‘X-Men ’97’: Summers-Grey Family Tree, Explained

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for X-Men ’97.

With X-Men ’97, Marvel’s favorite mutants have found a new lease on life. The X-Men: The Animated Series revival has pushed these heroes back into the limelight where they belong, just in time for the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine. Restoring one of the most classic iterations of the team to their prime, we can’t help but be ecstatic at the idea of more X-Men stories going forward. But with the revelation that Jean Grey isn’t really Jean, and the recent appearance of newcomer Vulcan, there are a lot of questions surrounding the familial connections between two of our favorite Marvel lovers: Cyclops and Marvel Girl/Phoenix. Yes, Scott Summers and Jean Grey have an expansive family history, but rather than surfing through the pages of the vast catalog of X-Men comics, we’re here to help you navigate what we know.

Scott Summers and Jean Grey Are the X-Men’s Power Couple

As two of the original X-Men, both Scott Summers and Jean Grey spent some considerable time together in their youth. Along with Beast, Iceman, and Angel, the pair were tutored by Charles Xavier and taught to best control their powers. Professor Xavier became more of a father figure than a simple teacher for both of them, and the rest of the X-Men became their family. As time went on and the team evolved and changed, Scott and Jean grew closer. But this is where X-Men: The Animated Series deviates from the traditional Marvel Comics, in which they’ve been romantically entangled since they were teenagers. In the Season 1 episode “Captive Hearts,” the two went on a date, much to the dismay of Wolverine. In fact, the love triangle popularized by the live-action X-Men films was ripped directly from the Marvel Comics, and the animated series did the same, even if it took a different route. Unsurprisingly, Scott wins out over Logan, and Jean marries him in the Season 2 two-parter, “Till Death Do Us Part.”

But it would take much more than just death to separate these two for good. After Jean became the Phoenix, X-Men adapted the infamous “Dark Phoenix Saga” to the screen, proving that it’s a story best framed for animation rather than live-action. Even after Jean sacrifices herself (though she survives the ordeal), Scott stands by her side and the two continue to fight alongside the X-Men even after Professor X’s death at the end of the original series. Of course, the revelation that the Jean we meet at the beginning of X-Men ’97 is a clone makes this a bit complicated, especially since it’s unclear exactly when Mister Sinister switched out the original for the fake. Nonetheless, we know that Scott and Jean have endured more than most, and they’re stronger because of it.

Scott Summers Has a Complicated Family History in ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’

As for Cyke’s family life, well, that’s a bit complicated too. We don’t know a ton of details about Cyclops’ upbringing from before X-Men: The Animated Series, aside from being sent to an orphanage for a time, where he befriended a girl named Sarah, but we eventually learn in the X-Men episode “Orphan’s End” that the Starjammer outlaw Corsair is actually his father. Back when he was just Christopher Summers, Corsair sent his two sons away when he was attacked by the Shi’ar. His wife, Scott’s mother, eventually died, and so Corsair traveled the stars, unbeknownst what happened to his children. That’s right, Corsair has two sons, not just one. The other is X-Factor member Alex Summers aka Havok, though X-Men: The Animated Series doesn’t actually reveal this at any point during its five-season run.

In the comics, Cyclops and Havok are brothers, with Scott being the older of the two (despite what the live-action films would have you believe). Although the show doesn’t confirm that fact, there are nods to this being the case in the animated series as well. For instance, Scott and Alex’s powers don’t work on one another (seen in Season 3’s “Cold Comfort”). While this doesn’t seem like much on the surface, it’s actually a sure sign that they’re siblings, as per what we see of Banshee and his younger brother Black Tom Cassidy (who is his cousin in the comics) in the original series episode “Cry of the Banshee.” While we have yet to see Havok return in X-Men ’97, if he does, we should expect the brotherly connection between Scott and Alex to be confirmed. But in X-Men ’97, it’s revealed that there’s another member of the Summers family out there among the stars.

In “Lifedeath — Part 2,” we see the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, and among them is a new character named Vulcan, who only appears in a cameo. While the show hasn’t revealed whether Vulcan is actually Gabriel Summers (aka Cyclops’ second brother), we can only assume that this is the case based on the original Marvel Comics lore. In the comic series, X-Men: Deadly Genesis, we learn that Corsair and his wife, Katherine, were taken by the Shi’ar when Scott’s mother was still pregnant with Gabriel. While his mother was killed, Shi’ar scientists experimented on Vulcan — whose energy projection powers are similar to his brothers, albeit stronger than both — until he eventually escaped, made it back to Earth, and encountered Charles Xavier. He was soon sent to die with a secret second team of X-Men before the professor wiped Scott’s memories of his brother’s existence. Yeah, it’s messed up, but it would be a fascinating addition to the already intense X-Men ’97.

