Pick Your Retcon 3: The Third Summers Brother!

[HellFrost]

Today, in our third installment of everyone's new fav game Pick Your Retcon! we turn to the more masculine side of X-Men, and highlight three different men and their piece of one of the most convuluted puzzles Fabian Nicieza (or anyone for that matter) has opened.

NOTE: I am not going to mention the notion that there's no information stating that there is only one brother, cause by that standard, everyone can have secret uncounted-for siblings.

Choice 1: Adam X

Adam X first appeared in X-Force Annual #2, written by Fabian Nicieza. They alluded him being the third summers brother multiple times, or at least having a connection to the summers clan, not the least of which is Nicieza himself stating that this was always his intention. The story is plausibly that Emperor D'Kenn fathered the child with Katherine, Alex and Scott's mother. Sinister also took an unnatural interest in X-Treme (btw worst codename ever), putting him through Murderworld (well, technically Milbury did which is an alias Sinister often uses). He also showed interest and a connection to the Summer's family in X-Men 39.

Choice 2: Gambit

While there isn't much by way of canonical proof for Gambit being the third Summers brother, Gambit has been highly rumored over the years. His power is kinetic based, a trait in the Summer's family. The only major tying bind comes from X-Men: The End. Sinister reveals that part of the template used to create Gambit was taken from Scott Summers, making Gambit and Scott "half brothers." Sinister has always been interested in Gambit and their backstories are intrinsically linked.

Choice 3: Vulcan

Vulcan first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis, as part of a team that no one ever knew about or remembered who died on an early mission. He'd been born in space, incubated to age faster, and came to earth. He was taken in by Moira and trained by Xavier as part of his original second team of X-Men. Vulcan has been directly stated in continuity to be the third Summers brother. However, it's difficult to say if Sinister would know about Vulcan.

My choice:

I originally was going to chose Vulcan as the third Summers brother cause I liked the concept of the character and the ideas presented in Deadly Genesis. The idea felt different and less stale than the other ideas we'd seen. I also think he's hott. :D

BUT!!!

I in the end, decided to go with Gambit. It all goes back to when I first discovered the concept of the third Summers brother and people were discussing the fact that Gambit might be him. I feel his powers make sense (at least more than Adam-X's do) with the Summers brothers and just on the whole think he's a good fit. However, the fact that he was 'made' and not 'born' still bothers me.

Now, your turn! Cast your vote for third Summers brother!

[caney]

This thread reminded me of this link that someone posted a while back outlining a plan for the third Summers brother. I thought it was very well thought out.

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/archive/index.php/t-24515.html

Anyways, your series of retcon threads has been very fun so far!!! Keep 'em comming. :D

[Beast]

Gambit. After seeing CC's backstory for Gambit in X-Men: The End, I'm hoping that Marvel still plans to bring that origin into canon firmly. CC and Marts seemed to imply that flashbacks were rooted in canon, so there's no reason to not do it now. It explains so many plot holes in Gambit and Sinister's relationship right now.

[Canemacar]

I'm a Gambit fan and I have to say NO! to him being even part Summers.

The Summers line is a convolted mess and it doesn't need Gambit(and he doesn't need it). I don't like how Vulcan was retconed into being there since the start, but I do like that it was a new character without his own history. Less confusing continuity-wise.

And Gambit's powers don't work like the Summers' do. They absorb and redirect ambient energy while Gambit manipulates the energy inherent in an object. I think Gambit just needs to be revealed as Sinister's son(sans Summers DNA and not a clone).

[lament]

I went with Gambit. I can't stand Vulcan or Adam X.

[Affinity]

Gabriel is a whiny little snot nosed BRAT, but I don't think either Gambit or Adam X are any better. So Vulcan is fine with me.

[CaptainCanada]

Vulcan suits me just fine; X-Treme exemplifies everything that was bad about the 90s; Gambit's a fine character when writers don't overdo his schtick, but his backstory is complicated enough without dragging him into the chaotic Summers family.

It's a good thing that Havok and Polaris didn't get hitched, otherwise the Summers family tree and the "M" family tree would be joined, an event that would create an incomprehensible web of family ties (through Quicksilver you have the Inhumans, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision brings Ultron, Wonder Man, Vision 2.0, Kang the Conqueror, and all the crap that comes with Kang the Conqueror in as well).

