Midnight X-Men: Cyclops' new look is the Batman meme

Midnight X-Men #1 is out now. Screen Rant reports that it is the least self-contained of Marvel's Midnight books so far: Midnight Spider-Man and Midnight Fantastic Four each stood on their own, while the X-Men title carries more worldbuilding because of how many characters it might cover. The issue also introduces the empyres.

That is a lot of lore to unpack, and Screen Rant says so. The thing worth your attention in issue #1 is not the world. It is Cyclops.

The receipts

Screen Rant calls this one of the coolest Cyclops designs and depictions in recent memory, and credits Hickman with it. Confirmed: in this book the character has a shaved head and a full beard. He also uses a grappling hook, and his vambraces have two scallops each. That is a Batman silhouette assembled out of four separate details.

The old fan joke that Cyclops is Batman's mentor has lasted this long because it is absurd. Add a hook and scalloped cuffs and the joke gets easier to sell. Screen Rant says it is hard to imagine the resemblance was a conscious choice, and we think the accident is the funnier version. Whatever the intent, this is a Batman impression in a comic Cyclops headlines.

Reported: Screen Rant points to Marvel Rivals as well, where a bat silhouette appears in Season 11 lore art. One shape, two Marvel properties, no explanation offered.

The look has a name in Marvel's own copy. The solicitation for Midnight X-Men #4 calls him the "one-eyed ronin," and Screen Rant quotes it: "The one-eyed ronin finds a clue that will unravel long-laid plans. And a half-healed wound is hidden by shadow."

Where you can see it

Screen Rant lists six Cyclops projects in play right now: Avengers: Doomsday, X-Men '97 Season 2, Kit Connor's casting in Marvel's X-Men, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls and Midnight X-Men itself. Six projects for one character is a lot of the same guy.

Our read: the shaved head and the grappling hook are a small part of a big year for him, but they are the part people will screenshot. Midnight X-Men #1 is on sale now if you want to judge the Batman question yourself, and issue #4 is where the "one-eyed ronin" label shows up in Marvel's own words. The resemblance is on the page either way.

• Cyclops
• Jonathan Hickman
• Marvel
• Marvel Rivals
• Midnight X-Men