Is Cyclops A Cop? The Heated Argument Over Marvel's X-Men Leader, Explained
People who have spent any time in the X-Men corners of social media may be familiar with the "Cyclops is a cop" meme. It attests that the mutant field leader is ... well, not a police officer, per se, but a boring character that's too law-abiding and straight-laced for his own good. As its detractors tend to quickly point out, the claim is also patently false.
Yes, the untold truth of Cyclops features struggles with power, family drama, and leading his troops to victory — all properties one might associate with a detective or military character archetype. However, his actual actions are the opposite of "cop." The teams he leads are illegal vigilante groups that dedicate themselves to minority issues — that is, mutant rights and survival — as much as they do to fighting supervillains.
Cyclops' entire backstory is full of behavior that qualifies him as arguably the most extremist X-Man out there, from purposefully sheltering a carrier of the deadly Phoenix Force to outright mutant rights rebellion and martyrdom. At one point, he effectively rules over the island base of Utopia, leading the X-Men to a conflict against the real "cops" of the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline — the Avengers. Yes, Scott Summers might wear blue and find himself at the forefront of most mutant-themed conflicts — but if you look at his actions as a whole, he's far more likely to find himself on trial than side with the authorities.
Cyclops' rivalry with Wolverine may have contributed to his cop reputation
So, why does Cyclops get a bad rap in some fans' eyes? One possible explanation is that he ended up on the wrong side of the contest against one of the Marvel universe's most famous characters — Wolverine.
Wolverine and Cyclops have been rivals for various personal, ethical, and situational reasons for roughly as long as they've known each other. Since Wolverine is easily more popular and more of a mysterious wild card, this makes Cyclops the more boring, law-abiding character by default. It doesn't help that Wolverine's entire movie story hijacks nearly every X-Men film he appears in, infamously pushing James Marsden's Cyclops so far to the sidelines that the character is unceremoniously killed off in "X-Men: The Last Stand."
Because of their history of animosity and Cyclops' tendency to be portrayed as a stick in the mud compared to Wolverine, it's ironic that Cyclops is the one whose past is full of extremism, disrupting the status quo, and being arrested for his status and beliefs. Meanwhile, Wolverine has been with the Man since the very beginning, albeit not always voluntarily. His origin story ties him to a top-secret government project, he's a card-carrying member of the Avengers, and he even worked for the CIA at one point. How's that for a cop?