Marvel just made some stunning changes to X-Men Laura, because it turned out that thanks to a new technological leap, people can turn into mutants. It has been an established fact for decades that mutant powers are activated during adolescence due to a mutation known as the X gene, resulting in superhuman abilities. For most of this time, mutants were hunted and were even considered a separate species of humanity. Now the boundaries between them are irreparably blurred.
The discovery came from Jed McKay, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Marta Gracia and Clayton Cowles. X-Men #5. In the issue, Cyclops asks psychics Kid Omega and Psylocke to probe Ben Liu’s mind. Liu is a newly discovered mutant who warped reality, creating a massive alien armada that attacked San Francisco. Psychics dig deeper, and what they discover changes the history of the X-Men forever.
Kid Omega and Psylocke return after learning that Ben Liu is an ordinary man who was kidnapped and experimented on by the villainous group 3K. This turned him into a mutant, and his trauma from being kidnapped led to his “alien armada” manipulating reality. The worst thing is that the heroes find out that their old enemy Cassandra Nova is in league with 3K.
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Mutants can now be created in Marvel Lore
New X-Men villains can give anyone powers
Marvel recently ushered in a new era of the franchise with the “From the Ashes” initiative, in which heroes such as Cyclops, Rogue, Forge and Havoc now lead their own (sometimes opposing) teams of mutants, and heroes such as Storm, Phoenix and Wolverine receive their own solo series. Part of this new status quo is the presence of new mysterious mutants who appear to have manifested their powers as adults. something that should be impossible given the nature of mutant biology.
Cyclops’ X-Men encountered these new mutants earlier in the series while fighting a group known as the Fourth High. The school represents an evolution of the U-Men movement, where people transplanted mutant organs in hopes of gaining their powers. Now they have gone beyond this, because now you can take an ordinary person and turn him into homo superb. Since then, the heroes of Cyclops have been investigating and now they have finally learned that the mysterious group 3K is behind the breakthrough of the Fourth School.
While increasing the number of mutants is a good thing in theory, that’s not how things have played out so far. Firstly, because this technology is in the hands of those who seem to have dark plans for the mutant race, which creates powerful new enemies for the X-Men rather than new mutant allies. Secondly, because 3K’s irresponsible way of distributing powers leads to huge consequences, such as the attack on Los Angeles. Incidents like Ben Liu’s reality manipulation reignite humanity’s fear of mutants and creating a dangerous rumor that mutant status is now “contagious” calling on the government to crack down on mutant rights.
This is a huge discovery and it will never go away. Even if the X-Men beat 3K, Marvel has now established that humans can be turned into mutants through technological means.. Even if 3K fails and their technology is destroyed, future creators will feel much freer to bring the idea back since it’s so different from introducing it for the first time.
With this discovery, the X-Men completely abandon previous definitions of the concept of “mutant”.
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The new era of the X-Men finally moves away from Krakoa
The idea of ​​mutant culture is under threat
The revelation that humans can become mutants is a huge leap from Marvel’s 2019-2024 Age of Krakoa. During this period of the X-Men comics, all mutants banded together to create a new island nation, cementing mutant status as essentially a nationality. The Krakoan Era was marked by a science fiction exploration of mutant identity, with mutant art, philosophy, and politics developing distinctly from humanity. Mutants even colonized Mars and became the dominant species in the galaxy. Unfortunately, the era ended with Krakoa ascending beyond time and space, leaving the X-Men’s most famous mutants to fight for equality on Earth.
From the Ashes has already broken away from Krakoa in many ways, making it clear that mutants are no longer united as a people. even the X-Men are questioning their old connections as relationships crumble. However, the emergence of this new type of mutant, completely different from how Krakoa defined the mutant species, greatly complicates the ideas behind the Krakoan Era, making it clear that Marvel has no intention of going back.
In addition to humans becoming mutants, the X-Men are faced with a mysterious new disease that is already affecting Magneto.
What do the new X-Men 3K villains want?
With Cassandra Nova as a main member this can’t go well
While fans saw 3K in the shadows on the bonus page accessible via QR code in X-Men #1the group still remains deeply mysterious. Based on the silhouettes, longtime X-Men fans speculated that the participants included characters such as Cassandra Nova, Magneto clone Joseph, former X-Men ally Krakoan, and mutant supremacist Astra. X-Men #5 confirmation of at least one of these guesses. However, it is unusual for a mutant predator to side with a list of otherwise extremist mutants.
Nova used to be involved in the destruction of mutants, but since her debut in 2001, she has been through a lot. Jean Gray has successfully rewritten her brain to make her feel empathybut she remained a villain nonetheless, eventually finding herself stranded 2 billion years ago by Kate Pryde’s Marauders. What Nova wants now, and even how she thinks, is subject to interpretation. Has she found common cause with Marvel’s mutant supremacists or is she controlling them with her immense powers?
Her union becomes even more suspicious with hints of a mysterious mutant disease that could affect anyone with the X-gene. This topic is still largely a mystery, apart from confirmation that Magneto using a wheelchair in “From the Ashes” appears to be caused by some new mutant-centric disease.. This may be part of 3K’s scheme to destroy existing mutants in order to replace them with their own species.
Of course, there’s also the question of which former X-Men enemies could now be turned into mutants with deadly new abilities. Things are changing for the X-Men as Marvel usheres in a whole new era for Marvel’s mutants. Now the biggest change awaits them: it turns out that after decades of mutants gaining their powers as teenagers, the villainous 3K now have the ability to turn anyone into homo superbwith a mysterious purpose that threatens everything X-Men stay on the road.
X-Men #5 available now from Marvel Comics.