X-Men Relaunch Wishlist: 7 Things We Want To See

What’s happened to Scott Summers in the past few years is nothing short of character assassination. It reads like bad fan fiction. Cyclops kills Charles Xavier, his mentor and father figure, and joins with his enemy Magneto, the fiercest representative of the exact opposite of Xavier’s dream of coexistence. The sometimes unfriendly rivalry between him and Wolverine was turned up to absurd levels to the point where they became actual enemies. It’s almost like Brian Michael Bendis wanted an excuse to contrast an evil Cyclops with his pure hearted younger version and forced the character into the position he needed to do so. It wasn’t like Superior Spider-Man - it wasn’t presented as a temporary departure from the norm that would eventually revert back. It was treated as the new direction for the character, period. Other than “Cyclops sure is a jerk now,” what have we really learned about him since these changes have occurred? I mean, this is Cyclops! The corny boy scout who hated Logan’s methods because they were too dangerous and he became a supervillain. He may have tried to redeem himself on the White House lawn in Uncanny X-Men #600, but the character is so different now he’s practically broken.

Other characters have done terrible things that pissed everyone off and recovered just fine. A decade ago, everyone in the superhero community hated Tony Stark. He was instrumental in causing Civil War, killing Goliath, and imprisoning U.S. citizens in the Negative Zone without trial. His actions led to Norman Osborn taking over SHIELD. Yet, he was allowed to become likeable again. Why is Marvel so focused on making Cyclops as unlikeable as possible?

We need Cyclops back. He needs to be his old self and probably a nice helping of extra angst now that he’s got this history of destruction. Maybe he needs to atone for his past mistakes and has dedicated himself to Xavier’s mission more than ever before. Maybe he feels the rest of the X-Men don’t trust him enough to function as team leader and has to defer to Storm or Beast. However it’s done, the dark chapter of Cyclops’ life needs to be shut. Even if someone has to make a deal with Mephisto to do it, we need all of that stuff to get swept under the rug. With the way things seem to be going, if we wait long enough, the younger Cyclops might just become an adult so he can step up.