CYCLOPS

Publication Date: 14th Nov 2019
Image Work: sixhoursoflucy and Gremlin.
Alternate Versions

ALTERNATE VERSIONS – PAGE 1

In the Age of Apocalypse, Scott and Alex Summers were raised by Mr. Sinister and Scott soon became a Prelate, overseeing Sinister’s breeding pens. Scott was always Sinister’s favorite, without even wanting that honor, causing his brother Alex to hate him out of envy. When Weapon X (Logan) tried to free Jean Grey from Sinister’s pens, he and Cyclops got into a fight and crippled each other — leaving Scott with only one eye, making him a true cyclops. All the while, Scott was unaware of his true role in Sinister’s plans: the evil scientist used his genetic material, alongside Jean’s, to create the ultimate weapon against Apocalypse — the teenage Nate Grey. Over time, Cyclops became secretly disgusted with the world he lived in and helped several prisoners to escape — and ironically also the son he never knew about, Nate Grey. Eventually, a returned Jean Grey convinced Scott to openly rebel and free the prisoners from the pens, only for him to die battling Havok’s troops, right before the Age of Apocalypse's apparent end.

However, the Age of Apocalypse persisted. After Weapon X ascended to the role of Apocalypse in order to appease the Celestials, he donned the moniker Weapon Omega and brought Cyclops back to life and appointed him his Minister of Famine. While in this role, Cyclops pursued the human-mutant resistance, led in part by Jean Grey. Eventually, though, the resistance succeeded in stripping Weapon Omega of his Celestial powers, reducing him once again to a mutant — and a repentant one, at that. When Weapon X devoted himself to executing those who once worked for him, Cyclops found himself on his list and, ultimately, met his end at Logan's claws. 


Cyclops and Havok were raised by Sinister too in yet another timeline, namely the universe shown in What if (2nd series) #74. Following Sinister’s orders, Scott led a team consisting of himself, Havok, Sauron, Sabretooth and Madelyne Pryor, believing their team to be heroes. They eventually came in conflict with the X-Men, and Cyclops and the other team’s leader, Marvel Girl, instantly grew attracted to each other. Sensing that he was about to lose Scott, Sinister faked his death at the hands of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and asked Cyclops, with his “dying” words, to hold onto Sinister’s dream. Scott respected his surrogate father’s last wish and rejected Jean’s affection, but he and Havok joined the X-Men to secretly undermine them from within.


Scott’s history diverged at a much earlier point in the Mutant X reality. In this timeline, it was not only the Summers’ parents who were kidnapped by the Shi’ar, but Scott as well. While back on Earth, it was Havok who would be discovered by Charles Xavier and eventually grow up to be the X-Men’s leader, Scott presumably worked as a slave in the Shi’ar mines. Eventually, he escaped and joined the Starjammers. Among the group, he also found a lover in Carol Danvers. Unlike his brooding counterpart from the main universe, this version of Scott Summers was a happy-go-lucky space pirate. Eventually, one of their adventures led the Starjammers to Earth, where he was briefly reunited with his younger brother after nearly 20 years of not seeing each other.


A somewhat older, already balding version of Scott Summers was seen in the alternate future Earth X, where every human being on Earth gained superpowers when the Inhumans’ Terrigen Mists were released into the atmosphere. In such a world, the X-Men were no longer needed. Nevertheless, Cyclops took it upon himself to become teacher to a new team of X-Men, as he realized that there still were some outcasts among Earth’s population who needed a purpose in their life and some help in getting along. Despite his father and his brother asking Scott to leave Earth with them, Cyclops stayed to train these new X-Men, as he felt he owed it to Jean, even though they had split up years ago. Cyclops’s presence on Earth eventually became essential due to the telepathic rapport he shared with the Phoenix Force in the realm of the dead, as after the heroes had killed Death itself, nobody could die anymore. The rapport was one of the few ways the two realms could communicate with each other.


Because the X-Men in the Ultimate Universe were younger than their 616-counterparts, Cyclops was in his late teens. An average student but excellent tactician, Cyclops served as team leader. He had a tendency to be hotheaded and protest against Xavier’s decisions, which he did on one occasion by briefly joining the Brotherhood. Overall, though, he was willing to make big sacrifices for Xavier’s dream, such as allowing his rival Wolverine back into the fold after Wolverine had tried to kill him out of jealousy. Despite his rebellious streak, Cyclops was actually quite shy and struggled for years to reveal that he had feelings for Jean Grey. After he opened up to her, however, they became a happy couple. Scott also had an older brother, Alex, with whom he hadn’t spoken since he joined Xavier’s school. After Professor Xavier’s apparent death, Scott became headmaster of the school until Xavier returned. After his stint as headmaster, he briefly grew addicted to the powers-enhancing drug Banshee, but Jean helped him kick the habit. Later, after Magneto’s Ultimatum wave hit New York City and killed several of Scott’s teammates and other superhumans, Scott confronted Magneto and executed him — only to later be assassinated by Magneto’s son, Quicksilver. 


A rather tragic event turned Cyclops into a bitter person in the timeline dubbed Professor W’s X-Men. At one point, several years in the future, the Shadow King took control of Wolverine and made him kill Professor Xavier. Cyclops blamed Logan for this and when, shortly afterwards, Jean Grey was killed, he angrily left the team. In secrecy, Scott assembled a new Brotherhood around himself and one day returned with a vengeance. During the Brotherhood’s attack on Xavier’s mansion, Cyclops almost killed Wolverine, who didn’t fight back at all. It was Nightcrawler’s daughter, Nocturne, who ended the battle by possessing her teammate, Armageddon, only to use his telekinetic power to pop Logan’s claws in Cyclops’ chest. She did so with so much precision that Scott was stopped but not killed.


A time-traveling experiment gone wrong created another divergent timeline, one in which present day heroes already emerged in the 17th century, the year 1602 to be precise. Mutants were referred to as “witchbreed” and, as such, feared and hunted. The counterpart of Cyclops was called Scotius Summerisle and his chest was branded with the letter X when he was discovered. Carlos Javier saved Scotius from an even worse fate and invited him to the school he had opened for these witchbreed. Scotius was jealous about Angel’s attentions towards fellow student Jean Grey.


In What If... Magneto and Professor X Had Formed the X-Men Together?, Cyclops, along with Havok and Sabretooth, became a member of the Marauders. Because he worked for Mister Sinister, he never joined the X-Men or Xavier’s School and lived his life as a villain.


In the alternate future depicting The End of the X-Men, Cyclops and Emma Frost were happily married, had children and were co-headmasters of the Xavier Institute. However, when Phoenix returned, it worried the Shi’ar to the point that they enlisted several of the X-Men’s enemies (including Stryfe and Madelyne Pryor) and staged an attack on the school, killing many of its students and teachers. Cyclops was only saved due to Northstar’s sacrifice. Later, amidst the calls he had to make to the parents of his dead students, Cyclops expressed remorse about how he had treated Madelyne in the past. Madelyne happened to learn of his remorse, leading to reconciliation between the two that resulted in Maddie switching sides and helping the X-Men. Cyclops and the X-Men later sacrificed their lives in order to end the threat of the Phoenix-possessed Cassandra Nova.


 

 

In What If? X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #1, Legion traveled back in time and killed both Xavier and Magneto, so Apocalypse rose to power completely unopposed. This uncontested Age of Apocalypse was so horrible that Scott spent his life in hiding in the Savage Land with Jean and their son Nate, but Apocalypse eventually found them and had his minion Banshee obliterate them.

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