Cyclops Is Transforming Into Marvel's Greatest Leader And His Latest Strategy Proves As Much

Warning! Spoilers for X-Men #8 ahead!

Cyclops, the X-Men's first and greatest field leader, is widely considered the best tactician in the entire Marvel Universe. Even under the most extreme conditions, Cyclops is known for coming up with a new strategy on the spot, then perfectly communicating his plan to his team without hesitation. Cyclops' paramount strategic thinking makes him the best Marvel leader, even better than Captain America himself.

In X-Men (2024) #8 – written by Jed MacKay, with art by Ryan Stegman – the X-Men are dealing with the fallout of Beast being kidnapped, with Cyclops taking it especially hard. Kid Omega skims the short-term memory of everyone in the area during the kidnapping to create a model of what happened and where Beast was being taken, realizing his kidnappers came from Graymalkin Prison.

Immediately, Scott comes up with a plan to destroy the prison, which totally goes against what he previously told Rogue, setting up a conflict between the two.

Cyclops Is Marvel's Quickest Thinker On The Battlefield, Though Relies Heavily On His Emotions While Leading

X-Men (2024) #8– Written By Jed MacKay; Art By Ryan Stegman; Color By Marte Gracia; Lettering By Clayton Cowles

Previously, in The Uncanny X-Men (2024) #2 – written by Gail Simone, with art by David Marquez – Rogue called Cyclops while trying to figure out what she needs to do next. Rogue reports that Jubilee has returned with information on Graymalkin Prison, but Cyclops advises her to stand down, claiming they need to gather more data first, even though Scott knows that Professor Xavier and other mutants could be trapped in Graymalkin. Yet as soon as he finds out Beast is locked up. Cyclops is ready to tear the prison down.

In a state of heightened emotion – and fueled with anger that Beast has been kidnapped, claiming that he cannot lose his brother again – Cyclops is unable to express his plan in words, and instead orders Kid Omega to copy and paste his battle plans out of his own brain and into the common knowledge pool of everyone in the room. Even while Scott is unable to explain his plan, either while in a rush or too overwhelmed with emotion, he is still able to come up with a strategy that lets him get around those basic problems.

Cyclops' "Mental Shortcut" In Laying Out A Plan For His Team Is Almost Another Superpower

A Highly Effective New Method

In X-Men #8, Cyclops is thinking faster than he can talk, and recognizing this, he immediately employs the nearest telepath to cut out the "middle man" of his mouth, so to speak, and transmit his thoughts directly to his squad. This is an exceptional example of Scott's ability to not only think, and plan, incredibly quickly, but also his near-superhuman ability to recognize what assets are at his disposal, and deploy them accordingly. In essence, this is a huge part of what makes him rank among Marvel's most impressive leaders.

There is a constant debate among fans about who Marvel's greatest taction is, Cyclops or Captain America; the events of X-Men #8 are another point in Cyclops' favor. Copy-pasting battle plans from his own brain and into his team's would be incredibly useful for a quick plan development or change while in the field. It also allows Cyclops' team to fully understand his plan without flaws that would be caused by miscommunication or any other impeding factors. These are all things that Captain America could do with access to a telepath, but Cyclops came up with it.

Cyclops Is A Better Tactician Than Captain America, And His Latest Strategy Just Proved What Marvel Fans Have Known For A Long Time

No Disrespect To Cap

Captain America has been made incredibly popular, thanks to the MCU. Cyclops has also had his live-action adaptions, but they are not nearly as popular as Chris Evans' Steve Rogers, and moreover, the X-Men films do not do Scott Summers justice. Besides this, and before the telepathic copy/pasting "mental shortcut," Cyclops was already a better leader than Captain America. Cyclops has to deal with so many more challenges than Captain America does. Cap was built by the American government to be the symbol of peace, freedom, and justice, whereas Cyclops has to deal with the oppression of mutantkind.

Cyclops has had to balance leading his X-Men, and the fight for mutant rights, operating his team and saving humankind, while being hated and shunned by them at the same time. Not only that, but while Steve Rogers has been around longer, he became Captain America at around age twenty-five, and was frozen in ice for nearly seventy years. Cyclops began leading his X-Men into Charles Xavier's war as a teenager, and hasn't stopped since. Cyclops refined and perfected his taction skills with Charles Xavier, and thanks to the success of X-Men '97, his popularity among fans is growing too.

One last point to prove Scott Summers' superior tactical mind over Steve Rogers: Beast's own testimony. Hank McCoy has been both an X-Man and an Avenger, and in X-Men #1, he makes his opinion on the better leader clear by saying, "Summers is the most gifted combat leader I've ever known, and I was an Avenger." Beast clearly states that Cyclops is a better combat leader than any of the Avengers, including Captain America, and Scott's new strategy just reiterates that point.

X-Men #8 is available now from Marvel Comics.