[kel25]

This thread reminded me of this link that someone posted a while back outlining a plan for the third Summers brother. I thought it was very well thought out.

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/archive/index.php/t-24515.html

Anyways, your series of retcon threads has been very fun so far!!! Keep 'em comming. :D
Wow I love and loath that. Very interesting idea that I would love to have seen finished but it would make a convulted family history more WTF.

[Canemacar]

Looks like no one cares about Adam X.

[Frodo-X]

I said Gambit. It makes sense, powers-wise and in terms of Sinister's interest. Plus, I think it would have been more interesting to have Scott, Alex, and Gambit's reactions to finding out they are related. It isn't as fun to throw a brand new character at them and say "here's your brother".

[Beast]

I said Gambit. It makes sense, powers-wise and in terms of Sinister's interest. Plus, I think it would have been more interesting to have Scott, Alex, and Gambit's reactions to finding out they are related. It isn't as fun to throw a brand new character at them and say "here's your brother".
Yeah. And nothing about Vulcan makes him interesting or sympathetic.

Like I've said before, he's whinier and more troubled than Anakin Skywalker. :D

[Faded]

I dislike all three characters. In fact, I really don't like the Third Summers brother concept at all.

[Gene M.]

I went with Vulcan for the poll, but really I would say Vulca and Gambit. I like that Vulcan gives the X-Books a new villain, and the Gambit reveal was the only thing about X-Men: The End that I thought was remotely interesting. I'd like to see both developed.

[Faded]

Oh...I did vote for Vulcan. Only because I like the idea of the secret team.

[Alan2099]

X-treme (btw worst codename ever)
Really? Worse than X-cutioner? That name doesn't even sound right if you say it outloud.

Anyway, nothing about Gambit has ever seemed Summersish to me. Really it always seemed like people were reaching.

"We have a mystery? Well Gambit has a mysterious past! Let's throw 'em together!"

There's really nothing gained by having Gambit as a Summers either.

Vulcan I just straight up don't like as a character. I don't like the "missing" X-men team idea either.

Adam-X seemed to have a decent backstory to him, and ignroing his less than flattering codename, seemed a pretty decent character. I especially enjoyed the issue where he met Jean. It realy seemed to set him up as a Summers.

Of course now that he's not, he's still left as being the son of D'ken and some human that happened to be there around the same time Scott's parents where. Makes you wonder how many humans D'ken kept in his place.

[Babylon23]

I really wish there was a "none of the above" option. I wish this whole 3rd Summers brother thing was just ignored. X-Treme was an awful character, and Vulcan doesn't interest me in the slightest, nor does any of the retconning in DG. By default, I'd say Gambit was least worst.

[Sanagi]

Looks like no one cares about Adam X.
I thought he was kind of cool despite having a very nineties design. The story where he met the Summers grandpa was a good one. He could have been interesting.

[Beyond The Beyonder]

Hey, how come we can't vote for more than one? Why limit it to three brothers?
I accept Vulcan as the third Summers brother, but I remember when I FIRST got into the X-Men, 15 years ago when Gambit was still a new character, I felt like there was an as-yet-unexplored connection between Gambit and Cyclops. Their personalities were completely different and their mutant powers had completely different effects, but I still felt like they were cut from the same cloth. (And in those days I believe I remember Gambit's eyes going red now and then).
So when I heard, more than a decade later, that Claremont seemed to feel similarly about this I thought that was pretty uncanny. So maybe there are four Summerzes.

[Gnarl]

At the risk of opening a can of worms....
The whole "3rd Sumers brother" was based on a slip of Snisters when talking to Scott, referring to his "brothers".

It has never been restricted to just one. Could be "all of the above"

[Beast]

At the risk of opening a can of worms....
The whole "3rd Sumers brother" was based on a slip of Snisters when talking to Scott, referring to his "brothers".

It has never been restricted to just one. Could be "all of the above"
Well, it can't technically be Adam X at all anymore. Given that D'Ken murdered Lady Summers and ripped Gabriel from her womb to torment Christopher with.

