anger and tension every time Wolverine and Cyclops shared a panel, and going back and reading those old issues show exactly why the two men hated each other so much even before Jean became a factor. They were so different that they couldn’t help but clash. In fact, Cyclops landed the first blow in their grudge, backhanding Wolverine in X-Men (Vol. 1) #97. This was the fifth issue of their relationship, four issues before Jean came onto the team.
Cyclops and Wolverine Came to Blows Before Logans’ Crush on Jean Was Ever Introduced
The grudge between Wolverine and Cyclops played a huge role in the history of the X-Men. It helped show the kind of person Wolvie was, and made his growth over the years, as he became more of a team player, that much more acute and special. Their grudge would heat up and cool off over the years, and it became such a part of the characters that it has been a part of basically every adaptation. However, these adaptations mostly play their grudge as the result of both loving the same woman. Comics show this not to be the case.
Most fans blame Wolverine for the whole thing, and that’s fair; early Logan was insufferable. However, looking back at Cyclops from this time, he was just as bad in the way he treated Wolvie’s insubordination. He even struck the first blow. Maybe it’s time to realize the truth: that Scott Summers could have stopped the grudge in its tracks, but he allowed himself to get needled by the best there is at what he does. He landed the first blow, and it gave the team one of its most popular grudges.
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