Marvel Comics has teased that the X-Men's greatest love triangle--between Cyclops, Jean Grey's Marvel Girl, and Wolverine--is back with a vengeance. The mutant community has always been a complicated one, known for brief romances adding up to the sense that everyone has hooked up with everyone else at one point or another. Even the X-Men themselves have been known to describe their team as somewhat "incestuous."
But nothing embodies the soap opera tone better than the confused love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine. Logan has never particularly the minded the fact that he's hitting on a girl who's already in a committed relationship, in part because his hyper-senses told him Jean is receptive to his dubious charms. Still, Jean has always found herself drawn back to the true love of her life, Cyclops. And some things never change...
Now, the mutants are all living on the island of Krakoa, and Powers of X #4 suggests that the love triangle is back. The issue features a couple of pages' worth of rumors from the Bar Sinister (named for the able-to-exist-anywhere clones of Mr. Sinister), and one of them is about Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine. Take a look at Sinister's hot gossip:
"He’s the best there is at what he does. She’s married with a kid. The husband knows exactly what’s going on, but who is he to point the finger? He’s up to much the same, and more. Maybe this is just the new normal on the mutant island."
While some of the "Sinister Secrets" are harder to crack, this one's pretty obvious--especially when you remember that Jean Grey has a time traveling daughter, Rachel. It sounds as though Cyclops and Jean have gotten back together, but both of them are being unfaithful. Jean is spending quality time with Wolverine, although it's unclear whether this is a physical affair or a telepathic one. Cyclops is aware of Jean's actions, but he's not pointing the finger, because he's not exactly keeping his marital vows himself. That may imply Cyclops has resumed his own relationship with Emma Frost, or possibly even that an old flirtation with Psylocke is now being realized.
Of course, at the moment this all seems moot; all three members of the love triangle apparently died in House of X #4. Readers would be wise to take these deaths with a heavy pinch of salt, given death has always been something of a revolving door for the X-Men, and all three are on the cover of Jonathan Hickman's upcoming X-Men #1. Amusingly, that particular team seems to consist of the entire Summers family plus Wolverine, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the family react to the adulterous relationships that are going on.
Powers of X #4 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.