Cyclops’ Brother Proves He’s More Powerful Than Marvel’s Superman

Warning: SPOILERS for X-Men Red #9

The brother of the X-Men’s Cyclops, Gabriel Summers aka Vulcan, has humiliated Marvel’s version of Superman, the ultra-powerful Gladiator. Proving the theory that he is one of the strongest mutants in the universe, Vulcan’s incredible abilities allowed him to instantly defeat Gladiator, who has always been hailed as one of the most powerful heroes in Marvel Comics.

Gabriel Summers is one of the few mutants considered “past Omega level”, which makes him one of the most powerful beings in the universe, recognized as such even by a powerful cosmic creature like Adam Warlock. Vulcan’s powers allow him to absorb and manipulate incredible amounts of energy to a degree that his two brothers, Cyclops and Havok, can only dream of. However, Gabriel also has a tragic story that makes him unstable even by the standards of the X-Men’s crazy Summers family. Gabe was born and raised as a slave of the Shi’ar, then betrayed and abandoned by Professor Xavier of the X-Men. Finally, he conquered the Shi’ar Empire and started a galactic, genocidal war against the Kree, before apparently dying and mysteriously coming back during the Age of Krakoa.

Related: Cyclops’ Brother is Too Powerful for Xavier in New X-Men Preview

Since his return, Vulcan has been quiet but also increasingly unstable. It has been recently revealed that this was all part of Abigail Brand’s machinations to make Earth a powerful player in the Galaxy by starting a new conflict between the Shi’ar and the Kree/Skrull alliance. In X-Men Red #9, by Al Ewing, Stefano Caselli, and Federico Blee, Brand manipulates the X-Men into resurrecting Vulcan (who had recently been killed by Magneto), and sends him to assassinate Xandra Neramani, the Shi’ar Empress, during a diplomatic meeting. Xandra is defended by her Praetor, Gladiator, one of the strongest warriors in the universe, but he doesn’t even slow Vulcan down. Using his energy manipulation abilities, Gabriel shuts down the source of Gladiator’s power, seemingly killing the mighty Strontian in one hit.

Vulcan Completely Humiliates Marvel’s Version Of Superman

Gladiator is one of the Marvel Comics characters that were clearly inspired by DC Comics’ most famous hero, Superman. He has similar abilities to the Kryptonian, with the difference that Gladiator’s powers are fueled by his self-confidence: the more he believes in himself, the stronger he is. This makes Kallark potentially one of the strongest creatures in the universe, but Vulcan is aware of his weak spot and reroutes the electrical impulses in Gladiator’s frontal cortex. The effect is not very clear from the story, but judging from how Gladiator looks shriveled, it’s possible that Vulcan turned his powers against him by making him weaker rather than stronger. This proves that Vulcan really stands on a whole other level compared to other characters who usually fit in the “strongest” category. In this fight, he took away both Gladiator’s abilities and Richard Ryder’s Nova Force, proving he can easily make his opponents powerless through his energy manipulation. He has previously confirmed that he can perform the same feat with any mutant power too because they are all forms of energy.

Vulcan’s feats in this issue are really impressive. Not only he takes out Gladiator instantly, but he also deals easily with Nova. Both are cosmic-level heroes who fought against the likes of Thanos and Annihilus, and Gladiator especially constantly ranks in the higher spots of any list of Marvel’s strongest heroes. This confirms that Vulcan is indeed one of the handful of mutants who are past Omega level, making Cyclops’ brother stronger than even the strongest heroes in the Marvel Universe.

Next: Cyclops’ Lost Brother is Threatening To Blow Up The X-Men Universe

X-Men Red #9 is available from Marvel Comics.