Avengers vs. X-Men Review (aka The Passion of the Scott)

I know, I know. I promised this review something like two months ago. I sat down to write it, and it kind of got away from me. I thought, "Why do just a straight-up review? I could get that done in like three sentences (and I totally did). I should do something different." And I did. I re-read all X-Men comics from Messiah Complex forward (and even a few before then), and I took copious notes. Like 35 pages worth of notes. And then I started writing. And writing. And writing.

This "review" became a thirty-page pseudo-academic monstrosity that I'm sure no one will enjoy, all about my man-crush on Scott Summers. Yeah. Sorry.

Why did I start my blog with this thing (ignoring the previous two posts as introductory and space-holding)? I don't actually know. I don't plan on this blog being like this all the time, I promise (though this may happen again at some future point; I couldn't help it this time, I may not be able to help it next time either). I actually plan for this to be a lot fluffier. Look forward to reviews of the card game Android: Netrunner, the Sega Genesis video game Aladdin, and the movie Avengers, among others (why they all start with 'A,' I couldn't tell you), that aren't ridiculously long.

Without further ado: Avengers vs. X-Men Review (aka The Passion of the Scott)

*             *             *

Avengers vs. X-Men is quite possibly the most descriptive story arc title there has ever been. No interpretation required, no possibility of error: this was a story that featured the Avengers and the X-Men beating the snot out of each other. To be sure, there was a reason for it. A rather important reason, actually. The cosmic entity known as the Phoenix was heading straight for Earth, destroying various planets in its path, to reside in Hope Summers: the first mutant born after M-Day, the Mutant Messiah. The Avengers of course were somewhat alarmed by this, as the Phoenix (as its name would suggest) is a cosmic force of death and rebirth. The X-Men of course were somewhat cheered by this, as the Phoenix (as its name would still suggest) is a cosmic force of death and rebirth. This is where the vs. part of the title comes in.

My aim in this review (if this can still be called that) is not to convince you of the overall successes or failures by the various authors involved in creating this. If all you’re looking for is whether or not this was a good story, then let me save you the trouble of reading further: yes. Or at the very least, I enjoyed it a great deal. There was pathos, there was action, there was a clear resolution, and the art was pretty nice. Plus, the promised Avengers fighting X-Men (and sometimes Avengers fighting Avengers and X-Men fighting X-Men) was very much in evidence.

With that out of the way, we can talk about what I actually came here to talk about: Scott Summers aka Cyclops, leader of the X-Men and commander-in-chief of the nation of Utopia. In talking with various cohorts and reading various reviews, I came away with the distinct impression that many people thought Scott was behaving out-of-character. That the writers (we’ll get to them in a second) had decided to ignore the past few years of stories, and made Scott act in a way that was completely contradictory even to what had come the previous few months. That because of Scott’s wildly inappropriate behavior, the storyline had been rendered terrible (or at the very least, not very good).

To quote President Obama, “Governor, that’s not true.”

Before we get too deep into this, a quick note on my criticism style: I am a devout disciple of Roland Barthes and his argument in the essay “The Death of the Author.” Basically, the author (or “scriptor,” as Barthes calls them) is not relevant to the work. His or her motivations, experiences, desires, etc. matter not one whit to the meaning of the text. The author’s opinion on the meaning of the text is just that, an opinion, and it is no more or less valid than the opinion of any other reader in the world (assuming these opinions can be backed up with textual evidence). I can be rather militant about this, and have been known to scream “The author is dead!” to no one in particular when an author decides to flex his or her authorial intent muscles. For example, J.K. Rowling told the world that Dumbledore was, in fact, gay in some interview she gave. Nice try, lady, but there is absolutely no textual evidence to support such a claim, and therefore you are wrong, and I don’t care that you wrote the damn thing. I tend to not watch movie commentary tracks for the same reason: I don’t want my reading of the movie to be colored by whatever experiences the crew had during filming (or whatever).

Why is this important? Because during this foray into the mind and actions of Scott Summers, I won’t be mentioning which writers or artists worked on which individual issues (except to give credit when required). The vagaries of making corporate comics being what they are, being a Barthesian is a somewhat easier prospect, as the sheer amount of people required to create a comic make it almost impossible to ascribe authorial intent (the same can be said of film, though directors are usually considered the author for the purposes of ascribing intent). Who was most responsible for creating this particular comic? This particular scene in the comic? The writer who wrote it? The artist who drew it? Their editors who asked for changes? Their editor-in-chief who may have asked for this story in the first place? The group of writers and editors at a retreat that planned the overall arc and direction of all the comics at the company? Etc.

At the end of the day, it’s simply not important that Matt Fraction wrote Cyclops in Uncanny X-Men or that Clayton Crain was painting him in X-Force. It doesn’t matter, and it’s not germane to the discussion at hand. Scott Summers is Scott Summers. Capice? Fantastic.

Scott Summers had been groomed from way back in X-Men #1 to be the leader of the X-Men, but it wasn’t until the Messiah Complex event that this actually happened. Professor Charles Xavier had been the de facto leader of mutants (or the X-Men, at the very least) until Scott took full control from Xavier by basically telling him off, and then telling him to pack his bags:

Xavier: Have you lost your mind? Did you even consider the consequences of what you’ve done?

Scott: Dispatching our best trackers, our most formidable fighters? It needed to be done. We’re at the mutant equivalent of DEFCON 1…

Xavier: And you panicked. Honestly, Scott… I’m disappointed. I… Well, I thought I’d taught you better.

Scott: People… give us some space, please?

Xavier: I’m sorry, Scott. Whatever concerns I have… I shouldn’t have expressed them in front of the others. I only did it because—

Scott: Because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Xavier: But Scott, you’ve got to admit—sending killers after your own son?

Scott (angry): Charles, you trained me to be leader of the X-men. Didn’t it occur to you that, for me to take the reins… you’d have to stop driving?

Xavier: Intellectually… yes. But now…

Scott: That’s what I thought.

Xavier: Scott, don’t you see? These are special circumstances.

Scott: They’re always special circumstances, Charles.

Xavier: Not like this. The survival of our race is at stake. In times such as these—as much as I hate to hew to cliché—two heads are better than one.

Scott: Two heads go in two directions. We can’t afford that now.

Xavier: All right, Scott… message received. I’ll do what you need. I’ll back off.

Scott: Charles, you know that’s not going to happen. We’re going to have dozens of confrontations like this. I can’t have the distraction.

Xavier: You don’t mean… You can’t be serious.

Scott: Charles. You trained me. Let me do my job.[1]

A little backstory here: House of M decimated the mutant population through a combination of magic, mutant powers, and ego (don’t sweat the specifics; they don’t make a lot of sense). Suddenly, less than 200 mutants were left powered on the planet (though some new mutants were occasionally found, and previously depowered mutants were repowered, so all told, it may actually have been closer to three or four hundred) where once there had been millions in what came to be known as M-Day. Worst of all, no new mutants were being born. This was the status quo for some good three or four years of storytelling.

Until a birth in Cooperstown, Alaska.

The mutant who would one day be known as Hope Summers was born (with a name so on the nose, those who named her must have named their children Legacy), and she brought all kinds of mayhem to the world of the X-Men. And from that day, Scott Summers showed time and again that he would do anything to keep her as safe as possible, not just because she was the first mutant born since M-Day, but because Scott knew, in his heart, that she would somehow save the whole of mutantkind.

And survival of the mutant race is always first and foremost in Scott’s mind, as he says in the first chapter of Messiah Complex: “As leader of the X-men, I’ve had to embrace a new vision for mutantkind. Survival.”[2] What is unsaid here, of course, is “by any means necessary.” In the previous quote, Scott usurps control of the X-Men from Xavier while they argue over a “team of killers.” This team is the precursor to X-Force, the team consisting of everyone with claws and knives (as a friend of mine so eloquently put it once) Scott would sic on threats he deemed too dangerous to allow continued existence. In the first issue, Scott states clearly what X-Force’s mission is, and why it’s needed.

Logan: Well, if those nut-jobs are dumb enough to come after us again, we’ll take ‘em down. Hard.

Scott: No. Not this time. I’m not willing to wait until there are more dead mutants on our doorstep. No, you’re going after Risman and his Purifiers before they get a chance to do whatever it is they have planned. And when you find them, you’re going to eliminate this threat permanently. But you’re not going in alone. I want you to put X-Force back together.

Logan: Damn, Summers. I don’t know if I should be impressed, or worried you’ve snapped. What’s Frost say about all this?

Scott: Emma… doesn’t need to know.

Logan: Okay, I’m impressed.[3]

And then later in the same issue, Scott reiterates his position when Logan seems to balk:

Logan: Laura is my responsibility. You should have come to me first, Summers. Is this who you are now? You just use her like this? You set up Warpath to go down like his brother? You pull Rahne Sinclair to this world? If you want Risman dead, you come to me. But I’ll do it alone.