[HellFrost]

At the risk of opening a can of worms....
The whole "3rd Sumers brother" was based on a slip of Snisters when talking to Scott, referring to his "brothers".

It has never been restricted to just one. Could be "all of the above"
Read the beginning of my post. I took care of that.

The thread is the way it is. There's no 'None of the Above' or 'All of the Above'.

If you don't like the options don't vote. I'm sorry to sound nasty but I worked hard on these threads and I don't take kindly to people complaining or contridicting me.

[DDM]

How about "none of the above?" A third Summers brother is just ridiculous.

[AceOfSpades]

I think Vulcun is the lesser of three evils... The Gambit one I hated, one of the only things i didn't like about X-men:The End... and Adam-x? Lets not go there.. I really hate him

[traxler]

I think Vulcun is the lesser of three evils... The Gambit one I hated, one of the only things i didn't like about X-men:The End... and Adam-x? Lets not go there.. I really hate him
Same goes for me too......
S'innerestin how the general feeling so far is that the Summers don't need,
and we don't want, a third brother.

[Frodo-X]

Really? Worse than X-cutioner? That name doesn't even sound right if you say it outloud.


Actually I prefer X-Cutioner to X-Treme. At least an executioner is a thing that exists. Extreme is an adjective, and I really don't like the idea of a characters name being an adjective.

[Deus ex Chris]

I voted for Vulcan. We've only seen his anger so far, but I haven't written the character off yet, as so many have, and I've got some interest in his story, but none in those of the other two.

[brundlefly]

How about "none of the above?" A third Summers brother is just ridiculous.

I'm agreed with you on that. While I loved the initial introduction of the concept (Sinister's throwaway line to Scott about "you and your brothers" which he followed with "Did I say brothers? I must have misspoke" and just smiled enigmatically), the Summers bloodline is enough of a tangled mess without a long-lost third brother. Adam X-Treme and Vulcan are both just walking plot devices created simply to fill the third-Summers-brother idea and Gambit is a strong enough character on his own that he doesn't gain anything from being a "Summers brother." You can still use the Sinister/Summers DNA backstory for him without steadfastly insisting that he's Alex and Scott's "brother."

[Flameworthy]

I dislike all three characters. In fact, I really don't like the Third Summers brother concept at all.

I agree. That's why I didn't vote for any of them. I can't believe such a mess came from a throw away line.

Oh, but I do like the secret team too, except for Vulcan.

[Alan2099]

Actually I prefer X-Cutioner to X-Treme. At least an executioner is a thing that exists. Extreme is an adjective, and I really don't like the idea of a characters name being an adjective.
An Executioner.

Not X-cutioner. In order for his name to work you've got to ignore the way it's spelled. "X" "Cutioner" seems to be missing a vowel sound in between there. It just falls apart to me.

At least X-treme can actually be pronounced correctly.

[Gnarl]

Read the beginning of my post. I took care of that.

The thread is the way it is. There's no 'None of the Above' or 'All of the Above'.

If you don't like the options don't vote. I'm sorry to sound nasty but I worked hard on these threads and I don't take kindly to people complaining or contridicting me.

I didn't actually vote. Just throwing it out for the discussion. If you don't take kindly to being contradiced, perhaps not discussing would be better for you?

[Mikl C]

I picked Adam-X. Because it sounds like it makes sense. Gambit I never thought of as a Summers, and Vulcan is just a huge retcon so nah.

[Gene M.]

I picked Adam-X. Because it sounds like it makes sense. Gambit I never thought of as a Summers, and Vulcan is just a huge retcon so nah.

You sent me a picture of boobs on MySpace, but now you're dead to me.

[phoenixV]

None of the above.

Adam-X's backstory as a Summers brother was okay, and if I had to pick one of them, I'd go with him.

Gambit doesn't need to be a Summers brother.

Vulcan is a silly retcon that didn't need to happen.

[Red Lotus]

I voted for Gambit but only because I hate Vulcan. Does anyone remember reading about a Summer's Sister.

There was X-men pannel(this was a few years back) and they were talking about the 3rd Summer brother and they hinted something about a sister.

[Daithi]

I'll vote for Adam-X if only because writers didn't have to retcon the hell out of Giant Size X-Men.

