X-Men’s Best Hero Officially Named by Marvel Comics

Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men #7!

Marvel has officially named the “best” of X-Men‘s literal army of heroes, and while the choice is a major figure in mutantkind’s never-ending fight for survival, they’re a selection which may irritate fans who believe their own favorite is more worthy of the title.

The moment comes in Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz’s X-Men #7, as the heroes face off against the forces of Doctor Stasis – a Doctor Moreau-style supervillain whose henchmen include a three-headed badger and a vicious tiger butler. Stasis is an agent of Orchis – a secret organization of human supremacists galvanized by the recent formation of the mutant nation of Krakoa – and is currently engaged in an effort to expose the X-Men’s resurrection protocols to the human world, revealing that mutants have conquered death. To that end, Stasis stages an attack on innocent humans, allowing him to kill off “the best X-Man” in front of as many witnesses as possible.

Stasis’ victim is Cyclops, with a caption reading, “And that’s the story of how, in front of the world, the best X-Man fell.” While Scott is resurrected soon after, the fact that so many saw him die means he must adopt a new identity if he wants to continue operating outside of Krakoa – a moral quandary since Cyclops has never agreed with keeping the protocols secret. The series so far has made a compelling argument for Scott as the best X-Man, with this issue revealing that he was elected to the team via psychic vote after the rest of mutantkind accepted his argument that “I am the X-Men.” Prior to his death, he’s also the one who gets a huge hero moment against Stasis’ soldiers, and has embodied the superhero ideal since getting the team back together, taking a palpable joy in getting to save the world. However, does the comic’s claim that Cyclops is the best X-Man really stand up to scrutiny?

Cyclops has long been the de facto leader of the team, but for long stretches of X-Men comics, that’s also meant he’s been the straight man to other people’s drama. Wolverine keeps his reputation as a lone wolf by butting heads with Scott, and Storm famously proved she was a supreme badass by battling Cyclops for leadership of the X-Men without her powers and winning. TV, game, and movie adaptations haven’t helped, depicting Cyclops as the buttoned-down team leader who factors into other people’s stories without driving many of his own.

But while Cyclops has had plenty of fantastic comic arcs since his creation, the last decade of comics has seen the character grow increasingly complex. A raft of stories have explored Scott Summers’ emotional repression and positioned him not as the assumed leader of the X-Men when no-one more interesting wants the job, but as the radical, pro-active, even dangerous leader of mutantkind. After Grant Morrison’s New X-Men shattered Scott’s tired, lovelorn status quo, countless artists and writers capitalized on his reinvigorated potential, and Scott would go on to become the militant force mutantkind needed during its darkest moments, from his leadership of the morally dubious Extinction Squad during Kieron Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men right up to defying Xavier and Magneto to reassemble the X-Men during the recent X of Swords event.

Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz’s X-Men may have been characterized so far by Cyclops’ love of superheroics, but that decision didn’t come from nowhere, as Scott has slowly become one of the most interesting characters in the franchise without needing to ditch the X-Men to do it. While arguments that Storm’s regal new position on Mars makes her more essential or that Wolverine’s iconic status is unassailable can be made, Cyclops‘ continued evolution and dedication to the X-Men and mutantkind mean that when this issue calls him the best X-Man, it’s a title Scott Summers has more than earned.

About The Author

Robert Wood
(397 Articles Published)

Robert Wood is a comics editor for Screen Rant and the author of ‘The False Elephant (and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories).’ He received his Master’s in English Literature from Lancaster University, and now happily spends his days applying it to Daredevil and the Hulk.

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