Cyclops isn’t the most popular mutant, but he’s one of the most important, having played a key role in the X-Men for almost all of the team’s existence. He was the team’s first field leader and helped train basically every member of the group over the decades. He’s a master of strategy, and his optic blasts are extremely powerful. He’s run the Xavier Institute and the entire mutant race, and is often looked at as the Captain America of the mutants. There are a lot of reasons to love the character, but one of the most obvious is his costumes. The X-Men have iconic costumes, but even among all of that excellence, Scott Summers stands out.
The X-Men have had amazing artists, and many of them used their considerable powers to give the team’s leader some amazing costumes. He’s had some sickening looks over the years, but some stand out more than others. These seven Cyclops costume are the best in X-Men history, gorgeous looks for the team’s greatest leader.
7) New X-Men Leathers
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
New X-Men is the peak of 21st century X-Men for a lot of reasons, but it gets flack for the black leather costumes. However, they worked perfectly for the team’s new mission and most members looked fantastic in them, especially Cyclops. Yellow is always a good color for him, and he finally looked like his old “Slim” nickname in the slimming black. This costume had just the right air of professionalism, and felt very Cyclops. It’s an underrated look that deserves its flowers.
6) The Krakoa Era Costume
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
The Krakoa Era redefined the X-Men, and many characters got new costumes. Most of these costumes sort of played on the best looks of the past and Cyclops’s excellent Krakoa Era costume was a perfect example of following the classics to make something new. This one was based off the hero’s second costume in a lot of ways, going with a blue that is almost black, with some lighter blue designs along the costume, which paid homage to the revolutionary Cyclops costume. It was a cool look that fans loved from the first time they saw it.
5) The Revolutionary Era Costume
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The revolutionary era began for Cyclops after Avengers vs. X-Men. He was imprisoned for his actions of Dark Phoenix Cyclops, but was freed by Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik and decided to keep fighting humanity. He got a new costume, and it was this awesome red and black number. The costume looked tough, fitting his newer more hard-edged attitude, and the X-visor on the face was a perfect modification of Scott’s classic eyewear. It felt revolutionary, and is a costume that understood the assignment.
4) Dark Phoenix Cyclops
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Cyclops gained the Phoenix Force along with Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik, and Namor, getting a new costume. It was a cool costume, with one of the best visors ever, but would be overshadowed by the amazing Dark Phoenix costume. This outfit made Scott look the force of nature he’d become, the black costume like a black void filled with the energy of life and death. It was an intimidating costume, perfect for the most dangerous version of Cyclops.
3) The Blue and White X-Factor Costume
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Cyclops is most well-known for his time with the X-Men, but he’s also had other teams, including X-Factor, which brought together the original five X-Men after Jean Grey came back to life. During his five years with the team, he wore several costumes, but his best was the blue and white one, the big white X and skull cap contrasting with the blue. There were two versions of this outfit, one with the skull cap and one without, but both of them looked fantastic. This was a flawless Cyclops costume, and it deserves more love than it gets.
2) Cyclops’s 2nd Costume
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Cyclops began his superhero career in the blue and yellow X-Men costume like the rest of the team, but they eventually got all-new costumes. Cyclops kept the blue and yellow, and created this amazing look. The navy blue looked amazing, the pirate gloves and boots were of the day,but still look great, and it had a classic flavor that would become the basis for nearly every costume he had since. It’s amazing, and for a long time it was best, but it would get dethroned in 1991.
1) The ’90s Jim Lee Costume
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
1991 saw Chris Claremont leave Uncanny X-Men, the launch of X-Men (Vol. 2), and the return of the original five members of the team. Superstar artist Jim Lee gave numerous characters new costumes and that included Cyclops. This costume was the one that sold eight million comics and became the hero’s most well-known look because of X-Men: The Animated Series. It’s a costume that looks like a relic of the ’90s, but it still works all these years later, the straps and pouches fitting Cyclops to a tee. it’s a favorite of many fans and still the look that non-comic readers think of when they think of Cyclops.
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