Marvel Reimagines Cyclops With a Dungeons & Dragons-Inspired High Fantasy Redesign

Just ahead of the release of X-Men '97 Season 2, Cyclops is getting a new classic fantasy redesign. This unexpected costume includes a brand-new way for Scott Summers to expel his optic blasts.

In X-Men United #4, the team is sent to a Dungeons & Dragons-inspired fantasy world. While Cyclops is still sporting his visor, he now wears a brown hooded cloak and wields a bright yellow bow. The bow has a glowing red string which, when pulled back, allows Cyclops to send out his blasts like arrows.

Marvel's official solicitation gives even more information: "Graymatter Lane is totally safe from all interlopers. All threats are psionic, military, or demonic. Right? Right. But what about the doubts and fears that always emerge among friends and lovers? And who keeps blowing up Emma's phone? Meanwhile, Iceman has a rather unorthodox training idea. Bring your twenty-sided die."

Cyclops is Ready to Roll for Initiative in His New Look

X-Men United #4 is from the creative team of writer Eve Ewing (Ironheart, Black Panther) and artist Tiago Da Silva (Red Sonja, Silk). The X-Men find themselves in this fantasy world as a training exercise to hopefully end the tension between Emma Frost and Cyclops. The two have a storied history with each other, sometimes being friends, enemies, or even lovers. The duo disagree with the new Gray Matter Lane School.

The Gray Matter Lane School was introduced in the X-Men United storyline as a new school for mutants. The school is a virtual training area that is available to any mutant on Earth and has no physical location. The instructors for the school include Wolverine, Beast, Rouge, Magneto, and Storm.

Cyclops is against the school because he believes that even though it isn't in a physical location, he worries about young mutants gathering together. Cyclops thinks it would make for an easy target. Emma Frost, on the other hand, sees the school as necessary. Frost thinks it is extremely important to prepare young mutants for the perils of tomorrow.

Over the past few months, Cyclops has had several costume redesigns. In X-Men #29, he turned into a venom-like monster complete with a metallic tongue after being infected by a techno-organic virus. In What If...? Uncanny X-Men #1, Summers becomes the leader of the X-Force and receives a gun that works similarly to his bow in X-Men United #4.

Cyclops was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. The character first appeared in 1963's X-Men #1 and is considered the first member of the X-Men. Over the years, he has been both the leader of the X-Men team and at times headmaster to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

X-Men United #4 is currently available digitally through Marvel Unlimited or in print wherever comic books are sold.