X-Men: The Summers Family, Explained

Families can be complicated, especially when the X-Men are involved—but few families are quite as complicated as the Summers. Featuring multiple clones, secret siblings, and children from three alternate realities, Scott Summers' family tree stretches across the far reaches of time and space. Through their accomplishments, the members of the extended Summers family have reshaped galaxies, rewritten futures, and changed the course of mutantkind.  

Now, let's take a closer look at Cyclops' family tree and its many branches. While the Summers family takes root in several parts of the Multiverse, we'll focus on the notable ones who have spent extensive time in the Marvel Universe and how they fit into this iconic mutant family.

CYCLOPS AND JEAN GREY

As two of Professor X's first students, Scott Summers and Jean Grey met as teenagers in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. As they came into their own as Cyclops and Marvel Girl, they started a romance that has persevered through Jean's entanglement with the cosmic Phoenix Force, her apparent death, and Scott's failed marriage to Jean's clone. 

Scott and Jean married in X-MEN (1991) #30 by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert, but Cyclops went on to have a long-term relationship with Emma Frost in between Jean's subsequent death and resurrection. Mister Sinister, a twisted mutant scientist, has pursued a decades-long fascination with them due to their unique genetics and potentially powerful children, whom he believed could defeat Apocalypse.

MADELYNE PRYOR

When Jean was thought dead, Mister Sinister created her genetic clone Madelyne Pryor to ensure that the genetic potential of a Grey-Summers child would not go unrealized. After the death of the Phoenix gave Madelyne life, she began dating Cyclops shortly after debuting in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #193 by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith. Unaware of her connection to Jean, Madelyne married Scott and gave birth to a son named Nathan. 

When Cyclops left his young family to be with a resurrected Jean, Madelyne fell into a dark place and became corrupted by the demons of Limbo. After she was captured by Sinister and learned of her true origins, Madelyne became the Goblin Queen and attacked the Marvel Universe in INFERNO. More recently, Madelyne took over Limbo as its ruler and made peace with Scott and Jean.

HAVOK

Alex Summers, AKA Havok, has stood in the shadow of his older brother Cyclops since his debut in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #54 by Arnold Drake and Don Heck. After the Shi'ar abducted their parents and caused their plane to crash, Havok and Cyclops spent many of their formative years apart. When the Summers brothers reunited in the X-Men, they clashed as often as they worked together. 

Although Havok has led teams like the X-Men, X-Factor, and the Avengers Unity Division, he has spent considerable time as a brainwashed villain; conversely, he also lived in an alternate reality where he was a prominent hero. In addition to a brief relationship with the Wasp, Havok has had lengthy off-and-on relationships with Magneto's daughter Polaris and Madelyne Pryor.

CORSAIR

Before Christopher Summers became the space pirate Corsair, he was a pilot and the father of Cyclops and Havok. Alongside his wife Katherine, Corsair was abducted by the Shi'ar Empire when Scott and Alex were young. Once the Shi'ar Emperor D'Ken killed Katherine, Corsair escaped and joined a group of outlaws called the Starjammers. He was leading this motley crew by the time he debuted in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #104 by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum. 

Although he initially kept his identity secret from Cyclops, Corsair eventually reunited with Scott and Alex, who both served on the Starjammers briefly. Corsair is also in a long-term relationship with Hepzibah, a feline alien and member of his crew. To this day, both Starjammers stand as some of the X-Men's closest cosmic allies.

VULCAN

Gabriel Summers, AKA Vulcan, is Cyclops and Havok's long-lost brother, whose identity was merely alluded to for years. Born in Shi'ar space, this Omega-level mutant escaped to Earth, where he fell under the care of Moira MacTaggert and Professor X. When the original X-Men were captured by the island Krakoa, Vulcan seemingly died trying to save them, and Professor X erased Cyclops' memory of him. 

However, Vulcan survived and returned to get revenge in X-MEN: DEADLY GENESIS (2005) #1 by Ed Brubaker and Trevor Hairsine. After battling the X-Men, Vulcan conquered the Shi'ar Empire and launched an interstellar war. Once he was defeated by the Inhumans' Black Bolt, the unstable Vulcan fell into a space-time rift called the Fault. He later settled on Arakko, the mutant-led planet formerly known as Mars.

RACHEL SUMMERS

Rachel Summers is the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from Earth-811, the apocalyptic world of "Days of Future Past," where Sentinels pushed mutants to the edge of extinction. With her immense telepathic powers, she sent the mind of Kate "Kitty" Pryde back in time to change history in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #141 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. 