Scott: This team is happening, Logan. You think I don’t know the line I’m crossing? I do. This isn’t X-Men work. This is X-Force. No one can know. I’m not asking for your permission, Logan. You know it’s what has to be done.[4]

Scott is not concerned with individual mutants or their physical, mental, or emotional states, as long as the overall safety and survival of mutantkind can be assured just a little bit more. Stryfe, a long time enemy of the X-Men, states it clearly:

Stryfe: Bishop tells me Wolverine has allies… a new team under his leadership, following Cyclops’ orders. A team that exists for one purpose… to kill the enemies of mutantkind. I find it hard to believe that Cyclops would condone such actions… but mutantkind faces extinction. A man with nothing left to lose is the most dangerous of all.[5]

Scott makes it explicitly clear that individuals are simply not as important as mutantkind as a whole over and over again during Messiah Complex. First, he admonishes the new class of X-Men for wanting to fight at a time Scott did not deem tactically sound:

Scott: I am trying to oversee a war that’s being fought on half a dozen fronts.

Surge: If you’re fighting a war, we can help.

Scott: And you will. But it will be where I say so, and when I say so. If any of you has a problem with that, you know where the door is.

Hellion: You’d do that?

Scott: Yes.

Hellion: Just let us go?

Scott: Yes. Then I’d go after you, haul you back here, and chew you out for abandoning your own species in its time of need… They also serve who stand and wait. And when your time comes… you may well wish it hadn’t.[6]

Then he snaps at Forge for thinking about two lives when the whole of mutantkind is at stake:

Forge: Scott… This is uncharted territory. If Madrox never wakes up…

Scott: We have to know what’s happening here, Forge. It’s worth the risks we’re taking.

Forge: Listen to yourself, Scott. You’d knowingly sacrifice Jamie’s life? And Layla? She’s only a—

Scott: Our species is dying, Forge. We’re on the verge of extinction. So whatever’s happening here, if we don’t find a way to control it… all our lives end here.[7]

Finally, he basically tells the Wolverine to kill everything:

Scott: This is getting us nowhere! Break off from the group, Logan. Kill anyone in your way. Just find the baby.[8]

Since Scott believes Hope Summers to be the key to mutantkind’s survival, he doesn’t consider her an individual mutant, as he does Madrox, Layla, or the New X-Men kids; he considers her an asset, and a very important one at that.

Once Messiah Complex shakes out, Scott has allowed Cable to take baby Hope to the future in an effort to keep her safe (though superhero comics being what they are, this never lasts longer than a few pages), has formed X-Force to go out and kill things, and moved the rest of mutantkind to San Francisco (since the school at Westchester has been destroyed yet again, and I guess Scott didn’t feel a need to rebuild it yet again). It’s this last decision that really makes Scott Summers the leader of all mutantkind, and not just the handful of folks who put on designer costumes with the letter X on them:

Scott: Hear me… my X-Men. This message is reaching every known mutant in the world. Good, bad, friend, foe… whoever you are. Wherever you are. We want every mutant left to know this: the X-Men are very much alive. And San Francisco is now a mutant sanctuary. Any of you—and your families or loved ones—are invited to join us here… and know safety and protection our kind has never known. [9]

*             *             *

Scott does not sit idly by while waiting for the literal and figurative Hope to come back and somehow save all of mutantkind, Scott will not sit idly by. He will bring all remaining mutants together, under his protection. He will send out X-Force to preemptively strike at any and all anti-mutant targets. And he will do everything he can in the here and now to protect Cable and Hope in the there and later.

While Scott has no problem taking these actions, and putting mutant lives on the line for the overall good of mutantkind, he does play things pretty close to the vest. Nobody outside of X-Force knows about X-Force, or Bishop, the traitor hunting down Cable and Hope in the future. Not even the woman who shares his life:

Scott: But you can’t tell Emma any of this. You can’t even think any of this around her. She doesn’t know about X-Force or Bishop. She doesn’t know the kind of orders you’ve given. You’ve taken steps to ensure that.[10]

And he knows that these actions are not what are usually considered “good” by the wider world around him, and says as much to Logan:

Scott: I haven’t gone evil. I haven’t been taken over, I haven’t been replaced. We’re entering new territory, and it’s dark. But we’re still the good guys.[11]

Scott wants Logan to believe that he believes this heart and soul, and to some extent, Scott does believe it himself. He basically tells Storm the same thing in Indonesia, and he even gives her a little lecture on why killing, while not desirable, is still okay when in defense of your people:

Scott: All right. I want the box he was building and I want the body. Let’s go.

Storm: …Do you think I killed him?

Scott: I think we have several new problems if you didn’t.

Storm: Shouldn’t we be going faster? I mean, if he can be saved…

Scott: I’m not carrying a medical kit, are you? The issue was stopping him from powering up, whatever it is.

Storm: Scott, I don’t want to have killed him.

Scott: No one enjoys killing. Not even Logan, really.

Storm: But…?

Scott: But my first responsibility is to keep mutants alive. Everything takes second place to there being enough adult mutants alive to protect the new generation. If that means electrifying a spaceship and dropping it three hundred feet with a murderer inside, then that’s what I do. I’d rather he was still alive, too, because I don’t like killing and because I want him to talk. But if it turns out you killed him, I won’t lose any sleep over it, and neither should you.

Storm: It’s different for me, Scott.

Scott: No, it’s not. You’re Queen of Wakanda. If Wakanda declared war on Zimbabwe tomorrow, which isn’t beyond the real m of possibility, I read the papers—you’d have to sign the declaration of war too. And that’s killing people. We grew up Ororo. These are the jobs we got.

Storm: I’d find another way.

Scott: So did I. I didn’t have Logan just gut him on first sight, and I didn’t obliterate him when I had the shot. If you never want to be put in a situation where someone might have to be killed, go home now. And don’t start with that “you’ve changed, Scott.” I can see it in your eyes. I haven’t changed. All I’ve done is accepted who I am, and what the job is. I killed a man once. So did you. You killed in self-defense. I killed by accident. Neither of us will do it lightly again. That’s the way it goes.[12]

Killing is simply part of the job now. Scott is a leader of people, and even though Storm is an actual honest-to-God African queen, she acknowledges Scott’s position as leader of mutantkind, and therefore of having to make tough decisions for the betterment of his people. During the same mission, Scott makes a joke to Logan about the lengths he will go to keep mutant affairs squarely in his control:

Scott: I’ve had enough, Logan. Really. I’ve tried being polite, I’ve tried being reasonable, I’ve tried compromise and every other thing. If it comes down to just yelling like a maniac to make people stay out of our business? Then I’ll do it.[13]

Scott will in fact do anything to keep mutant business in mutant hands, especially when it concerns Hope, and this will be a key idea when the Avengers come calling, but when Scott gets a chance to capture Bishop and extract information from him, he takes it, and attempts to extract that information by any means necessary:

Hank: Scott, what on Earth is she doing?

Scott: Drowning Bishop in his own mind. He feels like his brain is shutting down, one synapse at a time. We take him to the brink, we see where his thoughts go. See what he’s hiding.

Hank: So in other words, you’re torturing him now?

Scott: No, Hank. Sending Logan in there to cut off little pieces, starting with toes and ears? That would be torture. This is just aggressive interrogation.

Hank: Spare me the semantics, Scott. It’s torture!

Scott: You know what he took. You know what he plans to do with them. Truth is— Bishop’s getting off easy.[14]

Hank McCoy, one of Scott’s oldest friends, was one of the first people not in the know to notice the change in Scott. And he did not approve:

Scott: Any traces of radiation on the arm?

Hank: No.

Scott: Any idea of how to engage the time components?

Hank: Not yet.

Scott: Have you got anything at all?

Hank: There is this strange little part we found, right over here. But we can’t figure out what it does.

Scott: We’re running out of options here.

Hank: Oh? The torture not working out for you?

Scott: Come on, Hank…

Hank: No… you come on, Scott. I’ve been monitoring his heart rate and brain waves from up here—Do you realize how close you were to killing him?[15]

The answer of course is that, yes, Scott knew how close he was to killing Bishop. He simply didn’t care. Not if it meant the safety and survival of Hope, which of course means the safety and survival of mutantkind:

Logan: Summers. He’s so hardcore lately, I’m starting to feel inadequate, I can see the wheels turning in his head… we both know where this is going. Question is, how bloody do his hands get stopping it?[16]

As bloody as they have to.

*             *             *

Mutants were capped at around 200 mutants due to M-Day, which meant that the pool that Scott Summers’ army could be drawn from was also capped at around 200. Being the tactician that he is, Scott was damned if he wasn’t going to use every available resource:

Sunspot: You really want us to take the kids?

Scott: They’re only kids if we treat them like kids. [17]

From the very beginning, the X-Men have been about putting kids in the line of fire. The five original X-Men were teenagers when they started. When they got older, Professor Xavier sought another group of teens who became the New Mutants. Kitty Pryde was thirteen years old when she joined, as was Jubilee. When the mutant population exploded, the school was full to bursting with new students and new recruits in the form of the Prodigy, Surge, Hellion, X-23, Rockslide, the Stepford Cuckoos, Quentin Quire, Pixie, Anole, Armor, Wraith, Blindfold, and many, many others. Those New X-Men kids had it the worst, with horrible tragedy after horrible tragedy befalling them and thinning their ranks by the dozens. But not once did Scott think about maybe pulling them back; about putting them in a reinforced bunker never to see the light of day until they had passed some kind of expert combat training. No, they were soldiers, and sometimes soldiers die.

