Mutant X reimagined Cyclops not as a leader of the X-Men, but as a far more daring (and fun-loving) space pirate akin to the MCU Star-Lord. But how?
Most versions of Cyclops from the X-Men are super serious figures who operate as the leaders of their respective teams, with all the restraint that entails. However, there’s one version of Scott Summers from across the multiverse who actually became a far more energetic figure, and all it took was becoming his galaxy’s greatest space pirate.
Now, we’re taking a look at the world where Scott Summers took after his space-faring father to effectively become the Star-Lord of his reality.
RELATED: X-Men: Beast Got His Blue Fur From… a Coloring Error!?
The world of Mutant X was full of major and minor deviations from the core Marvel Universe, ranging from unexpected enemies to notable heroes in different forms. It was discovered by the Earth-616 Havok, whose mind was shifted across realities into the body of his Mutant X counterpart. He quickly found himself having to adjust to a frequently darker world than the one he’d come from, where Havok had become the leader of the Six and dealt with threats like Charles Xavier and his own wife — who’d become the Goblyn Queen. One of the chief differences in this timeline came when an alien ship visited Earth decades earlier, where they encountered a small plane containing the Summers family.
In the core Marvel Universe and many others, this resulted in Christopher and Katherine Summers forcing their sons Scott and Alex to eject from the plane, leaving them to be captured and brought to space by members of the Shi’Ar while their sons became Cyclops and Havok of the X-Men. But in this timeline, only Havok was able to escape the plane after it was abducted by the Kree Empire. While Scott became a prisoner of the Kree, Havok instead became a founding X-Man instead of his brother and transitioned into what could have been Scott’s role. Scott ended up being the only survivor of his family in space, unaware that Alex had survived on Earth.
Eventually, Scott escaped servitude and began this world’s version of the Starjammers, eventually recruiting a powerless Carol Danvers, the dragon Lockheed, and the exiled Silver Surfer and Nova as his crew. This version of Cyclops became a space pirate, effectively turning into the Corsair of his reality. This also led this Cyclops to be a far more adventurous and confident figure than the reserved commander he would become in the core universe, with Summers quickly making his way across the cosmos with a brash and strong-willed sense of purpose. He became close with his crew and began a romance with Carol that extended to when the group returned to Earth following the discovery of Alex’s survival, and the birth of his son Scotty, a powerful enough psionic force that he could combat his corrupted mother.
The Starjammers were able to hold their own against Gladiator, helping protect Scotty and Alex when they were threatened by a number of alien forces. The Starjammers took some time to enjoy their stint on Earth until Mutant X #17, when Mister Sinister targeted both Summers brothers to capture them and steal their DNA for his experiments. The Starjammers were wounded in the process, forcing Scott and Alex to deal with the threat on their own. After eventually escaping capture, Scott decided it was best if he and the Starjammers fled Earth, so as to keep both himself out of Sinister’s hands.
It was a brief appearance in Mutant X but a memorable one Cyclops, giving the typical “stick in the mud” of the X-Men at least one version was able to cut loose and have some fun. Scott’s space pirate routine is a good fit, with the young man becoming evocative of his more free-fighting father and essentially turning his world’s version of the Starjammers into a group that could potentially become the Guardians of the Galaxy of this reality.
KEEP READING: X-Men: Why Project Purgatory Is Even More Twisted Than Weapon X
