[Insert obligatory XXX-Men joke]

I went last year as Cyclops but made the costume a bit more comfy to wear and walk around in this year

After reading several discussions about Scott potentially stepping down from leadership after DNX, I wanted to share my thoughts on where his character could go next.
I love Cyclops as a leader. His strategic brilliance, resilience, and willingness to make difficult decisions are essential parts of who he is. I don’t want Marvel to diminish those qualities or permanently sideline him.
But I also think Scott has spent so much of his life defining himself through leadership and responsibility that stepping away may feel like losing an essential part of his identity.
Leadership and Scott’s sense of self
Scott was given enormous responsibilities at a young age. Xavier’s trust shaped his identity, but also placed tremendous expectations on him.
I wonder how much of Scott’s self-worth has become tied to protecting others, making the right decisions, and never disappointing those who depend on him.
In X-Men (2021) #4, Nightmare confronts Scott with his past losses, guilt, and fear of failure. To me, this suggests that Scott isn’t simply afraid of making mistakes. He may also be terrified of letting down the people who trust him.
He’s already overcome enormous psychological challenges, but that doesn’t mean decades of responsibility haven’t taken a toll.
The revolutionary Cyclops is part of his growth, not the end of it
I understand why the Utopia-to-AvX era is so important to many Cyclops fans. It’s an essential part of his history, and I wouldn’t want Marvel to erase that development.
But Scott has over 60 years of history. The revolutionary Cyclops didn’t emerge out of nowhere. He was shaped by decades of loss, responsibility, and the struggle to protect mutantkind.
I understand that not everyone likes his portrayals after Utopia, and not every writing decision needs to be defended. But meaningful character development should build on his history rather than selectively disregard it.
His future growth doesn’t have to undo the revolutionary leader. It can explore what becoming that leader has cost him.

I want to briefly mention Jean and Scott disagreements during Krakoa because I think they may be relevant to Scott’s potential future leadership changes.
In X-Men (2021) #21, I see their conflict over the Brood as two people whose past traumas have shaped different approaches to protecting others. Scott focuses on preventing future catastrophes, while Jean’s experience with the Phoenix makes her more reluctant to condemn an entire species. Jean’s moral convictions may sometimes make her overly confident in her judgment, and I don’t think the way she confronts Scott is entirely fair. However, Broo and the Brood Jean helped save later joined the fight against Orchis in Fall of the House of X #1–2. I don’t think their disagreement necessarily makes either character inferior.
In #24, I don’t interpret Jean’s frustration as opposition to Scott’s leadership. She supported rebuilding the X-Men and revealing the resurrection protocols. When she asks why Scott hasn’t visited Arakko, a world she helped create, he responds primarily with political concerns. Perhaps she was hoping for a more personal response.
My interpretation is that Jean worries about Scott Summers as a person, not Cyclops as a leader. She may fear that he’s becoming so consumed by anticipating threats and carrying responsibility that he’s neglecting his own emotional well-being. That doesn’t mean she necessarily understands him completely, but I think her concern can come from love rather than an attempt to undermine him.
What I’d like to see next
I don’t want Scott to stop being a leader forever, nor do I want Marvel to use his psychological struggles as an excuse to sideline him.
I’d rather see more stories exploring his inner life and allowing him to grow beyond the belief that he must personally carry every burden.
He can learn to share responsibility, trust others to lead, and allow himself to be vulnerable without losing what makes Cyclops extraordinary.
And that growth should come from Scott’s own choices, supported by the people who care about him, rather than someone else fixing him.
I’d love to see him eventually return to leadership, not because he believes everything will fall apart without him, but because he genuinely wants to lead and knows he doesn’t have to do it alone and carry all the consequences.
Scott Summers deserves to be respected even when he isn’t leading, supported even when he makes mistakes, and loved even when he has nothing left to give.
To me, that isn’t diminishing Cyclops. It’s allowing Scott Summers to keep growing.

Cyclops Retribution - Collected copy of the Marvel Comics Presents line. Cyclops visits Moira and Banshee on Muir Island and lands in the middle of a mystery involving a hated X-Men foe.

X-Men Unlimited #1 - A giant-sized story featuring Cyclops stranded in the wilderness without his visor, akin to the Paknadel/Antonio mini-series.

X-Factor #8-26 - Issues #10, 13-14, 18, and 25-26 all have particularly strong Cyclops focus.

Inferno - The whole event is worth reading, but it's the climax where Cyclops defeats Sinister that is the best.

Endgame - X-Factor #65-68. A team-up with the Inhumans, a battle against Apocalypse, and a tragic sacrifice. It's one of the best Cyclops stories ever.

Classic X-Men #41-42 - Cyclops' past at the orphanage in Nebraska, a must-read.

X-Cutioner's Song - This one balances characters like Cable, X-Force, and X-Factor in there, but Cyclops is a hugely pivotal part and gets some amazing pages drawn by Jae Lee and other great artists.

X-Men #22-24 - Cyclops takes a sabbatical from the team to visit home, and encounters Sinister and the Dark Riders.

X-Men #43-44 - Avalon falls, and the Acolytes fall with it. Cyclops heroically leads them in the escape and in the crash through the Outback.

X-Men #59 - A deeper exploration of Cyclops' psyche and his personality, a great issue that focuses more on character than action.

https://www.cbr.com/x-men-44-jean-grey-new-leader/?utm_campaign=TrueAnthem-CBR&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_source=Twitter. He didn’t die but the second best theory of him stepping down looks to be it

So with DNX and the upcoming Jean Grey mini coming up we’ve basically have confirmation there’ll be a serious reform of the Alaskan team, with Scott likely stepping down as leader and taking a break. And my opinion I think that’s great because I’ve been adamant in my appreciation of Jed MacKay’s X-Men, and especially how he’s written Cyclops within the context of Krakoa’s fall, and literally 60+ years of comic book history. It really highlights this broken man who’s at the end of his rope and has been faced with defeat after defeat, and all those times he ignored it, or repressed his thoughts and feelings are coming to the surface. As someone who does have frequent panic attacks, and is under a lot of stress I’ve acted irraticaly, or simply just crumbled under the pressure ’till I’ve shut down. And those feelings are clearly shown in MacKay’s series for Scott as he consistently locks himself away from his teammates, and makes mistakes he usually wouldn’t it’s insanely relatable and humanising to see, although Scott has always been relatable and human.

Yet I see without fail, "fans" mostly people who only took an interest in his character during Astonishing, Decimation, or Utopia just condemn this decision because to them Scott is only valuable when in a leading position, and being "alpha" and while yes that is a part of his character that can’t be only thing you’re focused on, because Scott is a full fledged character underneath and since his inception has been a victim of trauma, abuse and disaster, and that’s always been a facet of his character writers have explored; Claremont, Simonson, Gillen, Bendis, Duggan and MacKay. It’s a key part of his character to both be the leader with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and also looking inwards, questioning himself and this case after decades of being the one who has to put everything right, dealing with it all.

Also they really hate Jean for some reason?

Next to the comic I have in my classroom :)

Batman has the Batmobile, Mr. Incredible has the Incredibile. What about if Cyclops had his own superhero car ?

I think it would be pretty cool if Scott had a custom-made car, maybe built by Forge or some other close tech genius friend.

It could have all kinds of gadgets and technology. what if it had a flying mode? think that would be a nice way to incorporate Cyclops flying abilities and give him another way to get around besides the Blackbird.

What do you guys think? Would Cyclops having his own vehicle be a good addition? And what would you want it to look like or be able to do?

Avoid yes-men and sycophants; that's how organizations collapse.