Summary
TheX-Men’snewest era will featureCyclops’daughter, Rachel Summers, but not because she was a front runner for the team. Tom Brevoort, executive editor for theX-Men: From the Ashesrelaunch, has revealed details about her inclusion. On Substack, the Marvel creator revealed his preference and criteria for the X-Men and how Rachel was allowed to be a part of it through association.
Rachel Summers has had a long history in Marvel Comics, having debuted in 1981 inUncanny X-Men #141.The daughter ofCyclops and Jean Grey, Rachel has gone by several codenames and role-shifts, including Phoenix, Bright Lady, Hound, Marvel Girl, Prestige, and Askani.
As of late, she has been working closely with Captain Britain, which has resulted in the primary reason for her inclusion. Were it not for Betsy Braddock, Rachel would be in the background of current X-Men events like some of the team’s other big names.
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Rachel Summers Was Originally Going to Be Sidelined
Alternate Timeline Characters Weren’t Meant to be at the Forefront of Relaunch
Although she and Cable share several similarities, the relationship Cyclops' daughter Rachel has with Betsy Braddock is the deciding factor…
The current line-up forX-Force is Forge, Sage, Surge, Betsy Braddock, Rachel Summers, and Tank.While Askani was not intended to be part of the X-Force line-up, Betsy Braddock was.Given their current relationship with one another, it made sense to allow Rachel to remain close to her significant other at this point in their story. This connection was revealed on Brevoort’s Substack. When asked about the potential presence of Rasputin IV, Tom Brevoort said:
One of my first decrees to all of my creative teams as we started things up was that I wanted everything to take place in the here and now. And I wanted it to be digestible for ordinary people who hadn’t been following the books for a couple of years. So that meant momentarily sidelining any characters who came from the future or from an alternate timeline or any of that stuff. I made one or two exceptions - I permitted Rachel to be a part of X-FORCE because she was attached to Betsy. She’s also a long-established character, one that I think you can get into without even needing to immediately mention ' grew up during Days of Future Past and was a mutant-hunting slave-hound.' Even relatively popular characters such as Cable and Bishop were sidelined for this reason.
The relaunch of X-Men aims to have a current feel, allowing new readers to jump aboard readily. The X-Men have gone through numerous alternate timelines, resulting in assorted variants, family lines, and personal trajectories. This is especially the case for the offspring of Cyclops, such as Rachel andCable who exist in specific timelines. In Rachel’s case, she comes from theDays of Future Pastera. While this would have normally excluded her from the relaunch lineup, her connection to Betsy is allowing her to stay at the forefront of events.
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With the amount of incredible - and fan-favorite - characters the X-Men have had over the years, line-ups can seem especially difficult to decide. There are characters who are continuous staples, while others are thrown to the back or largely lost to time. Rachel has been a standout heroine and been part of somebig X-Men comic moments. Although she and Cable share several similarities, the relationship Cyclops' daughter Rachel has with Betsy Braddock is the deciding factor in her becoming part of the X-Force for theX-Men’snewest era.