[The Fury]

Can i vote for none? As you know, comic characters can make mistakes. One mention from Sinister with Cyclops immediately correcting him and it stays as fact.

[Cayman]

I prefer Vulcan of the 3.

[JLarson]

I voted for Vulcan, though mostly just because I thought the secret team was a cool idea, and really enjoyed that part of Deadly Genesis (and love Darwin).

Adam-X seemed pretty lame even in the 90's, but then again I'm a hippie, not a punk or a mod...

[Omega Alpha]

Vulcan. I liked the secret team and i think he has potential as a character (although not as a villain). Gambit makes it all more complicated than already is. And Adam X is one of the lamest characters ever.

[gorthon616]

Today, in our third installment of everyone's new fav game Pick Your Retcon! we turn to the more masculine side of X-Men, and highlight three different men and their piece of one of the most convuluted puzzles Fabian Nicieza (or anyone for that matter) has opened.

NOTE: I am not going to mention the notion that there's no information stating that there is only one brother, cause by that standard, everyone can have secret uncounted-for siblings.

Choice 1: Adam X

Adam X first appeared in X-Force Annual #2, written by Fabian Nicieza. They alluded him being the third summers brother multiple times, or at least having a connection to the summers clan, not the least of which is Nicieza himself stating that this was always his intention. The story is plausibly that Emperor D'Kenn fathered the child with Katherine, Alex and Scott's mother. Sinister also took an unnatural interest in X-Treme (btw worst codename ever), putting him through Murderworld (well, technically Milbury did which is an alias Sinister often uses). He also showed interest and a connection to the Summer's family in X-Men 39.

Choice 2: Gambit

While there isn't much by way of canonical proof for Gambit being the third Summers brother, Gambit has been highly rumored over the years. His power is kinetic based, a trait in the Summer's family. The only major tying bind comes from X-Men: The End. Sinister reveals that part of the template used to create Gambit was taken from Scott Summers, making Gambit and Scott "half brothers." Sinister has always been interested in Gambit and their backstories are intrinsically linked.

Choice 3: Vulcan

Vulcan first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis, as part of a team that no one ever knew about or remembered who died on an early mission. He'd been born in space, incubated to age faster, and came to earth. He was taken in by Moira and trained by Xavier as part of his original second team of X-Men. Vulcan has been directly stated in continuity to be the third Summers brother. However, it's difficult to say if Sinister would know about Vulcan.

My choice:

I originally was going to chose Vulcan as the third Summers brother cause I liked the concept of the character and the ideas presented in Deadly Genesis. The idea felt different and less stale than the other ideas we'd seen. I also think he's hott. :D

BUT!!!

I in the end, decided to go with Gambit. It all goes back to when I first discovered the concept of the third Summers brother and people were discussing the fact that Gambit might be him. I feel his powers make sense (at least more than Adam-X's do) with the Summers brothers and just on the whole think he's a good fit. However, the fact that he was 'made' and not 'born' still bothers me.

Now, your turn! Cast your vote for third Summers brother!

Ugh. Where is the THERE IS NO THIRD SUMMERS BROTHER vote?

[Arrjay]

Vulcan is my homie.

'Cause Deadly Genesis was the shiznit dawg and I be diggin' The Rise And Fall Of The Shi'Ar Empire.

[Jack]

Well, I'm not opposed to the idea of a third brother, I just don't really like the options. Vulcan could have been good, but... well, he works okay as a plot device, I guess, because I like the current Uncanny arc quite a lot. Maybe he'll come around, since he's still really a little kid.

[EZMOHR]

Vulcan is my homie.

'Cause Deadly Genesis was the shiznit dawg and I be diggin' The Rise And Fall Of The Shi'Ar Empire.

While I would sound like a total white dude if I tried to say that....it is how I feel.

And people remember, isn't Vulcan only supposed to be truly like, 15 years old. You were douchey at that age too.

[dazzlerfan]

This thread reminded me of this link that someone posted a while back outlining a plan for the third Summers brother. I thought it was very well thought out.

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/archive/index.php/t-24515.html

Anyways, your series of retcon threads has been very fun so far!!! Keep 'em comming. :D

Whoa. That was deep. I really like that theory; Marvel should take that one up--that is, if they haven't already chosen the person already.

