There has always been a bit of confusion among X-Men fans, and even some comic writers, as to the nature of Cyclops’ power, and whether or not it is deadly. Scott Summers’ optic blasts have long been shown to knock opponents aside with concussive force, but in New X-Men #115 it is conclusively proven that they can also kill. Unfortunately, this major canon revelation comes with some horrifying implications.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Cyclops has had his powers retconned more than once over the years. In fact, in The X-Men #1 they were just vaguely described as “energy rays,” but in general Cyclops has the ability to fire a concussive blast from his eyes. These beams can be focused through a combination of Scott’s own eye control and a dial on his costume’s visor. It’s important to note that his blasts are not lasers or heat beams, like Superman. They are a focused wave of pure kinetic energy. They have no heat, but they have been shown to have enough destructive force to destroy a Sentinel or even punch a hole in a mountain. Iron Man once measured the full force of Cyclops’ optic blast to be equal to two gigawatts of energy. That makes Cyke one of the X-Men’s biggest cannons, even if he doesn’t always use his power to its fullest.
Scott’s reluctance to use his power to kill has added to the confusion surrounding how deadly he actually can be. When his powers are portrayed they are mostly shown to knock people aside, even heavy hitters like the Blob, but that usually results in his target being stunned or rendered unconscious. This has led to questions about the true lethality of Scott Summers, but New X-Men #115 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely conclusively gives an answer: Yes, Cyclops’ power can kill. Proving why he is the greatest living superhero, Scott uses his optic blasts to end the suffering of an unfortunate mutant named Ugly John. After the innocent and powerless man is tortured near to death by Cassandra Nova, and the X-Men’s leader feels it is his obligation to mercifully end his pain. This is a true heroic act, but it is also one of the first occasions where canonical evidence is given that Cyclops can kill with his eye-beams. The obvious takeaway is that Scott has always been able to use his powers to a lethal degree, but has typically chosen to not resort to killing if he can avoid it. He makes this choice because he is a hero, but also maybe because doing so would simply be too gruesome to witness.
While Superman’s heat vision can burn two neat holes in someone’s head, Cyclops would literally need to take someone’s head clean off in order to kill them. In the instance with Ugly John, Scott would need to blast him with enough force to tear him apart, and in a panel in New X-Men #115, readers do see a headless body hanging behind Scott as he walks away. It can be inferred that Ugly John’s head is slumped down, but given what is known about the X-Men’s leader’s power ,it is more likely that the head is simply missing. Far from two neat heat vision holes, when Scott chooses to kill it gets messy.
The truth is that sometimes Marvel doesn’t even understand how the optic blast works. In The X-Men #2, even Stan Lee and Jack Kirby has Scott use his power to melt ice, but that’s not how his power has been generally represented. The optic blast is a gigawatt punch, not a melting heat ray. Regardless, X-Men comics have confirmed the lethality of Cyclops’ concussive energy, and it is beyond brutal.