After the Leper Queen kidnaps three mutant teenagers (Surge, Hellion, and Boom Boom),  Scott sends his black ops team X-Force after them, but with a small caveat: Scott has figured out a way to get to Cable and Hope, and he intends to send X-Force as soon as possible, even in mid-mission:

Logan: We’re here, Slim. Any updates?

Scott: Our window is shrinking. Get the kids out fast. Cable takes priority.

Logan: So what? Your future buzzer goes off, and you let them die? Is that it?

Domino: I wish I had a future buzzer. Logan! Tell Cyclops to get me one.

Scott: This isn’t a discussion, Logan. This is everything we’ve been fighting for. This is the future of mutantkind.

Logan: We’re not going anywhere until the kids are safe, you got me?[18]

Once again, the future of mutantkind in the form of Hope is much more important than three paltry lives:

Scott: Logan… we found Cable.

Logan: You wait, do you hear me? We’re still down two.

Scott: I’ll take care of the others, but we have to do this now.

Warpath: Logan… what the Hell are we doing?

Logan: We finish this mission….

Scott: No! The mission is to save mutantkind… Nothing else can take priority, not even this!!

Logan: I’m not going to just walk away from them!

Scott: That’s exactly why it’s not your call.

Logan: Dammit![19]

And with that, X-Force is shunted to the future, and the Leper Queen shoots Boom Boom in the head, killing her instantly. But Scott considers them acceptable losses and takes the responsibility, as all good generals should:

Logan: It’s about as far from “okay” as you can get, boss man. I told you to wait!! You signed their death warrants without batting an eye! If either one of those kids dies, it’s on you.

Scott: I know.[20]

X-23 especially seems to be a favorite of Scott’s for horrible missions and showcasing his callousness towards individual mutant lives, likely due to her status as a genetic experiment and not a “real girl.” Logan for his part tries to protect her (sort of; Logan’s inconsistency when it comes to kids is an actual problem, but that’s an entirely different essay):

Dr. Nemesis: Whoever cut these out of you was an amateur. There’s still bit of tendon on them.

X-23: I removed them myself.

Logan: I told you if anything happened to her, it’d be on you. Someone did this to her, and you’re going to help me find out who.

Scott: No. The interrogation can wait. We just need to make sure she’s okay.

Logan: Since when have you ever given a $@#% if she’s okay? You just want your personal assassin up and running again.

Dr. Nemesis: Not to interrupt your little spat, but what do you want me to do about the claws?

Scott: Put them back in.[21]

At least Scott doesn’t try to deny it.

*             *             *

About this time, the Skrull secret invasion became less secret, and Norman Osborn of all people ended up saving the day, and was made the head of US national security. While mostly messing about with the Avengers, Osborn did take time out of his busy schedule to deal with the “mutant problem” by creating his own team of X-Men and attempting to discredit Scott. The end result is that Scott moves all mutants to the island fortress of Utopia:

Scott: Ahh—Hello again. My name is Scott Summers and I have been an X-man since I was fifteen. And like everyone else here, I’ve been a mutant all my life. This ground—This city we live in, just off your shores—This fortress we occupy—This ground is sacred. No mutant or their family will be harmed here. No mutant blood will be spilled here. Our children shall not be hunted or harmed. They shall not be prejudiced against, legislated against, or ever go to sleep for a single unsafe moment. We may have paid the ultimate for our safety tonight. But I am here to promise you, unequivocally, we mean you no harm. In spite of the decades of harm inflicted upon us personally, privately, or as a matter of law. We have been, and always shall be, sworn to protect a world that hates and despises us. Only now… we shall all be free.[22]

This very public statement (it’s made on live television) creates a new mutant nation, beholden to none, just off the coast of San Francisco, and with Scott Summers as its commander-in-chief. He has made himself responsible for the safety and well-being not just of his X-Men, but of all mutants everywhere. It’s similar to what he had done when he relocated to San Francisco in the first place, but now the laws of the United States do not apply to them. And just in case anybody is harboring any thoughts that Scott is not running the show as far as mutantkind is concerned, he soon makes it very clear:

Xavier: You weren’t at your most empathetic back there, Scott.

Scott: Empathy seems to be at a premium these days, Charles. Not to be disrespectful but too much empathy slows down the decision making,

Xavier: Don’t let this rob you of your humanity. You’re better than that.

Scott: My humanity is firmly in check—but a fact’s a fact and the fact is we have a human corpse taking up space on a piece of forgotten science fiction we’ve just forced up from Davy Jones’ locker. And while I planned for an awful lot, bringing embalming fluid slipped my mind…

Xavier: No jetpack this time?

Scott: You want to save the jetpack for big entrances, Charles. Besides, we’re trying to convince the U.S. we’re not a bigger threat than Castro—we can settle for the unspectacular.

Xavier: Well good—that boat seats two and I want to join you. I have my name to clear.

Scott: Absolutely not. Sorry. No.

Xavier: Scott, I don’t need to ask you permission to—

Scott: This time you do. The whole world thinks you’re not on our side right now and that makes you a hidden asset. If things go off the rails I need you as an ace in the hole.

Xavier: Scott… not to be disrespectful… but they all have a rather… overzealous picture of you… in their minds. You’re the man that’s led a spontaneous mutant secession movement and very well might be marshaling an attack force. Maybe having the nice old bald guy by your side to smooth feathers isn’t the worst piece of strategy, hm? And besides… how do you know they’re not going to kill you the second you get off the boat?

Scott: Because I’m the man that’s led a spontaneous mutant secession movement and very well might be marshaling an attack force. They kill me… they’ll think they have to kill us all. And they’re probably right.

Xavier: You’re gambling with lives, Scott. I never taught you human life was acceptable collateral.

Scott: You never taught me… any of this stuff, Charles. You had a dream; I have a plan. And—and just the tiniest bit of faith that I’m not going to get us all killed. Charles… Professor… Just trust me. I might not have the moment-to-moment down but… everything’s going to be okay in the end.

Xavier: You call this okay? This isn’t okay, Scott.

Scott: Then this isn’t the end, Charles.[23]

Scott is much more concerned with hidden assets and not “slowing down the decision making,” than with how empathic or nice he comes across. Once again, survival of the mutant race is paramount, regardless of what individuals (mutant or otherwise) think. Though some agreement once in a while that you’re doing the right thing doesn’t hurt the ego, especially when it comes from your lady love:

Emma: No. You’re wrong. You may think you’re a murderer, or a criminal… but you’re not.

Scott: The things I’ve done… Charles would—

Emma: I don’t care about Charles Xavier, or Magneto, or even Hope. I am looking at the savior of mutantkind, right here, right now. You are the only one keeping us alive. You are the one that will lead us into the future. Every mutant on the planet is going to owe Scott Summers their lives.[24]

However, these crises of confidence are few and far between. Scott will stare anybody down who dares say that mutants won’t be saved, even the man he feared the most as a teenager:

Magneto: Look what you’ve accomplished. While Charles and I were engaged in an endless tug-of-war, you forged your own path. You did what neither of us could accomplish. As our kind stands on the precipice of extinction itself and gazes into the abyss… you united the mutant race.

Scott: Magneto, I did what I had to do. That’s it. That’s all. And I don’t care what you think you know—we’re down, not out. We’ll be back. Mutants… will be back. I know this.

Magneto: You don’t need to put on a brave face for me, Scott—There’s no tragedy in dying with dignity. No shame in holding our chins high while our flame extinguishes.

Scott: I have faith, Erik. Or hope, I should say. The girl. The mutant birth in Cooperstown, Alaska. She’s alive. She’s safe. She’s protected. And one day she’s coming back.[25]

But, as we’ve seen before, not everybody agrees with Scott Summers’ tactics and strategies of late. Hank sums it up best when he finally decides to leave:

Hank: They tortured me, Bobby. And Scott let it happen until the time was right for him to stop it.[26]

Spock put it best: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.” Scott knows this, and will not make apologies for it.

Unless of course that “one” is Hope, and she suddenly comes back from the future.

*             *             *

Christians have waited over 2000 years for their messiah, and they’re still waiting. Mutants only had to wait two. After jaunting further and further into the future, eluding or escaping Bishop at every turn, Cable and Hope finally figured out how to get back to their own time. However, Hope came back as a teenaged girl instead of as the baby she left as. And Scott and his X-Men weren’t the only ones who knew she had returned. Bastion and his who’s who of resurrected anti-mutant zealots began hunting her as soon as she appeared in the present, thanks to Bastion’s future Nimrod tech. Hope had returned, and Scott would put absolutely everyone else in harm’s way to make sure she made it safely to Utopia, all on his unshakeable faith that she was the savior of mutantkind:

Kurt: There’s no evidence that Hope is any kind of mutant “messiah.” Unless of course you’ve discovered something I don’t know about?

Scott: No.

