This was further explained in UXM.Net. This article was quoted without permission. So I leave all the rights to UXM.Net. Here's the link: UncannyXMen.Net
THE THIRD SUMMERS BROTHER
by Peter Luzifer (UXM.Net administrator/editor)
Back in 1993, Fabian Nicieza could not have known what can of worms he had opened, when he had Mr. Sinister reveal in a throw away line that there was another brother besides Scott and Alex. This article will investigate the clues that point towards the identity of this unknown person, and also the two prime suspects will see closer examination.
For a start, the title of this topic “Third Summers Brother“ is actually wrong, in two ways ! The term was created by fans and has actually nothing to do with anything Sinister said to Cyclops in the famous issue, namely X-Men (2nd series) #23 : “ .... but I care enough to wish you and your brothers to be protected from .... “
Nowhere does it say “Summers“. Brother could relate to any male person with at least one identical parent, may that be the same father, the same mother or both. So if the additional brother would only be related through sharing the same mother, he would technically not be a “Summers“.
Nowhere does the quote limit it to a third brother. It only says brothers – plural, so more than one (Alex), meaning at least a third brother, if not a fourth, fifth and so on. Yet with even the identity of the third still unconfirmed, it’s doubtful that any other writer wants to shake up the Summers Clan even more.
THEORIES
Gambit, aka Remy LeBeau, has no idea who his parents are. He was stolen from hospital by the Thieves Guild, and then adopted by Jean Luc LeBeau, as he understood that Gambit was Le Diable Blanc (the White Devil with red eyes), whom ancient Guild prophecies mentioned. The records of his birth were erased from the hospital files, so there is no way to uncover the identity of his parents. Even the New Sun, an alternate version of Gambit, did not know his parents.
Possibly Christopher Summers produced an illegitimate child with some unknown female, though there is no evidence to back this up. Gambit being a full brother is out of the picture, as Scott and Alex would have known if their mother had another son, and scenarios that Sinister posed as doctor to steal the child at birth, pretending that it was stillborn leave too many questions. Why would he steal Remy, but not Scott and Alex ?
Adam X, aka X-Treme, might be the son of Shi’Ar Emperor D’Ken forcing himself on Katherine Anne Summers. After the Summers couple were captured as earth specimen by the Shi’Ar they were separated. Chris was sent to the slave pens, but he later escaped and found Kate in D’Ken’s palace, forced to serve as his pleasure maid. Before they could talk, D’Ken murdered Kate to punish Chris. It is unknown how much time passed between the couple getting separated and Kate’s death, so she could have been given birth in the meantime.
Eric the Red (Shi’Ar agent Davan Shakari) revealed that Adam X is the illegitimate hybrid son of Emperor D’Ken and was born to introduce a certain genetic potential into Shi’Ar monarchy.
APPEARANCE
Gambit has brown hair like both Chris Summers and Cyclops, and additionally he has red eyes, which many people think are comparable to Scott’s, yet it’s only Cyclops‘ power signature that is red. The eyes behind the visor are normal looking brown eyes, as can be seen various times when Cyclops‘ powers were negated.
Adam displays the usual Shi’Ar facial markings, though to a lesser extent than full bred Shi’Ar like Lilandra for example. Instead of the alien’s dark featherheads, Adam has long blond hair, which seems to be a trait from a human mother. Both Katherine Anne, and Havok are blond too.
POWERS
Havok and Cyclops have shown a so called “immunity“ to each other’s powers, though actually it is the case that they not only do not harm each other, but in fact absorb the energy of the other one’s blast to become stronger.
It is unknown if the same immunity would hold true for Gambit or X-Treme’s powers, but this does not prove anything; the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver can use their abilities on each other despite them being twins, while Black Tom and Banshee are immune to the other one and only are cousins.
At first glance Gambit’s power seems to be a closer match to the Summers energy blasts, yet deeper examination shows that the brothers absorb radiant energy (Scott – sunlight, Alex – cosmic rays), which they then transform, while Gambit works with the energy already stored in any object. Adam X’s ability to ignite oxydized blood seems even further from them.
Certainly the abilities of Sunspot (transforms sunlight into strength) or Dazzler (sound into light waves) would fit better with the Summers family.
SINISTER
Sinister has shown a great interest in Gambit over the years. Does that prove him to be a Summers or is there another explanation ?
As far as we currently know Sinister has had no influence on Gambit’s childhood or his marriage to Bella Donna, so it seems that he is following a different agenda than his usual Summers breeding stock interests.
A storyline from Gambit (3rd series) #12-15 shows that Gambit and the shapeshifter Courier time-traveled to the year 1891, where, after helping the Thieves Guild and exposing some secrets about Sinister and Amanda Mueller, the woman later known as Black Womb, they got stranded. To get back to the present the Sinister from 1891 and Gambit made a deal, Sinister received a cell sample from the Courier and thus gained the ability to shapeshift himself, while Gambit’s kinetic power were restored to their full extent with the content of the mysterious vial. (Originally the Sinister of the present had removed part of Gambit’s brain to keep the power at a controllable level, when Remy was 18 years old) With the improved ability Gambit could return himself and the Courier to the present day.
Could it be the case, that all of Sinister’s machinations only served one purpose, namely to make sure that Gambit would embark on that time-travel and give him the cell sample of the Courier ? Since Gambit returned from the timetravel he and Sinister have not interacted yet, so we can’t know for sure.
How could Mr. Sinister have known of Adam X’s existence ?
Captain Marvel (2nd series) #3 confirms that Eric the Red was one of very few people entrusted with the knowledge of D'Ken's illegitimate son Adam-X. In the issue he says that he has known of him "for years". Mr. Sinister on the other hand has been spying on Shakari and probably learned about Adam X from his data. The spying is confirmed by the last panel of X-Men (2nd series) #39.The last panel shows someone using a monitor to spy on someone using a monitor to spy on Scott and Jean, who just met X-Treme. The hands operating the screens are Sinister's and Eric the Red's. So it was Sinister spying on Eric the Red, who was observing the Summers couple and Adam X.
Further evidence that Sinister has known about Adam is found in X-Force #30, where X-Treme was tested in Arcade's Murderworld. He found out that the test had been ordered by a man named Milbury (an often used alias for Sinister).
CONCLUSION
Though Gambit is a better choice than most other x-related characters, there is no real evidence that links him to the Summers family. X-Treme on the other hand was the intended additional brother, the choices for his mother are rather limited – how many earth females were in Shi’Ar space twenty years ago ?
Fabian Nicieza confirmed online that Adam X was the intended additional brother, but he was removed from the titles before he could fully finish that story and so it’s left dangling. Current Marvel policy forbids the usage of Adam X, as his codename X-Treme might cause confusion with the title of the monthly X-Treme X-Men book.
Maybe the plot will be picked up again in a few years, like the Twelve dangler was unexpectedly tied up years after the first clues were given.
i hope not.
And as for Gambit being Cyclops' long-lost brother, it would be an interesting twist. Don't they kinda look alike?