Published Aug 10, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.
Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.
Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.
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Scott Summers' Cyclops has a new codename, as X-Men lore takes a turn for the truly dark. The new name reflects Cyclops' place in a world transformed - one where mutants have bigger problems than being hated and feared by humans.
Debuting in 1963, Scott Summers has used the Cyclops name ever since. While he's briefly used other codenames in the name of disguise or when reality is rewritten - Basilisk, Erik the Red and Captain Krakoa among them - Cyclops has kept his mythological moniker far more consistently than pretty much any other superhero.
Honoring that consistency, Scott isn't actually abandoning the 'Cyclops' part of his codename - but he is adding something shocking after it...
X-Men Unleashes Cyclops: Vampire Hunter
This October, Marvel unleashes its new horror-themed Midnight imprint, with iconic heroes Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men starring in new continuities set in a world where supernatural evil is far, far more potent.
Midnight: X-Men - from Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte - will see mutantkind face off against vampires, with Scott Summers seemingly becoming the planet's chief vampire hunter. The issue's summary reads:
THE X-MAN COMETH! The peace between the unturned mutants and the empyres is a fragile one. No group dares to move against the other in fear of sparking an all-out war. Only one man is brave enough to openly stand against the empyres and put down as many of them as he can. This is the story of Cyclops: Vampire Hunter.
Along with a new shaved head and beard, Scott Summers will enter Midnight canon with an altered codename, now known as Cyclops: Vampire Hunter. While Cyclops has gone to war against Dracula's son in X-Men comics in the past, he's never been considered a full-blown 'vampire hunter' - let alone that be considered his defining trait.
However, with vampires now far more than a one-off threat to mutants, it seems that Cyclops will go from the heroic leader of mutantkind to a slayer of the undead.
Things Aren't as Simple as Mutants vs Vampires
Little is known so far about Midnight: X-Men, but Marvel has revealed three core factions. Regular humans/mutants, vampires and 'empyres' - mutants who have been turned undead, but don't have any loyalty to non-superpowered vamps.
Art for the series so far implies that the Empyres count Storm, Iceman and Gambit among their number - three of the most powerful mutants of all time, with Storm and Iceman both being Omega-level, and Gambit capable of destroying Galactus at his absolute peak. It makes sense thsi group wouldn't considered themselves answerable to regular vampires.
Cyclops will presumably be in charge of fighting back against regular vampires and stopping the empyres from taking over any of his remaining flock. So far, only Nightcrawler has been confirmed as an ally in this fight, but even in this incredibly dark timeline, it's clear Scott Summers is stepping up as a vital leader against the undead.
How Will Cyclops' Powers Work Against the Undead?
One of the lingering question about 'Cyclops: Vampire Hunter' is how his powers will work against the undead. In traditional X-Men lore, there's nothing specific about Cyclops' powers that make him a vampire killer. However, that could change.
In established X-Men comics, Cyclops absorbs ambient radiation and converts it into kinetic force. He's capable of absorbing a wide range of energies including solar energy, ambient radiation and even lightning. In the world of Midnight, it's possible that if Cyclops absorbs enough solar energy, his optic blasts could have similar effects to sunlight when turned against vampires.
So far, that's just speculation, but this kind of power shift would help to explain Scott Summers' new codename of 'Cyclops: Vampire Hunter' in X-Men lore.
Midnight X-Men #2 is coming November 18 from Marvel Comics.
TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024)
Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
First Film X-Men (2000)
Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
Comic Release Date 213035,212968
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