Marvel Officially Unveils Phoenix's Replacement

Published Oct 10, 2026, 12:15 AM EDT

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Cyclops is one of the most iconic characters in all of comics. Love him or hate him, Scott has legions of fans and detractors, and that's because they know his name and have seen countless exploits with him as the leader of the X-Men. He's also appeared in multiple feature films, so he's a household name beyond the confines of comics.

Now, fans are preparing to see him in a familiar light, but completely different from the character's previous version. Following an official reveal on YouTube, it's clear how Marvel intends to handle the next iteration of the Phoenix Force.

Phoenix Cyclops Returns

Dropping on November 2 as part of the first season pass for Marvel Tokon, Phoenix Cyclops is arriving as a Season 1 DLC character. Originally appearing in 1976, the Phoenix storyline has grown quite a bit. While the Phoenix storyline originally focused on Jean Grey, it spanned the Marvel universe. There's even a group called the "Phoenix Five," made up of Cyclops, Colossus, Emma Frost, Magik, and Namor, who use the power of the Phoenix Force.

Cyclops, in particular, was possessed by it after Iron Man split it, and although he tried to craft a mutant Utopia, multiple factions took him on, slowly stripping him of his Phoenix allies. Eventually, he became the last surviving member, and took the power of the Dark Phoenix for himself. In other words, this is a souped-up Cyclops, and it shows in the new footage.

Here's what game director Kazuto Sekine had to say about why the team went with this iteration of the character when speaking to ComicBook: "Cyclops is a character that we definitely wanted to be sure to include in the game...However, we wanted to challenge ourselves to do something new. That’s when the idea came up of using the version of Cyclops from the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline where he has the power of the Phoenix. From a gameplay perspective as well, I felt that designing him for battle we would be able to include these Phoenix elements in addition to the standard Cyclops abilities to [give him] that variety in his gameplay."

Voice duties are handled by Ray Chase, who played the character already in X-Men '97. He'll also sport his signature blue-and-yellow X-Men outfit, so don't worry if you think this is just going to be a full-on Phoenix Cyclops skin. On paper, everything looks good, as Phoenix Cyclops has the flash and panache of a DLC character.

It'll really depend on balance, and how fun he is to play. Arc System Works has a lengthy history with tons of DLC as well, so this isn't the last DLC character that's coming, since "Season 1" implies multiple years of content.

There's More DLC On The Way

It's a gamble that has somewhat paid off, as many fans are noticing this is a different Cyclops than some are used to, though others wonder whether this version will be enough to draw people to the game.

That said, it's unclear what state Marvel Tokon is in. Can it make it for the long haul? Based on some estimations, it's not lighting the world on fire, but that could change by the time Phoenix Cyclops is out.