X-Men: Cyclops, not Gambit deserved a solo movie

X-Men’s Gambit will receive a receive a movie, but this honor should have gone to Cyclops.

After patiently waiting, Channing Tatum’s Gambit will finally hit theaters in 2019. While the idea of a solo venture for the former leader of the Marauders sounds intriguing — Fox once again dropped the ball. Unfortunately, like with Wolverine and Deadpool, Fox has overlooked arguably the greatest X-Men of all time, Cyclops. No offense to the other mutants who got their shine, but it is Cyclops, not Gambit who deserved to be next in line for a solo movie.

Like a fine wine, Cyclops a.k.a. Scott Summers gets better with age — the older I get the more I appreciate who he is. Cyclops wasn’t a bad ass rouge loner like Wolverine, foul-mouthed assassin for hire like Deadpool, or a smooth-talking ladies man like Gambit. But he was his own mutant and cool in his own right despite the negative pretty boy, boy scout condemnation. On the contrary, it was because of his poised, cool, calm brave demeanor that made him the unequivocal, unquestioned leader and focal point of the X-Men. Whether it was the comics, X-Men: The Animated Series or X-Men Evolution it was Cyclops who took center stage, but he didn’t get the same treatment in the Fox X-Men universe.

After the X-Men Trilogy — he deserves better

Before Fox’s X-Men universe, Cyclops was the very first to be accepted into Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters — technically making him the first X-Man. That alone should be enough to warrant the studio to gift fans with a solo movie starring Cyclops, but it hasn’t. In fact, he’s been treated like nothing more than supporting character who doesn’t have a compelling story worth exploring, but he does. The story of Scott Summers aka Cyclops is one that involves abandonment, family, love, and tragedy — but you wouldn’t have known that judging by the films. We never got to see the character of Cyclops explored like we will see with Gambit and those before him.

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That’s unfortunate because he has a lot to offer from the Krakoa rescue which saw Cyclops lead a new team of X-Men to rescue his old team — to the famous Phoenix Saga. Speaking of, who can forget X-Men: Last Stand… you know the movie about the Phoenix which could have ended the franchise — but never happened thanks to Days of Future Past. In Last Stand, Westworld star James Madsen’s Cyclops was unceremoniously killed off by the hands, or should I say lips of the woman he loved. It was tragic… not in the romantic touching way — just sad in how they disposed of him like he was some regular dude.

Nevertheless, Fox opted to roll with the more popular Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) — altering the Phoenix story to make Wolverine the sympathetic hero. Cyclops deserved more than to be annihilated by the kiss of death and tossed aside in favor of the new guy. As a matter of fact, in the comics the Dark Phoenix Saga played out differently. The true Phoenix story involves Cyclops and his love for Jean who had succumb to the Phoenix entity. Along with the effects of her death that haunted and changed the essence of Cyclops which forced him to descend from X-Men into a life where he became a shell of his former self.

There’s a story worth telling beyond Jean’s death

Imagine a story that follows a broken man as he learns to live away from the X-Men for the first time since he was a teenager. A former hero who has allowed self-doubt to creep in as he mourned the love of his life — rendering him incapable of leading his team. Instead, he begins a journey away from it all, working as a shipmate masking his true identity. On this adventure, he finds a companion, and as fate has it — he’s forced to unveil his true self and return to his roots to save a woman he cares about. With Cyclops that’s exactly what you’ll get.

Furthermore, Cyclop’s story sees him reunited with his father and brother before falling in love with the Jean Grey doppelganger Madelyne Pryor a son, and his return to the X-Men. Even then there is more to explore as anger once again consume Scott, and he loses a fight to a powerless Storm for leadership of the X-Men. Ultimately his life would return full circle as Jean returns from the dead. The story continues, involving more death, Emma Frost, love, marriage, abandonment, and a fight against the Avengers.

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

With that said, Fox missed an opportunity to dive into the story of an epic, legendary X-Men. Over the years Cyclops has been a prominent figure as he has surpassed Professor X as leader — employing his own ideologies to ensure the growth of mutant-kind. He’s still one of the most popular X-Men whose story needs to be told on film. Unlike Gambit, and any X-Men before him, Cyclops defined what it was to be an X-Men — it’s a shame that Fox hasn’t tapped into the goldmine that was the very first X-Men.

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