Love often doesn’t come easy for the Summers clan, arguably one of the cornerstones families of the X-Men Universe. In particular, the relationship between Cyclops and Jean Grey has suffered many obstacles they’ve had to face, including possession, love triangles, time travel and death. However it could have been so different. Here we will look at the various relationships that members of the Summers clan have had throughout their history.
Cyclops
(Scott Summers)
Phoenix IV (Jean Grey)
The detailed love story of Jean and Scott can be found here: Till Death Do Us Part... and Beyond
Colleen Wing
Scott first met Colleen in Japan whilst the X-Men were trying to get home from the Savage Land. Colleen's attraction was evident from the beginning, but she and her partner Misty Knight (who also happened to be Jean Grey’s roommate) believed that he was still with Jean. At the time, Scott thought that Jean had died in Magneto's underground complex [X-Men (1st series) #113] and he did not allow himself any feelings at all. Still, Colleen and Scott spent all their spare time together talking and, once they had returned to America, Colleen gave Scott a key to her apartment. However, things were cut short as Cyclops found out that Jean was still alive when the Beast returned to the mansion. [X-Men (1st series) #125] After battling Proteus in Scotland, Scott told Jean of Colleen during the flight back, but added that he only considered her a very close friend. Colleen and Scott were never seen together again, but probably he explained things to Colleen off-panel.
First meeting: X-Men (1st series) #118
Colleen gave Scott key to her Apartment: X-Men (1st series) #122
End of Relationship: X-Men (1st series) #129 (assumed off panel)
Aleytis “Lee" Forester
After Jean Grey's funeral, Cyclops left the X-Men to take time to reflect on his life. He eventually arrived in Florida and got work on Lee Foresters' fishing boat. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #143] Scott went with Lee to her father's on an overnight trip, only to learn on arrival that he has died. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #144] Two months later, they washed ashore on a deserted island in the Bermuda Triangle after being thrown overboard. With his ruby quartz glasses missing, Scott had to blindfold himself and relied on Lee to be his eyes. Eventually, he told her of his mutant power. Soon after, the two found a strange city which happened to be Magneto's new base. Magneto attempted to take on the world and the X-Men arrived on the island. With Cyclops' help, they defeated Magneto and they returned to America. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #145-150] Among the X-Men, Cyclops had various adventures in outer space and, when they returned weeks later, he returned to Florida to see Lee. The two had dinner together and Scott filled her in that he had found his father (Corsair) and that they were going to leave for Alaska to meet his grandparents. Lee wondered if he would come back, and if so fully or only for a visit. Scott was not sure, but Lee said that she could not handle his superhero life and that sooner or later he would have to choose between her and the X-Men.
First meeting: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #143
First attraction: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #144
End of Relationship: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #168
Madelyne Pryor
Scott was baffled by the Jean Grey look-a-like when he met her at the airport in Alaska, picking him up to meet his grandparents, for whom she was working as a pilot. Clearly attracted to each other, the two started dating and, though they both had concerns about Madelyne's likeness to Jean Grey, they nevertheless decided to become more serious. Already suspicious of the likeness between Madelyne and Jean, Scott became more so when Mastermind secretly increased Scott’s suspicion to the point that he believed Madelyne was indeed Dark Phoenix reincarnate. Luckily, perceiving some slight errors, Scott saw through the illusion. Eventually they were married and Scott decided to leave the X-Men for good to settle down with his new wife. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #170 -176] They moved to Anchorage to live together and Madelyne soon became pregnant. When Scott received a call about Xavier’s bad health, he returned to the X-Men and Madelyne followed him. She gave birth while the team was away on a mission and became quite angry when Scott wanted to stay with the X-Men and become the team’s leader in Xavier’s absence. However, he lost a leadership duel with Storm, and the couple returned to Anchorage. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #197, 200-201] Eventually after receiving a call from Angel about Jean Grey having been found alive, Scott kept this news secret and started packing. Madelyne said that if he should leave again for superheroing in New York, he should not even bother to come back. Despite the threat Scott left and soon helped form X-Factor with the original X-Men. Wanting to talk with Madelyne to explain, he returned to their home, only to find her and the baby missing. [X-Factor (1st series) #1, 12-13] Later, Madelyne was reported to have died among the X-Men in Dallas, but in truth they had been spared by the goddess Roma. By the time X-Factor and X-Men met during Inferno, Madelyne had become allied with Limbo demons and was nearly insane. She pitted the teams against each other and then committed suicide, trying to drag Jean along with her. [X-Factor (1st series) #38] Years later, trapped on the astral plane, Madelyne sought revenge on Cyclops and the X-Men. Posing as the White Queen, she had psychic sex with Cyclops before gathering a Sisterhood of female X-foes in an effort to destroy the X-Men. While trying to recreate he physical form, she was killed once more. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #501-511]
