35 Years Later, Cyclops' Greatest Redesign Is Still 10/10 Perfection

Published Jul 25, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words. Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II. Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno. Sign in to your ScreenRant account It's officially been thirty-five years since Cyclops' most iconic redesign in X-Men history, and the look has stood the test of time. Not only that, but despite the decades, it has a genuinely huge first coming later this year. Cyclops debuted in 1963 as a teenage superhero, wearing the blue and yellow uniforms of all the students at Xavier's school. While his iconic visor was already present, he was deliberately dressed like his teammates. Indeed, even as he grew older, the leader of the X-Men essentially stuck to his student uniform, albeit with some minor changes. However, in 1991, legendary artist Jim Lee unleashed what immediately became the defining image of X-Men's Cyclops, giving him a unique costume that has never truly gone away. 1991's X-Men #1 Gave Cyclops His Defining Costume It's officially been thirty-five years since X-Men Volume 2 #1, from Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Joe Ross and Tom Orzechowski. This comic didn't just begin a new era for the X-Men - it sold around 8,100,000 units, earning the Guinness World Record for the best-selling single issue comic of all time (check out our retro review of the issue here.) Part of that incredible level of popularity was the starring role for Jim Lee as both writer and artist. Lee is one of the biggest names ever to emerge from comics, and was a legitimate celebrity at the time the issue was published. Add to that an era where comic 'speculators' were buying key issues in the hopes of future value, and X-Men #1 set records that will never be beaten. However, the comic is also notable for the costumes Lee gave to Marvel's mutants. Lee gave heroes including Storm, Cyclops, Rogue and Psylocke their definitive costumes - looks so iconic, they've returned again and again, effectively becoming the characters' default looks (see Cyclops' recent appearance in the Marvel Cosmic Invasion videogame, which uses Lee's design.) Lee kept Cyclops' blue and yellow color scheme, but added a cross-body harness/utility belt and removed the top of his mask, allowing Scott Summers' luscious locks to tumble free. For 90s fans, it's the look that defined Cyclops, and that's about to be the case for a whole new generation... The 90s Costume Is Finally Getting Its Movie Debut As revealed in the X-Men teaser trailer and recently revealed concept art, James Marsden's Cyclops will officially wear Jim Lee's iconic costume for Avengers: Doomsday. For younger fans who are looking forward to a movie starring Cyclops for the first time, this look is likely to once again define the character. Depending on how strict you are about the design, this will be the suit's first appearance in a live-action movie (it's debatable whether the kinda-sorta black, blue and silver interpretation glimpsed in X-Men: Apocalypse really counts, given the liberties it took with the design.) The suit is likely to be incredibly memorable if - as Marvel has implied - this is the definitive swan song for Fox's X-Men and thus Marsden's rendition of the character. Other Candidates for Cyclops' Best Redesign As undeniably iconic as Cyclops' 90s costume was and remains, there are others that deserve significant love. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely arguably began Cyclops' character renaissance with the team's matching uniforms in 2001's New X-Men, and Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo's black and red suit has a lot of fans, not least because Cyclops wore it at his most uncompromising. Others point to Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men suit, which arguably nailed the middleground between the X-Men movies' black leather and traditional superhero kitsch, and there are those for who Cyclops' 90s X-Factor costume from Louise Simonson, Walt Simonson and Bob Wiacek is the costume he should have stuck with as an adult hero. The good thing about superhero comics is that a new look is always right around the corner, but even those who don't love the design would struggle to argue against the fact that in 1991, Jim Lee defined the X-Men's leader visually with a costume that's still relevant to this day. Movie(s) X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024) Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994) First Film X-Men (2000) Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23 Comic Release Date 213035,212968