Kurt: And yet you believe with your whole heart and soul that she is here, and she’ll save all of us.

Scott: Yes.

Kurt: Why?

Scott: For so long, there were no mutants. None. Then, out of nowhere, Hope was born. The first and last mutant since M-Day. She’s special. She has to be.

Kurt: Then that is one more thing we have in common. We are both men of faith.[27]

She has to be special, she has to save mutantkind, and so Scott sacrifices mutant after mutant to get her back, but not before his big secret is revealed on the field:

Kurt: Scott, did you sanction what Wolverine and his gang have been up to while no one else was looking?

Scott: Wow. I knew it was coming—I just—

Emma: Darling, you’ve made your bed. It’s time to lie in it.

Scott: …

Kurt: Well?

Scott: Yes, Nightcrawler. I sanctioned X-Force. I gave them missions, briefed them, monitored their accomplishments, covered up their existence, and I would absolutely do it again if I had to. Now, if you’ve got an issue with my leadership, do not bring it up when you’re in the field. Get the girl and get her here now. You can tear my head off once you’re all home safe and sound.

Kurt: …Understood.[28]

Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler, somewhat absent in the past two years of X-stories, shows up in time to act as Scott’s conscience (what with Hank’s departure a few months back), but it’s quite possibly too late. Scott doesn’t have time for conscience. The future of mutantkind is at stake here.

As previously stated, Scott throws all of his quite considerable mutant resources at the problem of Bastion and his allies, including sacrificing the New Mutants against the vastly superior force of Cameron Hodge and his regiments of Right troops:

Scott: Cannonball, if Stryker gets reinforcements we’re going to lose the girl. Engage your targets.

Cannonball: Cyclops, I’m not confident I can engage without casualties. If it’s my decision—

Scott: It’s not. You have an order.[29]

Karma is crippled and Warlock is forced to take the lifeglows of Hodge and the Right troops in order to save the rest of his teammates. At the same time, Magik is sent to Limbo by a weaponized ritual, and Nightcrawler is gravely concussed as Archangel makes another appearance and loses more of his humanity: just more broken eggs in Scott’s great mutant omelet. Scott doesn’t give a second thought to any of this except to make Ariel his prime teleporter since his other two teleporters are down. Scott then decides to send Rogue to find Hope, as she seems to have some kind of connection thanks to Hope saving her life when she was first born (don’t worry about it, it’s cool):

Emma: Another act of faith? Or just strategy on the fly?

Scott: Hope brought Rogue back from a coma just by touching her. I can believe that there’d be a bond between them. And the strategy is what it’s always been, Emma. Survive.[30]

Again, “survive” refers to mutantkind as a whole, not to any individual mutants. And thanks to Bastion, Scott loses quite a few individual mutants. Ariel, Vanisher, and Nightcrawler are all KIA. Hellion loses both arms, Iceman suffers third-degree burns, and Colossus’ arm is broken. And then he sends X-Force to the future:

Emma: Do you really think they can do it?

Scott: …I do.

Emma: …Scott. Scott, what aren’t you telling me?

Scott: I just killed them.

Emma: You just said that—

Scott: Cable’s tech… it only had one jump left. He knew it. They all knew. They went anyway. It’s a one way trip, win or lose. I just killed X-Force. I just killed my son.[31]

They ultimately make it back, but Scott had no way of knowing that, and they suffer various casualties: Archangel’s wings are shredded, X-23 is horribly mutilated and nearly killed (again), and Cable dies.

Ultimately, Hope saves Utopia from Bastion’s forces, but Rogue gets chewed out for it. As Hope is the one mutant Scott will not even think of allowing on the front line, he had specifically asked Rogue to keep her safe and away from the fighting. Once again, shows his great displeasure at being disobeyed.

Regardless, Scott is proven correct (this is a recurring situation). Hope was the key to the survival of mutantkind, as Cerebra detects five completely new mutants, and Hope is the only person who can save them.

Scott makes a somewhat prophetic statement at the end of Second Coming:

Scott: Maybe Captain America, Iron Man and Thor will come arrest us. That’d be funny, actually. I’d go to jail with a smile on my face. Because I’d do it all again. Because of what we did here, I know that somehow… we’re going to survive.[32]

*             *             *

Now that Hope has returned, Scott seems to get harder and harder. If such a thing were possible for a man who was recently in charge of a kill squad and routinely puts minors on the front lines. After a vampire attack on Utopia in which Scott allowed Logan to be captured and turned until it was time to save him, Logan compliments him on it:

Logan: Hey, you’re the leader. Sometimes you make decisions others don’t understand or like.

Scott: For example?

Logan: Oh, I dunno. Like letting a teammate get turned into a blood-sucking vampire so you can use him to spring a trap. Like maybe even sacrificing that teammate.

Scott: If you’ve got something to say, then say it.

Logan: Okay, I will. Good call. It’s nice to know the guy at the wheel has the stones to make the tough decisions.[33]

Logan is okay with it, but these are clearly not the actions of a man concerned with whether or not his army agrees with him, so long as they carry out their orders. Scott then flat out kills the Evolutionaries when they come to Utopia, which concerns more of his friends:

Bobby: Scott knew… He knew that would kill them.

Warren: You knew the alternative.

Bobby: Yeah, but man, look at us. Look at what we’ve become. This isn’t how it was supposed to be.[34]

During the Fear Itself incident, when the Juggernaut swats Colossus away and Iceman tries to catch him, Scott reprimands him and tells him to focus on the mission:

Bobby: Got you, man.

Scott: Iceman. Stop it. He doesn’t need the save. You know what to do.

Bobby: Sorry for still having human emotions, Scott.[35]

And that, in a nutshell, is the crux of Scott Summers. He can no longer afford to have emotions, only plans. He can no longer afford to have friends, only allies. He can no longer afford to have children, only soldiers:

Scott: When you stand on the brink of extinction, you no can no longer afford the luxury of noncombatants.[36]

And then:

Scott: Nobody ever said it would be easy, pulling ourselves back from the brink of extinction. We’ve had to make tough choices, you and I both. But if we’d done anything less, we would have failed our entire species. [37]

Finally, even Logan has enough of Scott’s militant ways:

Logan: We went off track, Scott. Somewhere along the way. Whenever we started expecting our kids to be our combat troops. [38]

Logan must have had some of this bubbling under the surface for a while because he made a very telling statement when he had been turned into a vampire:

Logan: Do you get off on it? Being the big dictator? You routinely decide the fate of an entire race, pushing around pieces on a chessboard. The stone-cold tyrant of the world’s smallest empire, and it gets smaller every day. You tin-plated general. Jeannie wouldn’t even recognize you, Slim.[39]

While true, Scott knows that his empire will grow very soon now that Hope is back. Everybody else is still expendable, including kids, including Logan. After the split, Hank comes back for one last shot at Scott:

Scott: I weather the insults because I know you wouldn’t be here to make them if it wasn’t for the hard decisions I made to save everyone.

Hank: The funny thing about those hard decisions, Scott… they never seem to end up with you in the torture chamber, do they?[40]

Scott may like to think of himself as the man who saves everyone, but that’s clearly not the case, and Hank knows it, and more to the point, Hank knows that Scott knows it.

The Schism was the final push for Scott, and that exchange above was the last time he justified his actions. From here on out, he would not be questioned, and all that mattered was Hope and the continued survival of mutantkind.

*             *             *

The creation of Scott’s Extinction Team and the resurfacing of the Scarlet Witch, the woman responsible for M-Day and the near extinction of mutants, is what finally draws the attention of the Avengers.

When the Young Avengers go looking for the Scarlet Witch, specifically her “children” Wiccan and Speed, the Avengers and Scott’s X-Men are not far behind, and Scott in no uncertain terms demands the Scarlet Witch:

Scott: The Avengers don’t get to negotiate on behalf of mutantkind. The Scarlet Witch is coming with us. The X-Men will hold her accountable for her crimes… or I will burn the Witch where she stands.[41]

Scott clearly plans to execute her. She depowered thousands, if not millions, of mutants , and only mutant justice will suffice. This is also important because Scott will not allow non-mutants to interfere in mutant affairs. He’s stated this before, but never this forcefully.

Needless to say, the Witch escapes, but Scott eventually does get to pass judgment:

Scott: Even in the unlikely event that Doom was telling the truth… and the Scarlet Witch was possessed by a force she couldn’t control… It doesn’t change the fact that she destroyed lives. And for that there is no punishment severe enough. But the children were right… there is no justice to be had. Even her death would accomplish nothing. Better she should spend what’s left of her life trying to make up for what she’s done, knowing it will never be enough. Knowing she will never be forgiven. Knowing I will end her myself when it happens again. Because it will happen again.[42]

The Avengers and the X-Men part ways somewhat amicably, as the Witch is allowed to stay with the Avengers and not punished capitally. This of course will not last.

After the Extinction Team’s first mission in which they defeated Sinister and stared down a handful of Celestials, a group of human San Franciscans gather at Golden Gate Park to stare:

Magneto: I suspect the Avengers would get cheers.