[Sorcerer Supreme]

I say vulcan, the Deadle Genesis storylne was pretty good and Vulcan fitted in well.

[jrnewto]

We know that prior to Scott Summers “escaping” from the State Home for Foundlings in Omaha, Nebraska, John and Elaine Grey sought out the expertise of a “sinister” doctor to rouse their daughter Jean from the catatonic state she had retreated to after the trauma she experienced from being inside the mind of her friend, Annie Richardson, as she died.

As most of us know, this doctor was another guise worn by Mr. Sinister.

The “doctor” begins by conducting a physical examination of Jean, taking some blood and tissue samples for his banks. He then enters her mind, but she manifests the Phoenix, striking him with a telepathic bolt which forces him back to the physical world.

This does not deter Sinister, however, and, instead of fleeing in terror, he returns to his base where he hatches a plot to eliminate Jean’s parents and bring her to the orphanage he controlled.

Immediately after the “doctor” leaves their home, a colleague of John’s from Bard College calls referring them to an expert in Westchester County, Professor Charles Xavier to review Jean’s condition.

At this time X-fans will also recollect Mr. Sinister had begun recruiting agents who would come to form the Marauders, including Scalphunter and Sabretooth.

What if Mr. Sinister had recruited subjects from the Weapon X program to act as his assassins?

Sabretooth was perhaps his first recruit from the program, unless there is an untold tale linking Scalphunter to the program… which would actually be quite interesting (moreso if he was revealed to be the brother of Silver Fox).

Since Sabretooth proved to be such a great assassin, Mr. Sinister perhaps decided to bring his relative Wolverine on board. This could be used to further explain the enmity that Sabretooth held if Logan initially proved to be a more efficient killer than he was. But I digress…

The assassination attempt to “off” Jean’s parents proceeds, being assigned to both Sabretooth and Wolverine.

The pair break into the Grey home, but Wolverine, upon observing young Jean in her catatonic state, decides to abort the mission and takes Sabretooth down before he can kill John and Elaine. The following morning the Greys, unaware of what has transpired the night before, leave for their appointment in Westchester County with Charles… and the rest as they say is history.

Mr. Sinister, furious when he finds out what has transpired, casts Wolverine out, but not before implanting false memories in his mind – as he did with Scott and later Madelyne – to ensure Logan can’t lead anyone back to him. This could be used to further explain what was behind Logan finding something familiar about Mr. Sinister when he stated: “who is that dude?” in X-Factor #39. This could also provide a deeper layer to the relationship between Jean and Logan.

Mr. Sinister, never one to accept defeat so easily – and desperate to possess the genetic potential within Jean – returns to the Orphanage where he begins plotting an alternate plan for how he can acquire it, and figures Scott as the crucial element in ensuring this.

Despite previous assumptions, I would reveal here that Mr. Sinister’s primary interest did not initially lie with the Summers line but rather with the Greys, Jean in particular. To support this theory, recall Sinister’s comments during Inferno that he wasn’t interested in Alex Summers, but rather Lorna Dane in X-Factor #39 (something obviously about powerful mutant females able to store vast amounts of energy).

Mr. Sinister then orchestrates events to allow Scott to “escape” the Orphanage, setting him on the path to Xavier’s Mansion where he will unknowingly act as Sinister’s “wolf in the fold”. He implants within Scott’s brain a telepathic imperative that will compel him to win Jean’s heart and father upon her a child possessing the genetic potential of the Grey line – which Sinister would then lay claim to.

This would resolve what Destiny meant when she foresaw the remote possibility of Cyclops turning evil (cf. X-Factor #9), and how it was that Nanny came into possession of Joey and Gailyn Bailey. I would posit that the mutant cyborg in fact broke them out of Sinister’s Orphanage. The implication of this would be that they came to be in Mr. Sinister’s Orphanage, because he had their mother Sara Grey killed as was his standard method for dealing with parents of mutant children who came into his possession.

This would also finally explain why Mr. Sinister was so desperate in The End to mix the DNA of either Gambit or Scott with one of the Grey women. Claremont finally let slip here that it is Grey DNA that has ever been the focus of his interest – and not necessarily that of the Summers line.

