After years of Cyclops being #1 to this I say . . . so what?
The show is about role reversals, and this only reinforces that. I think the latest trailer for the rest of the series would prove to you that Cyclops has an important role to play Dread.
I haven't watched those trailers. From glances at TV.com to some various peeking I already know more than I should about the remaining episodes and I like to be surprised.
By "years of Cyclops being #1" I presume you mean X-MEN EVOLUTION when he was the male lead for at least the first three seasons and much of the 4th from 2000-2003. You have a point there.
I disagree about the role reversal, though. While that was probably the intention at the production phase, that is not what has been depicted. When Logan was being the loner rebel, he was awesome. He was the guy who was rubbing everyone the wrong way, and unapologetic about it. When he thought the leader or mentor figures were being hypocrites, or making a poor decision, or were out of line, he never hesitated to speak his opinion, bluntly and powerfully. When Logan goes on his loner quests, he almost never had to be bailed out by the rest of the X-Men and forced to apologize. In fact, Wolverine usually always settled his loner quests by himself by pluck or sometimes even luck. He would even resent how the mentor would backrub the "teachers pet" while he did what he saw as the dirty work sometimes. Despite being the loner/rebel, Logan always had a mind for tactics and was unashamed to say when he thought a plan was dumb. And even when Logan disagreed with his leader, he would always go to hell and back for the team, even when it seemed hopeless. Mere heartbreak wouldn't stop him.
Have the roles really been reversed? Sure, Logan is the leader now, the one who has to think about what is good for the team, the bigger picture, being selfless and is the one getting the floating head's praises now. But has Cyclops' role as the "loner rebel" really been there? He barely says anything. When he does, it always is to the point to showcase how inefficient and ineffective he is at any strategy or basic leadership tactic. Without the seemingly perfect girlfriend or the floating head mentor, Scott has no reason to fight. Which means he never believed in the cause in the first place, if something so simple could reduce him to what he was at the start of the season. Logan, as shown by episode 17, has lost lovers & mentors, too, and wasn't a hapless wreck for over a year. Scott barely goes on loner quests, and when he does, he has to be bailed out by the X-Men and yelled at for being a selfish jerk. He never questions any command decision Logan makes, even when it it could use some criticism to improve, or is outright flawed. He doesn't resent, for one second, Xavier moving Logan into the role he once held, and showing far more empathy and compassion for Logan's turmoil at times than Chuck ever showed for Scott. It was akin to X3 where Xavier was more than willing to abandon Scott emotionally and attach to Logan as the BMOC, despite Scott being "one of his first students". Scott never gets any "atta boy" wisecracks, because he can't be allowed to one-up Logan in any way. Only Rogue can occasionally do that. His role is to stand in the background and shoot off a single optic blast, maybe two, before being hit by something.
Right now, the formula is this: When Scott is leader and Logan is loner/rebel, Scott is stiff and Logan is awesome. When Logan is leader and Scott is loner/rebel, Logan is awesome and Scott is stiff. If you genuinely think that is a role reversal, then there really is no point in debating.
Wolverine is easy for anyone to like. Even if you never heard of the guy before, or weren't too aware, as I was in 1993, if you write him well, he grows on you, and becomes easy to be a favorite X-Man. The only problem is when that comes at the expense of other characters, and often in this show, Scott and Storm are those expenses. They have to stand back so Logan can be top dog, when he NEVER would stand back for them as much. The show bends over backwards to present situations where Logan is the best X-Man ever in spirit, skill, tactics, and even luck, because when things don't go well at first, they always work out. I like Wolverine, but he is less than interesting when the wind is at his back too much, and some of the other characters are less so when they consistantly have to back down to Logan's aura of awesome. No one, not one soul, who doesn't have pre-existing feelings for Cyclops as a character before the show has any reason to care much for him here. When he isn't being mute, selfish, obsessive, and inefficient, he is moping or a non-entity. Episode 12 was a step in the right direction, but that was five episodes ago, and was marred with an ending that all but had to make clear that Logan is a better man in every possible way than Scott, and that gets boring. What is the use of a "rivalry" if one side is clearly presented by every angle as better in every situation?
In contrast, look at Bishop, 20 years in the future. He's a man of few words, and he doesn't usually question the leader, but he's awesome and efficient. He made an impression on me and I usually can't stand Bishop. He's cool here.
Again, the premise was there, and the intentions were there. It has been the execution that has been spotty. That said, Scott at least hasn't been completely forgotten, and this show is still good, especially considering this is a first season, where errors are expected as the kinks are worked out.
After episode 17, it will be interesting if the seemingly random episode where Logan's "personal war" from the past actually did drag the X-Men into it, if some of these dynamics between the two men come up. I sincerely doubt it. As good and canonical as this show is with subplots, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN by Greg Wiesman it ain't.
Cyclops is actually one of my favourite X-men and I'm more than happy with how his character has been portrayed. Its after Jean has gone missing so of course this isnt a good time for him to lead a whole team. The cyclops episode we got was brilliant, probably one of my favourite episodes so far!
And I agree they've done a better job with Cyc in this series than they ever did in the movies, urgh!
I did like episode 12, except for the ending, which was one sided.
To play Devil's Advocate, when the X-Men film franchise was in pre-production by the end of the 90's, Marvel was trying to get out of bankruptcy and it was thus an easy and financially logical conclusion to focus on Wolverine, the most popular member by 1999-2000 that almost everyone knew, to get them to come out in droves for an $80-90 million summer blockbuster. Plus, FOX likely had a lot of control over the products, and they knew Wolverine was hot from their cartoon show.
But, yes, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN has treated Cyclops better than the movies did. Granted, with that kind of comparison, that is akin to saying it is better to have your finger broken than completely severed from your hand. While true, it ain't much of a compliment.
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