Scott: It doesn’t matter. Note what they’re not doing. Throwing bricks. Chanting speciesist slurs. Spitting. Nothing we’re used to. They’ve seen the nine of us walk out and face down space-gods. They’re petrified of us. Good. As long as we exist, no one in this crowd will ever touch a mutant again.[43]

And that’s the real win as far as Scott is concerned. Mutants are a little bit safer, what does it matter that humans fear them a little bit more? They always have anyway.

The last mission the Avengers and the X-Men complete together involves escaped alien criminals running amok all over the world. Midway through, Scott learns Hope is threatened and pulls his Extinction Team from world-saving duty and puts them on Hope-saving duty. The Avengers are left to clean up what’s left of the mess, and only after Hope is secured does Scott allow the Extinction Team to help again. But the Avengers are done, and Captain America is not happy:

Cap: …Scott. I’ve seen your team in action today. You’ve forged something incredible. You should be proud.

Scott: Give me the “but.”

Cap: You’ve said your number one priority was saving the world. You’ve shown today it isn’t.

Magik: That’s unjust—

Scott: Leave it. Take us home.[44]

Scott knows Cap is right. The world is not Scott’s first priority, and it never has been. His first priority has always been mutantkind, and the world’s danger only registers when it threatens mutants as well. And if the choice between saving mutantkind and allowing the world to burn presents itself, we can be pretty sure which way Scott Summers will lean.

*             *             *

From the moment Hope Summers was born, Scott Summers has shown himself to be a man who would do anything to ensure the survival of mutantkind, and the survival of Hope: he believes the two to be one and the same. He would kill to defend, and he would kill pre-emptively to protect. He would put untrained adults and children on the front lines. He would sacrifice any and all individuals for the greater good, whether for a short period of time, or permanently. And you bet your ass he would attempt to harness the power of a cosmic force of death and rebirth:

Magneto: What are you thinking, Scott?

Emma: He is thinking that Hope as the Phoenix might be the game-changer for the mutant people. It could turn the tide.

Namor: How?

Scott: Power. True power to put the world back on track.

Magneto: You’re sounding like me now, Scott.

Scott: What happened to our people was—It was unnatural. 99% of us stripped of our powers. Fewer than 200 of our kind left. We’re an endangered species when we were supposed to be the next step of human evolution. There has to be—There has to be a reason the Phoenix keeps coming back to us. Here. To us. Looking. Looking for something. Why does it keep coming back to us?

Peter: It brings with it death and destruction.

Scott: And rebirth. Always rebirth.[45]

As he has known since she was born, Hope will save the mutant race, and he believes he finally knows how. The Avengers, of course, do not agree:

Cap: We need to take Hope into protective custody.

Scott: Because…?

Cap: The Phoenix Force is coming to Earth and all of our experts feel it is headed towards her.

Scott: Your experts? You mean Wolverine. She’s a mutant. This is a mutant problem. We’ll handle it.

Cap: This isn’t a mutant versus human problem. If she is the Phoenix’s vessel… We need to take care of this.

Scott: One could argue that Phoenix coming here… in the right vessel… is maybe mutantkind’s last, best hope.

Cap: What?

Scott: It’s a force of rebirth, Cap.

Cap: But—

Scott: Maybe the rebirth of my people.

Cap: You’re too close to it, Summers. Logan told me you’d have issues with me coming here. I was hoping you and I could come to an understanding. Man to man, leader to leader… I need you to trust me.

Scott: I’m too close to it? You’re too far away from it. As you always have been. It occurs to me, seeing you standing here, where were you for us? For the mutants? Except now when you need something.

Cap (angry): Respecting you. You want to have this discussion? Fine. But it’ll have to wait for another day. There’s a destructive force headed towards Earth and we have to figure out a way to stop it.

Scott: Respectfully, get the Hell off my island.

Cap: You do understand I wasn’t asking.

Scott: I understood that completely.[46]

Everything that Scott has believed for so long crystallizes into an optic blast at Captain America’s face.  How dare he stand in the way of mutant rebirth? Especially when he has been entirely absent during all the times the X-Men could have really used a hand up. When the Avengers retaliate by invading his sovereign nation of Utopia to kidnap a teenaged girl, how could one not root for Scott Summers?

Once all Hell breaks loose on Utopia, Scott and Cap continue their war of words (while they and their teams punch the snot out of each other):

Cap: I’ve known you a long time, Scott… I’ve never seen you be this foolish before.

Scott: And I’ve never known Captain America to fight on the side of fascism.

Cap: You chose this fight, kid. Not me.

Scott: Right. You just showed up on my doorstep with a floating aircraft carrier and two dozen Avengers.

Cap: I wouldn’t be here if the situation wasn’t grave. You should be able to put your pride aside long enough to see that. Mutant or not, we’re all in danger here. This is the Phoenix we’re talking about, Scott. Think about Jean. Remember what that thing did to her.

Scott: I don’t need you or anyone else to remind me of my dead wife! Or of the power of the Phoenix! Which you apparently know even less about than you do about me and my people! If you really wanted to talk this out, you would’ve come to me first… instead of consulting with the lunatic fringe. (Shoots Logan in the back of the head.)

Cap: What you’re doing here today is endangering the whole world, our people included. That’s all I need to know. End this before someone gets hurt.

Scott: Too late for that.

Cap (after knocking Scott down): I suppose you’re right. I never wanted this, Scott. And neither should you. Tell your people to stand down. Think of Hope. Don’t make us take her by force.[47]

Scott has more knowledge about the Phoenix than anyone on the Avengers, regardless of their scientific doohickeys. Besides both of his redheaded wives, the Phoenix has also possessed his current love Emma Frost, Quentin Quire, and, until very recently, the Stepford Cuckoos, his frontline telepaths, and his daughter Rachel Grey. The Avengers had never been interested in the various Phoenix manifestations before, so why are they so sure it’s going to destroy the world this time? The only thing Scott can think of is that regardless of what they say, the Avengers are really not interested in seeing mutants come back at all:

Cap: Cyclops—Scott—we don’t have much time. You have to stop this. Step away from the girl, Scott. We have to get her out of here. Time to be a leader, son. Don’t fall sway to all this madness.

Scott: Madness? I’m trying to save my race. You’re trying to snuff us all out. None of you understands this thing like I do. None of you knows this girl like me. This was all meant to happen. Hope and the Phoenix are meant to be together… And you can’t stop it![48]

Immediately after this and due to Tony Stark and Henry Pym’s tinkering, the Phoenix splits into five pieces and bonds with Scott, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor, and Magik:

Scott: The gift of the Phoenix was meant for her, not us. You people… did something… to it. And now she… Now we are Phoenix. She needs our help. We will take her home. To heal her. To ready her.

Namor: We shall do its work while she is prepared for what comes next.

Emma: This world can still be saved. Be healed.

Peter: We have much work ahead of us.

Magik: Time to evolve tomorrow itself. Beyond everything you’ve ever imagined.

Cap: You’re talking like lunatics. And the young lady made her decision known. She stays with us. Pyrotechnics and scary voices don’t change that.

Scott: Hah. “Captain America.” We are more than you now. More than human… more than mutant. Our task is more than you can even conceive. As you cannot stop tomorrow, you cannot stop us. Do not even try.[49]

At face value, yeah, this seems crazy town. Instead of containing the Phoenix Force, the Avengers have split it into five separate pieces, and five members of Scott’s Extinction Team are now in possession of them. And they do not destroy the world. They do not wash it in fire. Instead, they create a Pax Utopia across the world. Professor Xavier, missing from the main stage for quite some time, turns up at Utopia proper to telepathically discuss these new changes with Scott:

Scott: Hello, Professor. I know why you’ve come. I can see it in your mind.

Xavier: Then I’m sure you understand my concerns perfectly. The power you’re wielding… it unnerves the world. People are afraid.

Scott: You always told me we should never fear tomorrow, Professor. This is a new day.

Xavier: You don’t need the visor anymore, do you, Scott?

Scott: No.

Xavier: Then why wear it?

Scott: Once, a great man taught me the value of having a singular vision… of seeing the world as it could be. I would never want to lose that, Charles.

Xavier: This is not what I meant.

Scott: I know… It’s something better. Right now, we are remaking the world… Terraforming it into a better place for all living things. Where it was once barren, it blooms. Where there was hunger, there will now be a feast. There will be no more thirst, as any man can drink from our new spring… And energy, there will be energy… boundless, limitless… and free. They will not fear us, Professor… They will thank us.

Xavier: There will still be fallout.

Scott: Of course. Old ways oppose change. Most will bend… Remember what you taught us, Professor. They will change. Mankind will accept the future. I believe that. I always have.

Xavier: I know… but not like this. It’s cheating… It has cost nothing.

Scott: Cost nothing? No, Professor… we have paid a high price for far too long… Now, the real world is molded to our slightest whim. Reality itself… what we want it to be. Don’t you see? The day you longed for has arrived…

Scott (speaking): Here is your dream, Charles… I have given it to you. [50]

Now that he possesses the Phoenix Force, Scott doesn’t need to kill or sacrifice lives for the greater good, whether human or mutant. He and the other Phoenix Five can fix the world with a snap of their fingers, and he starts winning over his detractors, including one of his very first:

Cap: You’ve had a week, I need a plan of action. Give me the best you’ve got.

