Untangling the Complex Family Tree of Cyclops and ...

Another member of Cyclops’ family joined the roster of characters in X-Men ’97 with its latest episode, and the Summers family tree holds great power.

Cyclops is a key player in X-Men ’97, and his family tree includes some exciting and powerful Marvel characters. Scott Summers never really got his chance to shine in Fox’s X-Men movies; however, X-Men ’97 is doing a great job of putting him in the forefront. Cyclops’ powers have been showcased multiple times, with his leadership role within the X-Men also being given the necessary focus.

While Cyclops is an incredible character, he is not the only member of the Summers family that possesses exciting powers and intriguing character arcs. Many other Summers family members have appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series or X-Men ’97. Despite some of them having similar powers, the ranking of their abilities might surprise fans, with the characters’ personal history also being complicated in classic X-Men fashion.

Corsair

Cyclops’s Father

Corsair is the weakest member of the Summers family to have appeared in the animated X-Men world. The reason for that is Christopher Summers, aka Corsair, does not have any powers. Instead, the character makes do with his hand-to-hand fighting skills and an ace pilot reputation. The latter is crucial for his role as the leader of the Starjammers, a group of space pirates.

When Cyclops was still just a child, Christopher and his wife were kidnapped by the Shi’ar. Years later, X-Men: The Animated Series saw Corsair meet Cyclops when the Starjammers tried to steal the M’Kraan Crystal. However, neither of them knew that they were related, with the two only finding out about it at another meeting when Corsair came to Earth. After butting heads, Cyclops and Corsair made peace.

Cyclops

The Field Leader Of The X-Men

X-Men ‘97 has done a great job of repairing Cyclops’ image with the audience whose exposure to the X-Men for the past several years was only the Fox films. While Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was front and center in those, Cyclops gets the chance to shine as the field leader of the elite mutant team in X-Men ‘97.

Cyclops’ powers consist of optic blasts. They are not heat vision, like Superman, but a concussive force that he can use to hit opponents, stop his fall from great heights, or maneuver his way around. Cyclops stands at the center of the Summers’ complicated family tree, being the son of Corsair, the brother to Vulcan and Havok, and having a romantic link to both Jean Grey and her clone, Madelyne Pryor.

Havok

Cyclops’ Brother

Havok’s story in X-Men: The Animated Series is shrouded in mystery. The show never stated that he and Cyclops were really brothers, though the comics and certain teases point to the same being in effect in the series. When Corsair and his wife sent their sons flying on parachutes, so they were not captured by the Shi’ar, Scott Summers would grow up in an orphanage, though Alexander’s — Havok — upbringing is unknown.

Alexander would meet Cyclops in the future after he had joined the X-Factor team led by Forge, going by the superhero moniker Havok. To test his team, Forge planned a fight between X-Factor and the X-Men. Amid the fight, Cyclops and Havok traded blows, discovering that their powers — Cyclops’ optic beams and Havok’s plasma energy — could not affect one another. A line from the episode teased how brothers’ powers could not hurt one another, hinting at the characters’ connection.

Havok usually lets loose more than Cyclops, with his powers also hurting their brother Vulcan, while Cyclops’ do not. This pushes him above Scott Summers in the power rankings.

Cable

Cyclops’ Son

Cable is one of the most well-known members of the Summers family. The character got a live-action adaptation, with the MCU’s Thanos actor, Josh Brolin, playing Cable in Deadpool 2. Cable has been present in both X-Men: The Animated Series and Disney+’s X-Men ’97. In the new series, it was revealed that the character is an older version of Nathan Summers, Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor’s son.

Despite having been infected with the Techno-Organic Virus as a child, Cable is exceptionally powerful. His heritage provides him with an extensive list of abilities. As he hails from the future, having been sent there by Scott and Madelyne so he could survive his disease, Cable has access to a wide range of weapons and a time-travel device. In the comics, due to his parents, Cable has telepathic and telekinetic powers, as well as general abilities like enhanced speed, healing, strength, and more.

Vulcan

Cyclops’ Other Brother

Vulcan is a wildcard both in the comics and in the X-Men ’97 world. Gabriel Summers, aka Vulcan, only recently made his debut in the X-Men animated franchise. The character appeared in X-Men ’97‘s episode 6 alongside Deathbird, whom he ends up marrying in the comics. Vulcan did not play a big role in the episode, but his screen time was enough to show that the character is not to be messed with.

Vulcan’s powers surpass those of his two brothers. Vulcan is an Omega-Level energy manipulator, being able to absorb any other characters’ powers and use their energy to fuel his own. Mostly a villain, Vulcan is a chaotic force that can take down pretty much anyone who stands in his way. Vulcan’s powers can hurt both Cyclops and Havok, differently from the other two’s dynamic.

Madelyne Pryor

The Mother Of Cyclops’ Son

Madelyne Pryor’s story in X-Men ’97 has been one of the moving forces of the new series. Pryor is a clone of Jean Grey, created by the villain Mister Sinister, the overarching villain of X-Men ’97 season 1. As Sinister gave all of Jean’s memories to Madelyne, she thought she was the real Jean Grey until Jean showed up at the X-Mansion and Beast tested both to reveal Madelyne was a clone.

The exact moment when both characters were swapped has yet to be revealed; however, one thing that is confirmed is that Madelyne Pryor is the mother of Cyclops’ son, Cable, with the two characters having secret telepathic meetings for a month after Jean came back. Like Jean, Madelyne is one of the most powerful mutants, with abilities that include telepathy, telekinesis, the power to warp reality, and more.

Jean Grey

Cyclops’ Wife

Jean Grey is the most powerful member of the Summers family. The character possesses telekinetic powers that allow her to move objects around like weapons, as well as telepathy to enter people’s minds to find out their darkest secrets, and many more incredible abilities. Jean has also been the host of the Phoenix Force, which elevated her already Omega Level powers to almost unreachable heights for characters in the wider Marvel universe.

At some point in the original X-Men: The Animated Series, Jean Grey was taken from the mutant team. Without the others realizing it, Jean was replaced by a clone — Madelyne Pryor — who was given all of Jean’s memories by Mister Sinister and became part of the X-Men. X-Men ‘97’s reveal of that puts in question if Jean was even the one who married Cyclops or not, with her confirmed as not being the mother of his child. Still, her powers remain unmatched in the Summers family.