The X-Men have had many ferocious fights, and a new cosplay has brought one such battle to life as Wolverine and Cyclops face off against Russia’s most dangerous mutant. Sporting snazzy blue costumes, Scott Summers and Logan are in perfect sync in this cosplay, a far cry from their oft-tumultuous time as rivals, both romantically and politically. Their shared history is one of the deepest bonds in the X-Men, which imbues cosplays like this with all the more meaning.
Several cosplayers have teamed up to bring an X-Men battle to life as Cyclops and Wolverine face off against Omega Red. Demetrius Holt (@hellspawned_cosplay) shared the cosplay on Instagram and stars as Cyclops, alongside Mike Washington (@mikedastardly87) as Wolverine and Robert Paul Day (@heroes_4_hire_costumes) as Omega Red. The photos were taken by Alexandre Abdoulaev (@comrade.america).
Holt also posted a clip from a longer choreographed video directed by TPJ (@blackcaptkirk) with visual effects by Blakk Viking (@psycho_image_films).
These costumes are a mix of designs. Omega Red is sporting a pitch-perfect version of his classic Jim Lee look, while both Cyclops, but more notably Wolverine, are in shades of blue.
This Cosplay Comes With Its own Story
Holt’s post also includes a fun synopsis setting up why this fight is occurring. As they explain, Logan’s clone Laura Kinney aka X-23, who is also Wolverine in her own right, has gone missing, leading Scott and Logan to Moscow where they’re jumped by Omega Red. The synopsis also hints at Mr Sinister’s involvement, potentially teasing that another cosplayer could easily show up to play the ostentatious villain. Whether TPJ’s full video ties into this story or it’s just an excuse for an awesome beat-em-up fight, it’s great regardless, and a stunning use of effects to enhance a cosplay.
The use of color in this cosplay is fascinating. Cyclops has been traditionally associated with blue, with his most famous costume, Jim Lee’s design for X-Men vol 2, being a primarily blue bodysuit. Meanwhile, Logan has opted for either yellow or shades of tan, brown and black. This cosplay puts Logan in a color-swapped version of his famous yellow costume to match Cyclops’ blue jacket, explicitly tying the two X-Men together. It’s not only an unexpected visual, but also a sign of camaraderie between the two, who’ve had a rocky relationship for decades.
Cyclops And Wolverine Have A Long, Long History
The evolution of Cyclops and Wolverine’s relationship is one of the most fascinating ongoing arcs in X-Men history. When they first met, all the way back in 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1 there was already obvious tension between the two. Cyclops was the strait-laced and repressed X-Men leader who’d been with Professor X and the team for years, while Wolverine was an arrogant loner who played by his own rules. The rivalry between the two solidified when Logan’s attraction towards Jean Grey, Cyclops’ romantic partner at the time, was established as a further sticking point between the two.
This dynamic became more central to the X-Men comics in the 1990s and early 2000s after Jean’s return to the X-Men, with X-Men: The Animated Series and the later X-Men live action films solidifying this love triangle in wider pop culture for good. However, this relationship drama is only half of the reason that Scott and Logan don’t always get along. The 2010s in particular saw a shift in the characters’ respective philosophies after the infamous Decimation, where the number of Mutants worldwide was reduced to just under 200 by the Scarlet Witch’s magic.
Wolverine And Cyclops Disagree On The Big Picture For Mutants
In the crossover Messiah Complex, the two established a new X-Force, a black-ops team with no compunction about killing. Logan objected to Scott adding X-23 to the team, and began to disagree more broadly on how Cyclops was militarizing the younger remaining mutants. Scott, however, argued that with things more dangerous than ever, it was unrealistic to not train these children to fight. This disagreement quite literally split the X-Men in two for several years, with half the team staying in San Francisco with Cyclops, and half relocating to a new X-Men school with Logan.
This split is essentially a reversal of what fans might have expected of the two heroes, with Logan advocating for a less violent route. This shift is a testament to his and Scott’s evolution. Over the decades, Logan has mentored and formed paternal bonds with numerous younger mutants, from Kitty Pryde to Jubilee. Wolverine might be a killer, but that only fuels his desire to prevent anyone else ending up like him. Meanwhile, Cyclops has been continually disillusioned and beaten down. He once believed in Professor X’s hope of peaceful coexistence, but the human world hasn’t exactly reciprocated Xavier’s stance.
Opposites Attract In The X-Men
In recent years, Scott and Logan’s relationship has taken on an even-more-unexpected dimension. As with so many angsty male characters in a love triangle over the same woman, Cyclops and Logan have been a common pairing for gay slash fiction for decades. Now, in the Krakoan era, this once-unlikely relationship has now been all-but-confirmed. In X-Men (2019) #1, readers see the floor plan of the Summers’ house on the moon. This plan shows that the rooms belonging to Scott, Jean, and Logan all connect, which, when combined with their on-page flirting, suggests the three are in a polyamorous relationship.
Funnily enough, there’s also been homoerotic subtext between Logan and Omega Red during the Krakoan era. In X Lives of Wolverine #2, Red jumps between different time periods, possessing and physically transforming Logan’s wife Itsu during, or just after, an intimate moment. This moment of Logan and Red ending up in bed together is a fun tacit acknowledgment of how the uber-masculine physiques and attitudes of ‘90s comics characters have an intense homoeroticism, even if the creators of the time didn’t realize it. It is, however, still no more than another hint at Logan being queer.
The problem with Scott and Logan’s aforementioned sexual or romantic relationship is that its very existence is never stated out loud on the page, only hinted at. Actually saying that Cyclops and Logan are queer characters is apparently a step too far for Disney and Marvel, who’ve been painfully conservative around their major characters’ depictions for years, despite the best efforts of so many writers. Hopefully, if the popularity of Krakoan era shows anything, it’s that there’s so much more room in the X-Men for queer characters, even mainstays like Wolverine and Cyclops.
Sources: Demetrius Holt via Instagram (1, 2)