T’Challa: Our best? Given our current position, do we know doing something is better than doing nothing? And what have they done wrong? Who are we to judge? Have any of us argued Thor is too powerful to be trusted?

Tony: I’ve got a few things—Augmented battle suits and a modified version of the Phoenix-killer weapon. But my concern with the latter remains splintering the force more—further multiplying the problem.

Logan: Too much dancin’ around what’s necessary. What we need is something lethal. That’s our only—

Hank: Enough. What are we doing?                                                                                     

Cap: Planning for the worst.

Logan: Stop pretendin’ you don’t know how this ends, Hank… Everything goes dark.

Hank: Do we know that? As T’Challa said… we’ve seen no evidence of it. Right now, my friends—people I have known my entire life—are remaking this planet into a place that is finally tolerable. A world we can all live in. And I sit here in a room with Earth’s mightiest heroes trying to concoct a plan to stop and possibly kill them. No more, gentlemen. No, thank you.[51]

Later, T’Challa makes a similar case to President Obama (or a reasonable facsimile) as they discuss what to do about the Phoenix Five:

Random Government Guy: It says here that a former SHIELD black station in the Philippines was just occupied and converted into a school by the mutant Karma. We’re talking about a three hundred million dollar facility… The president has a seemingly endless stack of reports just like this.

Cap: I understand your frustration. These are trying times for all of us.

Tony: It’s gotten worse since the X-men declared themselves the—

T’Challa: That isn’t accurate.

Tony: T’Challa, you—

T’Challa: I was there, Anthony. I heard the words as they were being spoken. They didn’t declare themselves anything… They gave the nations an ultimatum.

Scott (flashback): This is the world—and you are its people’s representatives… So hear my words. We have given you water to drink and food to eat. We have given you energy—The very key to modernity. But this is not enough! We can do more… and so we shall. From this day forward, we give you peace and freedom from the aggression that has marked the darkest days of mankind… Go. Build great things, greater than have ever been seen before… But no more weapons… No more machines of death… From this day forward we will no longer tolerate violence towards mutant or man. From this day forward, we declare no more war. Pax Utopia.

POTUS: And do you think they’re capable of backing up their demands?

T’Challa: Perhaps. I do know that for the first time in decades, instead of running from conflict and hunger, refugees are leaving Wakanda and returning north to Ethiopia and Sudan… Certainly these things merit consideration, Mr. President.

POTUS: Of course they do, Your Majesty. Clearly it’s a wonderful thing… God knows we get too used to bloody hands. But this… this is…In spite of all our flaws, I believe in mankind—We have a history of forward progress. But when the world works it is because there has always been some outlying culture of accountability. Right now, these X-men do not have that… and something has to be done.[52]

Unbeknownst to them, a few cracks were starting to show. Scott had been so sure Hope was the savior of mutantkind since her birth, but then this:

Scott: This isn’t a prison, Hope… As I have told you many times since you woke up… If you’re unhappy, you can leave anytime you like.

Hope: I can’t. I want to… but it calls to me.

Scott: It is seductive, the power of life and death… The power to remake worlds… Simply… power, and infinite at that.

Hope: I can hear it.

Scott: Yes, and if I offered it now… would you take it?

Hope: I… I… Yes.

Scott: But you turned it down. It was yours… and you rejected it. And now I know that you don’t deserve it. What would you do with the power, Hope? Would a child have accomplished all this? How could you truly understand what is needed when you have experienced nothing?

Hope: You know I can still hear it… It wants to burn brighter, hotter… Do you really think what you’ve done is enough?

Scott: Of course not. We can accomplish so much more. [53]

This is not Scott speaking. This is the Phoenix Force. Scott wanted Hope to have the power because he knew she would save the mutant race. These cracks are few and far between, at least for Scott (the rest of the Phoenix Five go crazier than a bag of cats). But before Scott has a chance to reflect on what has transpired, the Avengers again invade Utopia and attempt to kidnap Hope. Due to the Scarlet Witch’s interference, they manage to succeed. And Scott is less than pleased:

Scott: Every time, Emma—Every time we get pushed further into a corner… They’ll never stop coming. We have been feared and hunted… We have become endangered… We are so very few. And, still, they keep coming for us. Now, even at our most powerful, even when we do the favor of remaking the Earth into a more livable place, even then… Mankind feels bold enough to send their heroes here to steal our innocent—to take away our tomorrow… I’ve finally figured out why… it’s them. Men know that regardless of their endless sins against mutants, their heroes will protect them. They will do what their leaders think needs to be done. I will tolerate it no longer, Emma. It changes now. No more Avengers.[54]

It can debated whether or not Scott is still in control at this point, but I believe he still is. He doesn’t go out to kill all the Avengers. He merely declares them to be terrorists attempting to subvert all the good the Phoenix Five have accomplished. He sends them out along with the rest of the X-Men to round up the Avengers and jail them only. However, during one of the skirmishes, Emma Frost nearly kills Hawkeye, and Scott reminds them what the mission is: to better the world, not kill Avengers:

Scott: We finally have the power to remake the world in our image. We have to get along to do it… and not kill people that (sic) disagree with us.

Emma: I didn’t kill him and I wasn’t trying to kill him. I got mad, and the power—Look, Hawkeye’s still alive, and we can heal him, so tell me why must I be chastised so?

Namor: I say you should have killed them. You should have killed them all.

Scott: Namor, we’re putting pressure on the Avengers on a global scale, shutting down their operations and capturing key members… how does murder—

Namor: This is war, Summers! Not some kind of gang brawl!

Magik: You didn’t see her, Scott. You didn’t hear her. She actually hurt me and I think she enjoyed it. I don’t believe that fairy tale they’re trying to sell us—I looked at Wanda Maximoff and I saw… I saw evil, Scott. I saw evil that can hurt us all. I think the Phoenix came to us so we could purge that evil from Earth forever.

Scott: You’re wrong, Illyana. Hawkeye will be allowed to heal, then put him in the X-Brig with the rest of the prisoners. This isn’t a war. It’s a rescue mission. Conduct yourselves accordingly.[55]

Namor does not agree:

Namor: This is unacceptable.

Scott: We’re crippling the Avengers, Namor, one broken bone at a time. We’re taking prisoners, shutting down their facilities, and have them on the run. We’re beloved, they’re mistrusted. And not for anything? We’re transforming the planet at a breathtaking rate. We’re winning, Namor. Lighten up. Captain America and the Witch will come in time.

Namor: This! Is not! A game! You might be a fine leader, Summers—but you are a failure as a ruler.

Scott: Mm. Taking it under advisement, Namor.[56]

With his royal arrogance and constant preening, it’s no surprise that Namor was the first to succumb to the Phoenix Force and go insane. Not content with Scott’s pace (and with a little prompting from Emma, who hides it better, but is still a few sandwiches short of a picnic), Namor descends on the nation of Wakanda, where the Avengers are hiding while attempting to egress into K’un L’un. When Scott finds out, he shows he’s still in control of his portion of the Phoenix as he voices his displeasure that someone has gone into the field without his leave:

Magneto: Cyclops, you’re going to want to take a look at this.

Scott: What is Namor doing, Magneto?

Magneto: It would appear… whatever he wants.

Emma: He’s his own mutant, Scott. Always has been.

Scott: What do you know about this, Emma?

Emma: I know that Namor is going to do what Namor is going to do. And if you thought otherwise you were really kidding yourself. Look at the plus side… now you know where the Avengers are.

Magik: She’s got a point.

Scott: Open the Siege Courageous. We’re going to Wakanda. Now![57]

Before they get there, Namor falls, and his portion of the Phoenix Force goes into the remaining four and makes them more powerful. Captain America holds Scott, as leader of the mutantkind, responsible for Namor’s actions. And so does Professor Xavier:

Xavier: How dare you, Scott Summers?! This stops now, Scott! This is madness and this is as far as you go!

Scott: It’s not your call, Charles.

Xavier: All that I taught you, all that I tried to instill in you as an X-man… This is a punishing disappointment!

Scott: Get out of my head, Xavier! You join us or you leave us be! This is not your fight. You forfeited your right to tell me what to do when you—

Xavier: Scott, I’m saying this to you as clearly as I can… Stop this or I will stop you.

Scott: Charles, if you could have, you would have.

Xavier: Scott, I love you. I don’t want to do what you’re going to make me do.

Scott: If you love me, you’ll side with me.

Xavier: Last chance… Stop or I’ll stop you.[58]

Of all the Phoenix Five, Scott was always the one with the most control. He was still Scott Summers, Cyclops, leader of the X-Men and Commander-in-Chief of the nation of Utopia. But as the Phoenix Force grows in him, he loses more and more of his humanity:

Scott: Lovely spot you picked for a meeting, Emma.

Emma: It’s the most inhospitable land I could find. No other minds around for miles. I enjoy… the quiet.

Scott: Why are we here? Since Namor went rogue, everything is on the verge of going to Hell. I need you back at Utopia, with me.

