Why & How Did Cyclops Kill Professor X? Explained

The relationship between the X-Men was always special because it was based on teamwork and thriving toward the same goal for the most part. Professor X was the team’s father figure, guiding them through thick and thin. Over the years, he developed a special bond with one of his students, Scott Summers/Cyclops, who was like a son to him. Scott was a team leader on the field and showed respect and loyalty toward Charles, so no one could be prepared to see Cyclops killing Professor X. But that happened, and we’ll explain how in this article.

Cyclops killed Professor X in ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ comics storyline after being possessed by the Phoenix Force. Scott went up against a combined team of Avengers and X-Men, with Professor X trying to make Scott realize that what he was doing was wrong. Cyclops became the Dark Phoenix and used his powers to kill Charles Xavier in a battle. He regretted his actions once the Phoenix Force left his body, but it was too late – his mentor and father figure was gone.

The moment when Scott blasted Professor X and killed him was one of the most shocking moments in this comic storyline. From the moment the Phoenix Force possessed Scott and the other mutants, it was clear that chaos and destruction would follow, but it was unexpected to see the proportions of it. Let’s see how it all went down.

The Phoenix Force returned to Earth and found several mutants as its host

In the ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ comics storyline, the Phoenix Force is set to return to Earth, and the X-Men are aware of that. However, they did not anticipate what would happen once the Force arrived. The Avengers were also on the lookout, aware that it was only a matter of time before the Phoenix Force found a new host again.

The Avengers, led by Steve Rogers, were adamant that the Force would destroy Earth and that one of the remaining mutants, Hope, would be its next vessel. The Avengers wanted to take Hope to a safe place and shield her from the impending danger. However, Cyclops disagreed with that. He was one of the few X-Men that considered the Phoenix Force a way of rebirth and was sure that there had to be a reason why the Phoenix kept returning to Earth. Scott refused to let Hope go with the Avengers, and the confrontation occurred.

Once the Phoenix Force arrived, it inhabited five X-Men: Emma Frost, Namor, Magik, Colossus, and Cyclops. The Force made them extremely strong but also corrupted them and made them power-hungry. The Avengers stopped three hosts of the Phoenix Force, but they did not achieve much by that as the force just transferred to the two remaining hosts- Cyclops and Emma.

Cyclops was extremely powerful as he even ripped apart dimensions to find Emma and take her from the Avengers. However, she was also at the peak of her powers and punched Cyclops to the moon. Both of them eventually ended up in Utopia, X-Men’s floating home. As things seemed to get worse and worse, Charles Xavier was considered the only person who could stop all that.

Cyclops became the Dark Phoenix and killed Charles Xavier

Charles Xavier started to gather as many allies as possible for the upcoming clash against Scott. In the meantime, Emma and Scott had the Phoenix Force running through them, making them want to burn the whole world and give it a fresh start. The X-Men and the Avengers confronted Emma and Scott, and the goal was to keep the fight focused long enough so Charles could get inside Scott’s head.

Cyclops was outnumbered but managed to counterattack his opponents rather well. However, he still shared the Phoenix Force with Emma, so to make himself even stronger, he decided to attack Emma and take all the Force to become the sole Phoenix. He did that, and his power enhanced alongside his rage.

Charles begged Cyclops to stop with all the madness, to look around and see what all the chaos he was creating was. But Scott did not care- he used his powers and blasted Charles with them. Professor X was dead on the spot, and Scott became the Dark Phoenix. Tears poured down his face, but he finally understood how Jean felt with all that power stored in her.

After that, the Avengers continued fighting Dark Phoenix, but his power grew. Scott wanted the world to burn down in ashes to be rebuilt again. It was only by the combined force of Wanda Maximoff and Hope Summers that they managed to overpower him. Eventually, Cyclops was defeated, and the Phoenix Force left his body.

Scott was then taken to prison to face all the things he did. He almost destroyed the world and killed Charles, the one person who always saw the best in him and considered him a son. Cyclops regretted what he did and was willing to trade places with Professor X without hesitation. But, of course, that was impossible. Cyclops was right about one thing – the Phoenix Force did not return to Earth to destroy it but to give birth to new mutants as the species faced near extinction.

The thing about the Phoenix Force is that it always comes in combination with destruction, and Scott proved to be ill-equipped to handle that kind of power.

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