After an encounter with the Phoenix Force left her with some of the entity's cosmic power, Rachel traveled to the Marvel Universe, where she joined the X-Men and Excalibur. Although part of Rachel went to a distant future to help watch over Cable as Mother Askani, the other part of her remained with the X-Men in the Marvel Universe and forged familial relationships with Scott and Jean.

CABLE

Born in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #201 by Chris Claremont and Rick Leonardi, Nathan Christopher Summers is the son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor. After he was infected with the Techno-Organic Virus, the infant mutant was sent for treatment in a distant future ruled by Apocalypse. With support from Mother Askani and a time-traveling Cyclops and Jean Grey, Nathan was forged into the battle-tested Askani'son, a being who was destined to defeat Apocalypse. 

As the time-traveling Cable, an adult Nathan resurfaced in the present day in NEW MUTANTS (1983) #87 by Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson. After reshaping the New Mutants into the militant X-Force, Cable embraced his Summers family roots and joined several X-Men teams as he fought for a better future for all mutants.

HOPE SUMMERS

After the Scarlet Witch depowered most of the world's mutants during HOUSE OF M (2005), Hope Summers was the first new mutant born in X-MEN (2004) #205 by Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo. When several groups tried to lay claim to her in the MESSIAH COMPLEX crossover, Cable ended up with the infant Hope and raised his adoptive daughter across multiple future timelines. 

While running from threats like Bishop, Cable raised Hope to be an experienced soldier before bringing her back to the present day, where she helped reignite the world's mutant population. Since then, Hope has proven herself to be one of the brightest lights in the next generation of mutants, particularly as one of five mutants who pooled their powers to raise the dead in the mutant nation Krakoa.

TYLER DAYSPRING

In the distant future where he grew up, Cable and his partner, Aliya Jenskott, raised a son named Tyler Dayspring to fight alongside them in the Clan Chosen. After he was brainwashed by Apocalypse's forces, Tyler dedicated himself to becoming Apocalypse's successor instead. 

Eventually, Tyler traveled to the modern day to ensure Apocalypse's rise and posed as the weapons dealer Tolliver in X-FORCE (1991) #5 by Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld, Brian Murray, and Marat Mychaels. When Apocalypse seemingly died, Tyler took the name Genesis and seized command of Apocalypse's Dark Riders. However, Tyler and many of his servants were killed by Wolverine when their attempt to give him a new adamantium skeleton backfired and sent him into a feral berserker rage.

STRYFE

When the infant Cable was taken into the future, Mother Askani and her allies were not sure he would survive the Techno-Organic Virus, so they cloned him and created the telepathic villain who would later be known as Stryfe. Apocalypse captured Stryfe and raised him to be his heir and the next vessel for his mind. 

After forming a bitter rivalry with Cable in the future where they grew up, Stryfe surfaced in the modern Marvel Universe in NEW MUTANTS (1983) #87 by Rob Liefeld and Louise Simonson. Through crossovers like X-CUTIONER'S SONG and MESSIAH WAR, Stryfe battled Cable, X-Force, and the X-Men. Stryfe also assembled the villainous Mutant Liberation Front and unleashed a devastating mutant plague called the Legacy Virus.

X-MAN

Nate Grey, the powerful telepath also known as X-Man, hails from the Age of Apocalypse timeline, an alternate reality where Apocalypse successfully took over the world because Professor X died before he formed the X-Men. Created by Mister Sinister with samples of Cyclops and Jean Grey's genes, Nate debuted in X-MAN (1995) #1 by Jeph Loeb and Steve Skroce. With immense power that threatened to overwhelm his body, Nate moved to the Marvel Universe, formed a brotherly bond with Cable, and embraced Madelyne Pryor, Jean, and Cyclops to some extent. 

Although he spent most of his time solo, Nate briefly joined the X-Men and the New Mutants. During the AGE OF X-MAN crossover, Nate brought several X-Men to a mutant paradise in an alternate reality before sending them back to the Marvel Universe.

ADAM-X

Debuting in X-FORCE ANNUAL (1992) #2 by Fabian Nicieza and Tony Daniel, Adam-X, the X-Treme is the half-brother of the Summers siblings. As part of an effort to diversify the genes of the royal Shi'ar bloodline, Adam was genetically engineered using DNA from Emperor D'Ken and Katherine Summers. 

Raised as a farmer, Adam honed his power to set blood on fire before ending up on Earth, where he had several encounters with the extended Summers family. Once his connections to the Summers and the Shi'ar were revealed, Adam had all knowledge of his heritage erased, and he returned to the outskirts of the X-Men's world.

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