Xavier & Magneto’s Original Apprentice Makes Cyclops Look Underpowered

Cyclops is arguably the greatest apprentice of Professor X, but he wasn’t his first, as Xavier had another with Magneto who puts Cyclops to shame.

Before they became mortal enemies, Xavier and Magneto worked together to pave a bright and better future for the next generation of mutants–and their first apprentice made Cyclops look underpowered.

In both Earth-616 and Earth-1610, Scott Summers aka Cyclops is one of the earliest members of the X-Men, but his history with Charles Xavier goes back even before the formation of the team. Scott was originally just a student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters after his mutant power of channeling concussive blasts of energy from his eyes fully manifested. While Scott would never be able to control the energy that shot from his eyes every time he opened them, he did wear protective glasses and a visor that helped him manage the level of power of each of his blasts as well as allowed him to use his eyes without obliterating everything in sight. Over time, Scott became Xavier’s star pupil and proved himself to be a powerful mutant, loyal apprentice, and worthy leader of the X-Men–all the while holding onto Xavier’s dream of peace between humans and mutants, as that was the driving factor behind nearly every one of Cyclops’ X-Men missions for years.

Related: Professor X Wasn’t Originally A Mutant in Marvel Comics

In Ultimate X-Men #26 by Mark Miller and Ben and Ray Lai, readers are given the full history of the partnership between Xavier and Magneto in terms of creating a better world for young mutants. In those early days, Charles and Erik ran a school together that was known as the Brotherhood of Mutants. Right before Charles and Erik worked together at the Brotherhood of Mutants school, they took in a teenager named Ricky Gibson who had the unfortunate mutant ability to create giant explosions from his body at random times. While his mutation made Gibson a target for mutant-hating extremists, Ricky’s ability was also insanely powerful once he was able to control it. Under the guidance of Magneto and Professor X, Gibson did learn to control his power–though it wasn’t until the falling out between Erik and Charles that Ricky fully decided what to do with his powers, and who he would follow going forward.

Magneto’s Detonator Makes Professor X’s Cyclops Look Weak

By the end of this issue, it is revealed that Ricky stayed with Magneto and became a firm believer in his mutant-extremist cause, so much so that Ricky himself became a terrorist. As the mutant villain, Detonator, Ricky used his powers to self-detonate inside the Pentagon in a move that Magneto hoped would spark war between humans and mutants. This issue proves that Detonator’s abilities far outweigh those of Cyclops as Detonator can create huge explosions with the energy emitted from his entire body (including from his eyes), and he can do so with control and precision. Cyclops, on the other hand, can only shoot direct blasts from his eyes, and even those he can’t fully control. Scott needs a visor to manage the beam’s precision and power level, which is something Detonator doesn’t need at all. Plus, Detonator is more willing to kill than Cyclops, giving him that extra deadly edge.

Not only is Detonator more powerful than Cyclops, but he is also an interesting character study in that he learned from both Magneto and Professor X, and decided to stay with the Brotherhood. Cyclops was indoctrinated into Xavier’s way of thinking as a boy without the option of Magneto’s influence, whereas Detonator got to choose between the two ideals. This makes Detonator Cyclops’ mirror opposite as he not only chose to be Magneto’s apprentice, but he actively turned his back on Xavier. This leads one to consider if, given the choice, Cyclops would make the same decision. So, while the powers of Xavier and Magneto’s first apprentice put Cyclops’ to shame, that isn’t the only thing connecting them as Ricky’s also a grim example of the type of mutant Cyclops might have become–making Detonator’s fall to villainy that much more tragic.

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