I think Cole being so calm and even polite in that scene, is something that originated from he himself, I mean, is clear Tanos messed him up on purpose, even if Supers whose powerset doesn't include regeneration wouldn't heal things so extreme, is obvious that someone like Tanos would have been able to completely heal Cole, instead of giving him that messed up mechanical jaw. Anyway, back to Cole, I think he genuinely changed, be it being so depressed that he finally cooled down, or that he might have even improved and stop being a jackass, I mean, Cole was a pain in the butt, but he wasn't Jared, much less Tanos(in levels of how fucked up they are), so him genuinely improving after being humbled, without Ella around for a year seem possible.
Can you really say Jared was worse than Cole ? Both Jared and Cole are nothing compared to Tanos, and Jared especially get's a ton of hate, but is that really warranted ? The dude was for the first half nothing but a glorified schoolyard bully, and the latter half a inconsequential wanna be villain. Jared was a grade A asshole, but other than school bulying, the worst he's done is shot Laurie, which.... y'know, it's bad but c'mon, evil route Mc can do 10 times worse shit.
I mean hell, does Alice not have a way higher kill count than Jared ? By some perspectives Alice can be considered just as evil.
I remember when you try to assasinate him during the mansion infiltration, his dialogue shows hints of something resembling a traumatic father complex, and I do believe especially given his conversation with Jess the author will try to portray these two ''nemeses'' as little more than damaged individuals.
I mean let's be real, can anyone really say Jared and Cole are enemies on the same scale as someone like Tanos, Indra, Yuren or Jared's dad ?
I think Cole and Jared are way more hated by the fandom than those other figures just because they got under the skin of the reader, but that's just it, they are both small fry.
I agree Cole could have changed and has room to grow, and so does Jared. I mean after the monster world arc, and after seeing what someone like Indra can do, they both seem like mild opponents rather than real enemies.