Marvel unveiled a gorgeous and exciting trailer for the start of Fall of X at the upcoming X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 special event, offering a quick glimpse at the official Gala costume for Cyclops. His outfit provides a brooding and magisterial look for the complex hero who has had some villainous ideals in recent months.
The third annual Hellfire Gala promises to be perhaps the most dramatic and destructive yet. The evil anti-mutant agency Orchis is planning a serious attack on the mutants of Krakoa with Nimrod and their Stark Sentinels, marking the opening salvo of the Fall of X war that Orchis will, shockingly, be winning.
Cyclops is an incredibly proud and strong leader of the X-Men, but recent events surrounding the parasitic alien species the Brood have recast Scott Summers in the darkness he was known for in the 2010s. Now, artist Luciano Vecchio’s magnificent Gala costume for Scott hints Cyclops will continue down this dark path.
Scott’s Hellfire Costume Is Dark And Dramatic
Vecchio’s costume design for Scott Summers repositions him as a man of power within the political world of Krakoa, giving him a stunning magisterial flare – using a creative “optic blast” cape – that is perfect for the fashion-forward but politics-focused Hellfire Gala. Meanwhile, his ruby quartz “Cyclops” mask is a perfect play on his powers and moniker. With Magneto dead, Moira X banished, and the rest of the Quiet Council incredibly compromised, particularly after the recent admission of the mutant Selene to the Council, Cyclops is perhaps the single most unifying figure on Krakoa. For years after the 2005 “Decimation” of the mutant population Scott Summers struggled and pushed and fought to keep mutantkind alive. During this time he endured and evolved through leading the nation of Utopia, rescuing Hope Summers, his ill-fated time as a holder of the Phoenix Force, and as a major revolutionary for mutant rights.
While many people thought that Cyclops’ “radical” views on mutant-human relations were villainous, there are also many who believe “Cyclops Was Right” for acting in the way he did. However, the way that Cyclops planned to deal with the brutal Brood aliens in the recent X-Men and Captain Marvel “Brood Saga” crossover has set Scott no another path of darkness. Cyclops came to a personal realization that he thinks the Brood don’t have a right to life, and should be eradicated entirely to protect the universe, with his wife Jean Grey vehemently opposing Scott’s genocidal views. This disagreement spurned major debates between real-world comics readers, and it has also led Scott and Jean to take a break from their relationship. With Emma Frost rejecting Scott and now planning on marrying Iron Man, Cyclops does not have the personal relationships around him to keep him on a path of heroism.
The Fate Of Cyclops In Fall Of X Is Unknown
Fall of X will see the nation of Krakoa crumbling, with Orchis defeating the X-Men and Quiet Council. However, even though fans know the fate of many major characters, it is still entirely unknown what will happen to Scott Summers. Scott is seemingly killed by a mysterious Orchis agent in the X-Men’s Treehouse in the lead up to the Hellfire Gala, but the fact that he has a designed Gala costume and appears in the trailer hints that he may be resurrected. It would not be unreasonable to think that Orchis beating the X-Men may push Cyclops over the edge, returning him to his violent revolutionary ways. This would be in line with the rest of the human world viewing him as a villain, especially with how good Orchis’ media manipulation has been.
Luciano Vecchio’s dark and brooding Hellfire Gala costume for the X-Men leader Cyclops is the perfect look for the morally gray path the honorable Scott Summers may be traveling on, pushed back into “villainy” by the upcoming fall of Krakoa.
Source: Luciano Vecchio
X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 from Marvel Comics debuts July 26.
