X-Men: Cyclops’ Greatest Power Isn’t His Eyes, It’s His Neck

Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, is one of the most popular X-Men characters for his leadership, his amazing eye blasts — and his equally amazing neck. It’s rarely discussed in comics history, but most heroes with seemingly one power actually have a second power that allows the first to function, and Cyclops is no different. It’s a shame that Fox’s X-Men film series never showcased this ability, because the power — strange as it sounds — makes Cyclops all the stronger.

Cyclops is easily the most popular character out of the core five original X-Men. Beast, Angel, Iceman and Jean Grey (known then as Marvel Girl) became well-known characters eventually, but they all took a backseat to Scott — so much so that he was eventually named team leader. He eventually became one of the main characters in the X-Men film series (infamously only dying in the third installment because his actor, James Marsden, took a role in Superman Returns). In the character’s 50+ years of history, his blasts from his eyes are frequently mistaken by writers to be an entirely different power — also similar to Superman’s.

Cyclops emits immensely powerful optic blasts from his eyes. This power can’t be activated or deactivated at will — if Scott’s eyes are open, his blasts will fire. Only wearing glasses or a special visor made of ruby-quartz lenses can stop the beams from firing. Many writers assume his eye beams are a type of heat vision…but that’s decidedly not the case: Cyclops emits concussive blasts only. Writers have even depicted Scott melting Iceman’s ice constructs with his beams, something he is unable to do. He is, however, able to knock them down…and along with that power comes another one: because his neck doesn’t immediately snap backwards upon opening his eyes, Scott Summers must have the strongest neck muscles in the Marvel Universe.

Cyclops is frequently pictured adjusting the setting of his visor to control the power of his optic blasts. But just how powerful are his optic blasts? In a word, devastating. Cyclops has been depicted using his eye beams to punch holes through adamantium, sheer through a skyscraper, and even slow (but not completely stop) the most powerful version of the Hulk, the Worldbreaker. The tragic reason Scott can’t control his blasts without a specially-made visor is due to a brain injury he suffered after surviving a plane crash — the same crash that seemingly killed his parents. Incidentally, his brother Havok doesn’t have this injury and can control his abilities.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” If Cyclops’ optic blasts are indeed concussive, his neck therefore must be able to withstand the same amount of force that shredded adamantium, skyscrapers, and the like. These “secondary powers” may seem mundane at first glance, but they’re absolutely necessary for characters like Cyclops to fight effectively, and be one of the greatest X-Men in comics history.