Emma: I could end this all in the blink of an eye, Scott. Since Namor fell, since we received his portion of the power, I’ve been reaching out, touching every mind on the face of the Earth. Including the Avengers. I could reach inside their heads right now and simply turn them off. Just like flicking a switch. I think… I think part of me wants to do it.

Scott: Now you’re sounding like Namor. This isn’t a war. They want to make us look like the bad guys here, but we’re the ones who are changing the world for the better. The Avengers will come around. We won’t give them any other choice. Get it together and come home, Emma, and let’s finish what we started.

Emma: I know where they’re keeping Hope.

Scott: What did you say?

Emma: I’ve been peeking inside so many minds. And some of the thing I’ve found…

Scott: Emma, focus. Where is she? Where’s Hope?

Emma: It sounds made up, but apparently it’s real. It’s called… K’un L’un. (Scott flies off.) Scott, wait, don’t go… I’m worried about… about what I might do next… Please… stop me.[59]

But he doesn’t. He’s becoming more and more detached from his emotions. The Phoenix Force is distilling the entirety of who he is to what he has been fighting for the past couple of years: mutantkind, survival, Hope. After Namor’s rampage in Wakanda, Colossus and Magik take each other out, and pump up Scott and Emma even more. The Avengers abscond to K’un L’un with Hope, and Scott goes after her. Lei Kung the Thunderer (a kung fu master) and Shao Lao the Undying (a dragon) attempt to protect her. Scott wounds Shao Lao the Undying (again, a dragon), and moves in for the kill:

Lei Kung: You would kill a wounded animal? You would hurt a little girl? Where is your honor, Cyclops?

Scott: You’re really siding with them… over your own people, Hope? Why?

Hope: Look at what you’ve done here, Scott. Why would I side with monsters… who destroy innocent people’s lives?

Scott: I’m trying to save our species, girl! If it makes me a monster, then I’ll be a— (Hope shoots Scott with Shao Lao’s flame power).[60]

Time and again Scott has shown he has no compunctions about getting his hands dirty. As the Phoenix Force has amplified his drive, he has no problem becoming a monster. But there are some lines he still won’t cross, not unless he feels he absolutely has to:

Emma: I know what you’re thinking, Scott Summers.

Scott: Stop poking around in my head, Emma. It annoys me.

Emma: I’m not. But I know what you’re thinking: there were five of us. Five Phoenixes. And each of us shared the Phoenix Force. And now there are two. Every one of us that falls, the others gain power. Now it’s just us. It’s just you and me splitting the Phoenix. And you’re thinking: if I could only get the rest of the Phoenix Force from Emma, then I’d be the Phoenix.

Scott: No. But, clearly, that’s what you’re thinking.

Emma: No, darling, to be honest, really honest… I’m thinking that it would be so much easier to burn this world down and start from scratch. And every time I close my eyes…  I see it. I see it so clearly. And I just feel so…

Scott: I see it too.

Emma: We can do it, you know? We have the power to remake the world the way it was always supposed to be. We have the power. If not us, who? This is how things like this are done. He who holds the power…

Scott: Stop it.

Emma: If it was Captain America or Wolverine or Xavier who held this power… we would have already ceased to exist. They would have—

Scott: Stop!

Emma: They would have burned us to the—

Scott: Emma, stop!

Emma: Tell me I’m wrong.

Scott: Get away from me.

Emma: You want to kill me and burn me. And all I’ve ever done… is love you.

Scott: What is wrong with you, Emma?

Emma: I—I don’t know.[61]

Even with half of the Phoenix Force in him, and his partner going loopier and loopier, Scott still holds it together. It’s not about burning his enemies, whether real or perceived; it’s about saving mutantkind. Until his enemies put themselves directly in his path to saving mutantkind:

Xavier: It’s over, Scott. I warned you if you continued down this path I was going to stop you. You need help and I will help you. I will help you in any way I can.

Scott: How dare you, Charles!

Xavier: I’m not here to argue and I’m not here to fight. I’m here to help. Admit you need it and this will all go in a—

Scott: The ego on you. I finally put the world the way it’s supposed to be. I did it. Me. And it kills you.

Xavier: You sit as judge and jury of the human race even though I specifically taught you patience and—

Scott: No! You sat in that chair of yours for years and did nothing! And instead of praising me for my bold vision, instead of thanking me for saving our people… you come here and threaten me? Shame on you.

Xavier: I told you… I’m not going to argue with you. I’m shutting you down.

Scott: You don’t have the power.

Xavier: I do, Scott.

Scott: You’re going to make me do this? You’re going to force my hand against you?!

Xavier: I’m not forcing you to do—

Scott: I’m not going to let you ruin what I’ve created.

Xavier: I’m ashamed of you. You think you know me. You don’t even know that we’re inside your mind. You don’t even know the final battle is already being won.

Scott: What are you—? No!

Xavier: Scott, I love you, and I promise, I will get you help.

Scott: Get out of my head![62]

Granted, it’s the last refuge of the guilty man, blaming others for his actions, but Scott feels he is being given no choice. He was content to just systematically hunt down the Avengers and lock them up until they came to their senses, but then they attack him at his home, along with people he believed were on his side:

Scott: How could you do this to us, Xavier?! You’ve betrayed your people! You’ve betrayed all of us! You’re forcing me to do something I don’t want to do, Charles!

Emma: What is wrong with you mutants? We’re doing this for you![63]

They both strongly believe this to be a betrayal of the foulest kind. They have worked so hard together to make the world a better place for so long, and now that it’s within their grasp, everybody has turned on them:

Xavier: Stay down, Scott! I mean it!

Scott: If you could have stopped me, you would have!

Magneto: Dear Lord.

Scott: Last chance, Charles. Magneto?

Magneto: You don’t want to take it this far, Scott. I brought Xavier here!

Scott: You.

Magneto: Listen to me, Scott—

Scott: What are you talking about?! They’re here to kill us!

Magneto: Scott, listen…

Scott: You of all people. What good are you?[64]

And:

Scott (after Hawkeye shoots him in the throat): You see that Xavier? They’re trying to assassinate us!! This is who you side with!

Bobby: Not us, you! It’s just you everyone is sick of. Damn you, Summers![65]

Until finally, Scott has had enough:

Xavier: We’re done here, Scott. I blame myself. I put you on this path. When you wake, hopefully you won’t have any—

Scott: I told you to get out of my head.

Xavier: AAGGHH!

Cap: Scott Summers, you are under arrest for crimes—

Scott: Shut up.

Storm: Stay down, Scott. I beg you.

Cap: I don’t.

Scott: I’m sorry, Emma.[66]

Scott, with his back to the wall, with the noblest of intentions, feels he no longer has any choice. There is no talking or reasoning with these people, there is no waiting around for them to realize the error of their ways. They only understand one thing: power. Scott forcibly removes the Phoenix Force within Emma and takes all within himself. And there is only one thing left to do:

Xavier: Scott… Look around you. I’m begging you, son, stop this now.

Scott: You are not my father.

Xavier: That is enough!

Scott: It is.[67]

Scott kills Charles Xavier.

There is some ambiguity here about whether or not Scott was still in control when he kills Xavier. Immediately after the killing blow, Scott shows what seems like genuine remorse at an action he feels he had no choice but to take. After killing Xavier, he says, “Why? Why did you make me do this? Why couldn’t you leave it alone?”[68] However, immediately after that, Scott goes full on Dark Phoenix, “I am fire and life incarnate! Now and forever—I am Phoenix!”[69]

From here until his defeat, Scott is no longer in control:

Cap: Avengers! Take him down!

Scott: Take him down? You would have a better chance stopping the sun from rising by throwing pebbles at it. The Phoenix is beyond your power. This world will burn, and from its ashes, a new world will arise. A brave new paradise forged in fire. But not for the likes of you. Prepare to burn, Avenges. The new Age of the Phoenix begins now.[70]

Scott has been completely subsumed by the Phoenix Force and no longer cares about mutant survival. The Phoenix will remake the world and will kill all the X-Men and Avengers to do it.

Except at one point:

Scott (internal narration): All I wanted to do was change the world. To see my children grow up to be something other than time-traveling freedom fighters. To see mutants able to use their powers for more than just fighting killer robots. To usher in an era of peace. And I did. I made miracles. But somewhere along the way… I went off-track. Somewhere…

Scott (out loud): Please… kill me. Before it’s…[71]

But it is too late.

The Phoenix attempts to burn the world while fighting off the combined forces of the Avengers and the X-Men. It’s not until Hope and the Scarlet Witch show up that the Avengers gain some traction. They fight Scott, and forcibly remove the Phoenix power from him. Hope takes it and undoes the damage Scott caused around the world. And then, with the help of the Scarlet Witch, the Phoenix Force is… let’s say “repurposed” (because I’m pretty sure it’ll come back at some point) to undo the effects of M-Day. What does this mean? The X-gene is back, baby. And who was responsible for it coming back? Scott M. Summers (the ‘M’ stands for ‘Motherloving’):

Scott: There’s a point past which I don’t remember much about what happened. And there’s no TV in my ruby quartz prison cell. But I remember enough. I nearly destroyed the world. And I killed Charles Xavier.