First meeting: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #168
First attraction: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #170
Wedding: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #175
Birth of the baby: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #201
Abandons her: X-Factor (1st series) #1
Confronts Scott during Inferno: X-Factor (1st series) #38 (Madelyne dies during Inferno)
Tricks Scott into Psychic Sex: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #501
Final Confrontation: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #511
Psylocke (Elisabeth “Betsy“ Braddock)
After the original X-Men rejoined the X-Men, Scott and Jean ended up on different strikeforces. Cyclops was the leader of the Blue team that also included Psylocke, who soon she started to heavily flirt with him. Though Scott seemed to respond, she could also have been using her telepathy to nudge him into her direction. Although nothing happened between them, it caused problems between Scott and Jean until finally Scott took a short leave of absence to sort out his conflicts. Betsy found her own distraction with the arrival of Revanche. [X-Men (2nd series) #8, 12, 17, 20] After the connection between her and the Asian assassin Kwannon was fully revealed, Betsy admitted that, though it was Revanche's influence that made her flirt so heavily, the attraction to Scott was really from her side. [X-Men (2nd series) #38].
First meeting: Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #242
First attraction: X-Men (2nd series) #8
Scott takes a short leave of absence: X-Men (2nd series) #20
Final confrontation: X-Men (2nd series) #38
White Queen (Emma Frost)
After merging with Apocalypse, Cyclops’ personality was altered, leading to a rift in his marriage to Jean Grey. When Jean showed signs of the Phoenix Force returning and then took the role of headmaster, it put further strain on their relationship. Scott turned to Emma as someone in whom he could confide, which soon turned into a psychic affair. Jean interrupted one of these encounters, leading to a violent confrontation between the two women. Soon after, Jean was killed and, now as the Phoenix, she psychically nudged Scott into a romantic relationship with Emma. [New X-Men (1st series) #114-150] The pair settled into a domestic relationship quickly, becoming co-headmasters of the school and together faced various crises such as the Decimation, the superhero civil war and the Skrull invasion. Together the pair led the X-Men to the other side of the country to San Francisco. During this time, Emma joined a secret Cabal of supervillains, led by Norman Osborn, in order to help further mutantkind. She kept this secret from Scott until Osborn attacked the X-Men, revealing herself as a double agent [Utopia crossover]. When the Phoenix Force returned to Earth and was inadvertently split into five, both Emma and Scott were possessed. Initially, they worked together to build a better future for mutantkind. However, Scott forcibly stole her portion of the Phoenix, a clear act of betrayal. After the crisis passed, their relationship ended, the pair continued to work together to help mutantkind, though their relationship was clearly over. [Avengers vs. X-Men crossover]
First meeting: X-Men (1st series) #131
First Attraction: New X-Men Annual (1st series) 2001
Starts affair: New X-Men (1st series) #131
Commences relationship: New X-Men (1st series) #150
End of relationship: Avengers vs. X-Men #11
Frenzy (Joanna Cargill)
As a longtime enemy of the X-Men, any romance between Scott Summers and Joanna was unthinkable, until Legion warped reality into the Age of X. In this new reality, mutantkind had taken refuge in Fortress X, where they battled external human forces to maintain their freedom on a daily basis. Scott (known as the Basilisk) and Joanna were married in this reality. Her invulnerability made her one of the few people in whose presence Scott could remove his specialised mask. When Legion’s errant personality was finally defeated and reality was restored, Joanna was one of the few mutants who decided to keep all of her memories of the Age of X. She confronted Cyclops, eager to rekindle the passion they had shared. Cyclops made it clear that to her that she had earned her place with the X-Men but that he had no interest in recapturing what they had shared. He believed it to be a mere illusion but for Frenzy it was very real. This prompted a massive personality change in the woman and she joined the X-men, though her interactions with Cyclops since the event have been minimal [Age of X crossover].
First meeting: X-Factor (1st series) #4
Married in reality warp: X-Men Legacy (1st series) #245
End of reality warp: New Mutants (3rd series) #24
Rejected by Scott: X-Men Legacy (1st series) #249