Warning: potential SPOILERS for Outlawed & Champions
In Marvel's Outlawed event, underage crimefighting has been banned, which makes teen superhero team the Champions criminal fugitives. The Champions know everyone over 21 could potentially turn them in, but as the preview for June's Champions #3 reveals, they'll turn to the only adult they have faith in. The identity of their confidant is a secret, but the evidence makes it clear that their hope could only lie in one character: Cyclops, field leader of the X-Men.
The Champions team came together after the Civil War II event, led by a disillusioned Ms. Marvel is leaving our dimension entirely. But the Champions remain unsupervised and against the law.
As the preview for Champions #3 (which readers can see below) says, the Champions are on the lam, hopping from one hideout to another while evading C.R.A.D.L.E., the militarized truancy officers tasked with bringing in unauthorized teen heroes. Other teen heroes have been taken in, and the team's location keeps getting revealed, suggesting there's a spy in their midst. Tensions are high, but the vigilantes turn to "the one adult they can still trust".
Who exactly is that adult? The preview doesn't say for sure, but the Champions have one particular adult in their past that is by far the most likely candidate. Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, was in the Champions' early roster in his teenage years thanks to time-travel shenanigans. The teen Cyclops went back to the past, but his adult self still re his time there. During the War of the Realms crossover event, Cyclops even split off from the rest of the X-Men to fight alongside Ms. Marvel and the rest of the crew. The two parted ways, but it was clear that they saw each other as old friends. Even though Cyclops had been gone for a year or two to Ms. Marvel and for decades from his own perspective, a bond remained.
If that's too circumstantial for you, there's a much more overt signal that Cyke will be featured in issue 3. You can see his face on the cover itself wearing his signature visor. Look on the middle left, behind Viv's arm.
While the Champions probably won't get to stay on Krakoa, since it's mutants-only, Cyclops' family home on the moon just might be able to accommodate the curfew-breaking heroes while being out of reach of virtually anyone who might want to put a stop to their do-gooding. And there are opportunities to make new friends with some of the teenage residents of the Summers base. Maybe the time-displaced Kid Cable will take the spot on the team that his dad left behind. For now, find the full solicitation details below:
- CHAMPIONS #3
- EVE L. EWING (W)
- SIMONE DI MEO (A)
- Cover by TONI INFANTE
- LIVING VAMPIRE VARIANT COVER BY VALENTINE PASCHE
- The Champions are on the run! Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova and Ironheart race to stay one step ahead of C.R.A.D.L.E., but someone keeps leaking their location, and they’re running out of places to hide.
- With a spy in their midst and their allies locked up in a disturbing correctional school, they’ll turn to the one adult they know they can still trust…
Champions #3 will be available from your local comics shop and digital providers in June 2020.