Cap: Your list of crimes is rather lengthy, but yes, those are right at the top.

Scott: Xavier was responsible for whatever is the best in me. As for the rest… I take full responsibility.

Cap: I wish your fellow renegade X-men felt the same. At present, there’s still no sign of them. But I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere before too long.

Scott: As I said, I take full responsibility. You should leave them be.

Cap: You’re not in a position to give orders anymore, Summers. Emma Frost and the others will have to answer for themselves. The Phoenix itself is as much to blame as anyone or anything, I get that. But I can’t help your friends if they won’t turn themselves in. I’ll take my share of responsibility for all this as well. Back on Utopia, you were right about one thing: the Avengers should’ve done more to help mutants. I should’ve done more. I allowed the world to hate and fear them for far too long. I won’t make that same mistake again.

Scott: Well then, I guess this begins a new age for the Avengers and X-men both.

Cap: Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare try and turn this into a win! You waged a war that set friend against friend! You played Russian roulette with the planet! You left wounds that will take years to heal, if they ever heal at all. And you killed one of the finest men I’ve ever known. If you consider that a win… I pity you. I really do.

Scott: Last night, out of the blue, a man in cell block B began vomiting acid. It burned his cell door apart. He very nearly escaped. There are new mutants being born, aren’t there? So I was right about the Phoenix. It wasn’t here to destroy us.

Cap: No…

Scott: Change never comes easy. There were always going to be sacrifices. If I could trade places with Professor Xavier, I would, without hesitation.

Cap: If only it was that simple. If only the ends always justified the means. I’d say we’re about done here. Unless there’s something you’d like to add?

Logan: No. I’ve got a eulogy to give. [72]

Scott Summers was right from the beginning. Hope was the savior of mutantkind. The Phoenix Force was not coming to destroy the world. Captain America and his Avengers screwed things up when they tried to take Hope, and when he allowed Tony Stark to attempt destroying the Phoenix Force. Those actions caused the Phoenix to split into five pieces and empower at least four people who didn’t really deserve that power. These actions delayed (and almost derailed) Hope’s ascension and the resurrection of mutantkind. And all because Captain America insisted he knew better.

After thirty-plus pages, I hope I have convinced you not only of my stated thesis that Scott Summers was not portrayed out-of-character in this series, but also of my unstated thesis that he was completely in the right concerning Hope and the Phoenix Force. New mutants are appearing all over the world again, and Scott Summers ensured it by sacrificing his friendships and occasionally his friends, by defeating and sometimes outright killing every threat to mutantkind, by protecting Hope in the present and the future, and by making the hard decisions no one else would.

Scott: That’s the thing about the Phoenix… There always has to be destruction… before the rebirth.[73]

It’s the thing about Scott Summers, too, and I’m sure we’ll see his rebirth in All-New X-Men and the new Uncanny X-Men.

---

[1] David, Peter, and Scot Eaton, X-Factor #26 – Messiah Complex Chapter Seven, (New York: Marvel Comics, Feb 2008)

[2]Brubaker, Ed, and Marc Silvestri, X-Men: Messiah Complex One-Shot – Messiah Complex Chapter One, (New York: Marvel Comics, Dec 2007)

[3] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Clayton Crain, X-Force #1, (New York: Marvel Comics, Apr 2008)

[4] Ibid.

[5] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, Mike Choi, and Sonia Oback, X-Force/Cable: Messiah War One-Shot, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2009)

[6] David, Peter, and Scot Eaton, X-Factor #25 – Messiah Complex Chapter Three, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jan 2008)

[7] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Humberto Ramos, New X-Men #44 – Messiah Complex Chapter Four, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jan 2008)

[8] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Humberto Ramos, New X-Men #46 – Messiah Complex Chapter Twelve, (New York: Marvel Comics, Mar 2008)

[9] Fraction, Matt, Ed Brubaker, and Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men #500, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2008)

[10] Swierczynski, Duane, Michel Lacombe, and Ariel Olivetti, Cable #6, (New York: Marvel Comics, Oct 2008)

[11] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Mike Choi, X-Force #7, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2008)

[12] Ellis, Warren and Simone Bianchi, Astonishing X-Men #26, (New York: Marvel Comics, Oct 2008)

[13] Ellis, Warren and Simone Bianchi, Astonishing X-Men #27, (New York: Marvel Comics, Oct 2008)

[14] Swierczynski, Duane, and Ariel Olivetti, Cable #8, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jan 2009)

[15] Ibid.

[16] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Clayton Crain, X-Force #13, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2009)

[17] Guggenheim, Marc and Rafa Sandoval, Young X-Men #8, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jan 2009)

[18] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Clayton Crain, X-Force #13, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2009)

[19] Ibid.

[20] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, Mike Choi, and Sonia Oback, X-Force/Cable: Messiah War One-Shot, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2009)

[21] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Clayton Crain, Necrosha X One-Shot, (New York: Marvel Comics, Dec 2009)

[22] Fraction, Matt, Mike Deodato, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson, Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2009)

[23] Fraction, Matt, and Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men #515, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2009)

[24] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Bing Cansino, Dark X-Men: The Confession, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2009)

[25] Fraction, Matt, and Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men #516, (New York: Marvel Comics, Dec 2009)

[26] Fraction, Matt, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson, Uncanny X-Men #518, (New York: Marvel Comics, Feb 2010)

[27] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and David Finch, X-Men: Second Coming #1 – Second Coming Chapter One, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2010)

[28] Fraction, Matt, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson, Uncanny X-Men #523 – Second Coming Chapter Two, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2010)

[29] Wells, Zeb and Ibraim Roberson, New Mutants #12 – Second Coming Chapter Three, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2010)

[30] Carey, Mike and Greg Land, X-Men Legacy #235 – Second Coming Chapter Four, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2010)

[31] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Mike Choi, X-Force #27 – Second Coming Chapter Nine, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jul 2010)

[32] Kyle, Craig, Christopher Yost, and Greg Land, X-Men: Second Coming #2 – Second Coming Chapter Fourteen, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2010)

[33] Gischler, Victor and Chris Bachalo, X-Men #7, (New York: Marvel Comics, Mar 2011)

[34] Yost, Christopher, Paco Medina, and Dalabor Talajic, X-Men #15, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2011)

[35] Gillen, Kieron and Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men #541, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2011)

[36] Aaron, Jason and Alan Davis, X-Men: Schism #4, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2011)

[37] Aaron, Jason and Adam Kubert, X-Men: Schism #5, (New York: Marvel Comics, Dec 2011)

[38] Aaron, Jason and Alan Davis, X-Men: Schism #4, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2011)

[39] Gischler, Victor and Paco Medina, X-Men #5 – Curse of the Mutants Chapter Five, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jan 2011)

[40] Gillen, Kieron and Greg Land, Uncanny X-Men #544, (New York: Marvel Comics, Dec 2011)

[41] Heinberg, Allan and Jim Cheung, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #7, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2011)

[42] Heinberg, Allan and Jim Cheung, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #9, (New York: Marvel Comics, May 2012)

[43] Gillen, Kieron, Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz, and Carlos Pacheco, Uncanny X-Men #3, (New York: Marvel Comics, Feb 2012)

[44] Gillen, Kieron, Paco Diaz, and Carlos Pacheco, Uncanny X-Men #10, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2012)

[45] Bends, Brian Michael, and John Romita Jr., Avengers vs. X-Men #1, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2012)

[46] Ibid.

[47] Aaron, Jason, and John Romita Jr., Avengers vs. X-Men #2, (New York: Marvel Comics, Jun 2012)

[48] Fraction, Matt, and John Romita Jr., Avengers vs. X-Men #5, (New York: Marvel Comics, Aug 2012)

[49] Ibid.

[50] Hickman, Jonathan, and Oliver Coipel, Avengers vs. X-Men #6, (New York: Marvel Comics, Aug 2012)

[51] Ibid.

[52] Ibid.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Ibid.

[55] Fraction, Matt, and Oliver Coipel, Avengers vs. X-Men #7, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2012)

[56] Ibid.

[57] Bendis, Brian Michael and Adam Kubert, Avengers vs. X-Men #8, (New York: Marvel Comics, Sep 2012)

[58] Ibid.

[59] Aaron, Jason, and Adam Kubert, Avengers vs. X-Men #9, (New York: Marvel Comics, Oct 2012)

[60] Brubaker, Ed, and Adam Kubert, Avengers vs. X-Men #10, (New York: Marvel Comics, Oct 2012)

[61] Bendis, Brian Michael, and Oliver Coipel, Avengers vs. X-Men #11, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2012)

[62] Ibid.

[63] Ibid.

[64] Ibid.

[65] Ibid.

[66] Ibid.

[67] Ibid.

[68] Ibid.

[69] Ibid.

[70] Bendis, Brian Michael, and Oliver Coipel, Avengers vs. X-Men #12, (New York: Marvel Comics, Nov 2012)

[71] Ibid.

[72] Ibid.

[73] Ibid.