By
Derek Faraci
Published Feb 23, 2026, 8:00 PM EST
Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites.
Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: Across the Omniverse, The Bad Batch, and Watch Men.
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Marvel is celebrating 50 years of alternate stories by reviving the classic series What If...? and a question that has been on the minds of longtime X-Men fans will finally be answered: What If... Cyclops stayed with Madelyne Pryor? While she is known as the Goblin Queen these days, there was a time when Madelyne Pryor was a character readers felt pity for.
Created by Chris Claremont and Paul Smith, Madelyne Pryor was meant to be a path for Cyclops to find happiness and finally leave the X-Men for good. It was Claremont's goal to give the founding member and first leader of the team a chance to walk off into the sunset, content with a new quiet life.
But instead of the planned happiness, Madelyne Pryor would end up being at the center of one of the most confusing and tragic love stories in all of comics. And it all happened because of an editorially demanded retcon.
Who Was Madelyne Pryor?
Madelyne Pryor made her debut in Uncanny X-Men #168. Looking very much like the very dead Jean Grey, Madelyne instantly caught Cyclops's eye. For a time, the X-Men even believed that Madelyne could be Jean Grey reborn, but soon enough they learned the truth; the apparent links between Madelyne and Jean Grey were created by Mastermind to drive Cyclops over the edge.
Instead of losing his mind, Cyclops once again fell in love with a redhead, and before long he and Madelyne were married. After being attacked by a shark and giant squid on their honeymoon, Cyclops decided to leave the superhero life behind and become a family man.
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Posts 1 By J.A.M.But time, and Marvel looking for a new X-title, would change everything. After two years of wedded bliss, Scott Summers was called back to the big leagues when X-Factor was created. But to make the new series, which would focus on the original X-Men, work, Jean Grey also needed to come back.
A little change to continuity explained that Jean Grey never actually died, but was trapped in a cocoon under Jamaica Bay in New York. As it turned out, the shuttle crash that seemingly turned Jean into the Phoenix, the "truth" was that the Phoenix Force placed Jean inside a healing cocoon and took her place. Jean Grey, it turned out, never died.
With this turn of events, Marvel's creatives quickly worked to get Cyclops and Jean Grey back together, which irked many readers. Cylcops had a child with Madelyne, and his decision to abandon his wife and kid did not go over well with them... or with Madelyn.
The Tragedy Of Madelyne Pryor
Madelyne Pryor was never a real character. She was created to act as a reward for Cyclops's years of suffering and wasn't meant to be more than that. For Claremont, the goal was to take Scott Summers out of the comics for good, but, as everyone knows, no character is ever really gone.
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Curious about the twists that turned Madelyne Pryor from sympathetic figure to villain? Subscribe to the newsletter for clear, contextual coverage of X-Men retcons, character arcs, and the editorial choices behind Marvel's turning points. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Never really being gone also meant Jean Grey, and her return may have been good for sales, but it was horrible for Madelyne. Suddenly, Marvel had a problem on their hands: people felt bad for Madelyne and were not happy about Cyclops leaving her for Jean. The answer Marvel came up with was obvious: Madelyne was actually always evil.
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Posts 1 By Kevin ErdmannTo make Cyclops ditching his family OK in the minds of readers, it was revealed that Madelyne was actually a clone of Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister. Sinister's plan was to trick Cyclops into falling in love with the clone and having a child that he would use for his, if you'll excuse the pun, sinister plans.
And if that wasn't enough for readers, Madelyne was also possessed by the demon S’ym. Between S’ym and learning that she was nothing more than a clone created to further Sinister's plans, Madelyne turned heel, becoming the Goblin Queen. So it was that a character that was created by a writer to be nothing more than a prize became the creation of a sueprvillain and one of the most a tortured souls in Marvel Comics.
X-Men
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)
First Film
X-Men (2000)
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)
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
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Subscribe for deeper Marvel & X-Men story coverage
Curious about the twists that turned Madelyne Pryor from sympathetic figure to villain? Subscribe to the newsletter for clear, contextual coverage of X-Men retcons, character arcs, and the editorial choices behind Marvel's turning points. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. Trending Now
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