But why does Sinister keep trying to mix Summers DNA with Grey DNA?

Because in my own little universe he is in fact the bastard son of Katherine Anne Summers, since the term SINISTER is the family mark of illegitimacy in heraldry.

This revelation would be a more intellectually satisfying fix to the whole issue of Scott and Alex having another brother, but also perfectly resolves the motives behind Mr. Sinister’s scheming with regard to the Summers line.

As mentioned above, upon sampling the power of the Phoenix, Sinister becomes obsessed with acquiring control of it.

Given Claremont’s revelation that Mr. Sinister was the supervillain identity of Cyclops’ friend Nathan from the Orphanage as shown in Classic X-Men #41-2 – whose mutant power restricted him to age one year for every 10 of everybody else – I would posit that he took the long range view of needing to father a child upon Jean which he would then clone and transfer his consciousness into so he could possess a body capable of possessing the phoenix power.

However, realising that Jean would be past child-bearing age by the time he was physically mature enough to perform the deed himself – given he would not become an adult for another 50 years due to his anti-ageing power – he recognised the necessity of finding someone as close to his genetic signature as possible in order that his plan could still proceed.

The closest genetics would only be found in a brother; hence why he set about ensuring his half-brother Scott Summers was transferred to “his” Orphanage.

What a tremendous stroke of luck then that the Shi’ar stole Scott’s parents away thus saving him the need to have them killed.

Or did he have some deal going with the Shi’ar Empire? Just who was that character observing Steven Lang observing Eric the Red in the last panel of Uncanny X-Men #97?

But I digress…

Given Alex Summers contained the ability to house immense volumes of cosmic energy, as Havok, it would go without saying that Scott’s genes would carry the same potential as well.

By manipulating Scott to father Jean’s offspring, he would then steal the child away to his Orphanage, clone it, after which he would impose his consciousness upon the clone and thus possess the ability through which to wield the phoenix power.

He doesn’t anticipate Jean being killed on the Moon, however.

When this reality becomes apparent to him, instead of abandoning his plans, he instead accelerates the growth of her clone Madelyne, and sends her out to seduce Scott to hatch his designer baby.

Upon the birth of Scott and Madelyne’s son, the fates conspire to be in Sinister’s favour, providing him the opportunity needed to send his Marauders to assassinate the child’s mother, steal the child and cover his tracks all at the same time.

His success is only fleeting, however, since Inferno ignites and young Nathan Christopher is stolen from him by N’astirh’s demons before he obtains an opportunity to clone the child.

You’ll agree that the above tale resolves numerous major plotlines left dangling by Claremont, including Mr. Sinister’s true motives and the relationship between Wolverine and Sabretooth.

However, I’ve discovered another hinted at relationship it could finally resolve, that between Zaladane and Polaris.

Here I would reveal that, like he did with Rick and Trish Bogart who wished to adopt Scott, Mr. Sinister engineered the plane crash Lorna’s parents die in, ensuring she is adopted like his brother Alex Summers.

On a final note, though, did Mr. Sinister successfully clone Scott and Madelyne’s child, and upon Cyclops “killing” him in X-Factor #39, he transfers his conscious into the clone, accelerates its growth, and emerges from the clone tank as Gambit?

Nevertheless, you’d have to agree that this ties up the whole “Gambit as the Third Summers Brother” herring quite brilliantly.

All very interesting then how editorial rewrote things after Claremont’s departure so young Nathan Christopher would be cloned, becoming Stryfe, who would serve as the host for Apocalypse so he could effectively channel the Phoenix Force.

While it appears that Claremont began taking the alternative path that Mr. Sinister was obsessed with cloning mutants in an effort to ensure the survival of Homo Superior by providing them with identical bodies to transfer their consciousness into when their original bodies began showing signs of early ageing as a result of overuse of their powers (the amoral saviour of mutantkind so to speak), I think my above resolution could have worked just as successfully, if not moreso, to resolve all the dangling plotlines left behind with regard to this character.

But getting back to Mr. Sinister… all that’s needed to finalise this fan-fix is to come up with an intellectually satisfying reason behind his ordering the massacre upon the Morlocks…