Marvel's Cyclops and Rogue Rivalry Is the Perfect X-Men Showdown

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for ALL ongoing X-Men series.

Since the fall of Krakoa, the X-Men they were left torn apart and scattered across the country, with no clear chain of command to lead the fragmented team. Without Charles Xavier or Magneto to guide them, a new era of mutant leadership had to rise from the ashes. However, the two most prominent factions, led by Cyclops and Rogue respectively, will soon come into conflict, leading to a highly exciting crossover event.

As announced by Marvelfrom the beginning of 2025, The X-Men are facing their first major crossover since the start of the franchise's new era.

The mysterious X-Men #11 (2025)
Release date:	March 3, 2025
Writer:	Gail Simone
Artist:	Javier Garrón
Cover artist:	David Marquez
X-MANHUNT PART ONE! At the end of the Orchis War, Charles Xavier surrendered to the authorities and allowed himself to be imprisoned in Graymalkin Prison! But now something has spurred him to action, to escape from incarceration and embark on a mad dash across the country! What made Professor X run away? And will his diverse students move to protect him, recapture him, or kill him? The answer, of course, is all of the above. In this opening chapter, Rogue and her team of X-Men are forced to ally with their worst enemy to betray their most trusted friend!

In the shadow left by Charles Xavier, heroes like Cyclops, Rogue, Storm and Forge had to build their own teams and face the challenge that Xavier left behind. However,

Xavier also left a tarnished legacy
defined by atrocity and deceit, and not everyone agrees on how to deal with it. Soon, things will only get worse when Xavier escapes from prison and the “X-Manhunt” begins.

After years as a guide, Charles Xavier destroyed the X-Men in the end

Leaving your children of the atom to pick up the pieces

Since the fall of Krakoa, Marvel Comics has intentionally kept the X-Men's previous allies divided. Partially to make up for what many felt the Krakoa era failed to do, the seven subsequent X-Men series were kept isolated to preserve more continuous stories with smaller casts of characters. Although some series like NYX and

Exceptional X-Men
kept the stakes relatively low, taking time to introduce slower-paced intimate narratives,

the mysterious X-Men
and the primary X-Men the series are building towards something bigger. At the center of both series is the once-beloved leader turned war criminal, Charles Xavier.

After Charles alone made several bold decisions, each failing and costing thousands of lives each time, his final plot to work alongside Orchis to ensure Enigma's defeat felt like a final blow.

betrayal of many of the X-Men
. Over and over again, Xavier turned not only the world but also his family into pawns to save the existence of a greater threat. For some, like Cyclops, this was a necessary evil that only the strongest minds could conceive of and see through. To others, like Rogue, Xavier was a monster who used his children as cannon fodder while keeping them clueless.

A new era for the X-Men means new conflicts, arising from the consequences of Professor X's actions

Can Charles Xavier be forgiven?

At the end of it all, readers were left with two polarized sides in a new ideological war. Before, it was a question of whether or not mutants and humans should coexist. Now, it's a question of tolerating or condemning people like Charles Xavier. When considering which of Xavier's children would lead these opposing factions, Cyclops and Rogue could not have been better choices. The two come from different generations of X-Men, but both have served on both sides of the ancient battles between

Xavier's philosophy and Magneto's
. They care for their X-Men, but in different ways.

Scott Summers was one of Xavier's first students. More than a student, Scott was one of Xavier's first children and first weapons. There was always this side talk about if it was ever right for Charles to literally put children at risk to fight his dogmatic wars with Magneto. Taking sons into a world that hated them, Charles raised soldiers. However, the world has only gotten harder for mutants, and when faced with threats as metaphysical as Enigma, there are no good decisions. From his parents' point of view, Charles is bad. From a general's point of view, he was right.

Cyclops and Rogue's X-Men teams represent different halves of Xavier's dream

Both sides are willing to sacrifice for different reasons

Clearly, fans can tell which position each leader chose. It exists not just in your conversations, but in your actions. Cyclops' Alaskan X-Men are a tactical and militant team. They are all, including the youngest members, battle-hardened veterans who have seen the necessary costs of mutant existence. Scott is a routine and relatively professional leader, keeping his operations clinically controlled.

Cyclops evaluates all possible decisions
with all possibilities, playing a broader game of tactics. His goal is still Xavier's, to see a world where mutants and humans can coexist peacefully.but he will make tough decisions to do so.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana X-Men couldn't be more different. Rogue regrets being turned into a soldier as a child. She appreciates her strength, but despises what she had to go through to achieve it and certainly wouldn't wish that on anyone else. While her old home has been turned into a prison, she is trying to build a new home where scared mutant children can live in peace. Rogue's team is familiar; Although there are bigger goals, no mutant is left behind. His goal is still Xavier's, but never at the cost of someone else's life.

Cyclops and Rogue became more interesting rivals than Xavier and Magneto

Will the new generation of leaders make the same mistakes?

X-Manhunt Omega #1 (2025)
Release date:	March 26, 2025
Writer:	Gail Simone and Murewa Ayodele
Artist:	Gleb Melnikov
Cover artist:	Gleb Melnikov
X-MANHUNT FINAL! X-MANHUNT ends when Professor X reaches his destination, and his various pursuers, friends and enemies, catch up with him! Allegiances will be tested in battle, the blades of betrayal will cut deep with poisoned tips, and when the dust finally settles, Charles Xavier will have to make a tectonic choice with the fate of all mutants hanging in the balance. The world is about to change. This time, everyone is wide awake.

The X-Men are facing a civil war
and, frankly, it will take a long time. Charles Xavier's oft-repeated dream is a two-part affair. It's not just about fighting for peaceful coexistence, it's about deciding the means to do so. Cyclops can take everything Xavier did and justify it, radicalized to believe that the ends justify the means. Rogue is horrified by her mentor's legacy, openly condemning his deceit and casual dismissal of life as a means to an end. Xavier's two children grew up hanging on every word. However, the lessons they learned from this could not be more different.

With another

current mutant leaders like Storm
or Kate Pryde, it wasn't immediately clear whether Cyclops and Rogue would be the “Charles and Magneto” of the modern era. However, after looking back, perhaps it would be wrong to think otherwise. Just like Xavier and Magneto, both Cyclops and Rogue are right. Both are supportive leaders, each approaching mutant rights with understandable motivations. They were both children who needed a home and mutants who were ready to fight. Taking away their heroic nicknames, Scott and Anna Marie were raised as brothers, cared for and armed by the same man.

This is not just a war over ideology, It's a war to keep the family together. Charles Xavier broke through time, space, and the trust of Krakoa to continually pursue his greatest dream. He deserves to be punished for his crimes; Even he admits it. But when Charles decides to end his sentence prematurely, the question is whether it's the right decision to protect him or turn him in. X-Men will face a civil war to decide which philosophy is strong enough to prevail.

Source: marvel.com