Madelyne Pryor Complicates Jean Grey’s Story Even More

Unlike her husband, Jean Grey doesn’t have as much family drama. The daughter of John and Elaine Grey, Jean was introduced to Charles Xavier when she was very young, and he taught her how to use her telepathic and telekinetic powers. Unbeknownst to most, Jean has a sister named Sara Grey (traditionally Jean’s older sister), but unlike our favorite mutant heroine, she doesn’t have any superpowers at her disposal. We only see Sara briefly during the third part of the “Dark Phoenix” Saga, as the X-Men guard her and her parents from her sister when possessed by the Phoenix Force.

But the strangest and most challenging development in the animated X-Men franchise is the introduction of Jean Grey’s clone, who goes by Madelyne Pryor. At some undisclosed time, Mister Sinister swapped the real Jean Grey out for a fake one, complete with the real Jean’s memories and plenty of love for Scott Summers to go around. In the comics, Madelyne is Scott’s first wife. Because we don’t know exactly when Madelyne entered into the X-Mansion in Jean’s place, it’s unclear how much of the original X-Men: The Animated Series featured the clone or the original. Since Jean and Madelyne both retain the same memories (at least, of everything up until X-Men ’97), it’s unclear how much of her and Scott’s history together is actually Jean’s.

Cable Is the Child of Cyclops and Jean Grey, Sort of

How X-Men ’97 will continue to balance both Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor, and Scott’s complicated relationship with both, remains to be seen. Even with Madelyne having been vaporized by the new Master Mold in “Remember It,” there are still questions about her existence in need of answering. But the one thing we do know is that their children will factor heavily into that future. Considering the route that X-Men ’97 is going, it’s probably important for us to reflect on the different children born of Scott Summer and Jean Grey — or their respective clones. When the revival series began, we saw that Scott and Jean (aka Madelyne) were expecting their first child. When that baby boy is finally born, they name him Nathan Charles Summers. But this happiness only lasts until the original Jean Grey, and Mister Sinister, walk through the door.

While abducted by Sinister, Nathan was infected with a techno-organic virus that threatened to take his life. As a result, Cyclops and Madelyne had to make the impossible choice of sending their baby boy into the future with Bishop to be saved, who could only take the two of them through time. Because of his own family history, having been abandoned by his father, Corsair, Scott wanted nothing to do with sending Nathan to the future, but Madelyne was sure to send her boy with a psychic message to remember his parent’s love. Who is this boy? Well, X-Men ’97 reveals what longtime Marvel Comics fans already knew, that Nathan Summers would grow up to become Cable. Madelyne discovers this truth before her death, and Cyclops and Jean have just learned the truth in the episode “Bright Eyes” after knowing the mutant mercenary for years.

Cable first appeared in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode “Slave Island,” but wouldn’t be revealed as a time-traveler until later on. As the leader of the X-Force and Clan Chosen, Cable is a vital character in the X-Men world and a constant adversary of the villainous Apocalypse. Cable also fathered a son named Tyler in the original animated series, making Scott and Jean (or, Madelyne in this case) technically grandparents. Cable’s popularity has only increased over the years, with Josh Brolin featured as a live-action version in Deadpool 2.

Scott and Jean Have Multiple Children Throughout Marvel Comics’ History

But Cable isn’t the only offspring of Scott Summers and Jean Grey to hail from the future. Though not explicitly stated to be Scott and Jean’s daughter, the character of Rachel Summers aka Hound unmistakably appears in the original animated series four-parter “Beyond Good and Evil,” which was originally meant to be the show’s series finale before the fifth season was put into production. Hailing from Cable’s Age of Apocalypse future, we don’t know much about Rachel other than that she was saved by the X-Men and possesses telepathic powers, like her mother. Though, in clear step with the rest of the animated series, we don’t even get the confirmation that Rachel and the Summers duo are related. Instead, we’re left to infer this based on our knowledge of the original Marvel Comics, where Rachel actually comes from the Days of Future Past future rather than the Age of Apocalypse timeline. In the comics, Rachel becomes an X-Man and fights alongside her parents on multiple occasions.

Of course, if we were to dive into the original Marvel 616 timeline, there are plenty of other relations to Cyclops and Jean Grey worth exploring. Nate Grey aka X-Man is another version of the Nathan Summers character created by Mister Sinister in the Age of Apocalypse timeline, but with more god-like abilities. Hope Summers is the adopted daughter of Cable following a worldwide catastrophe regarding mutant abilities called M-Day. Stryfe is a Cable-clone raised by Apocalypse to be his ultimate evil heir (he created the infamous Legacy Virus), and Scott even has another half-brother named Adam-X, born from the DNA of a Shi’ar royal and Katherine Summers, but that’s a whole other thing. There have been plenty of others out there who, through alternate timelines and universes, are related to this pair, but these are the most vital to remember as X-Men: The Animated Series continues through X-Men ’97.

X-Men ’97 is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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