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Since the beginning of the X-Men franchise, Marvel has explored the relationship between Scott Summers’ Cyclops and his mentor Charles Xavier. While they’ve clashed many times, Cyclops is Xavier’s protégé – someone the powerful psychic considers a son – and the heir to his dream, going from impressionable kid to the leader of mutantkind thanks in large part to how Xavier raised him. However, the balance of power is now changing, as Xavier’s sister acquires a disciple of her own.
In X-Men’s new status quo, it’s the villains who are getting their own protégés…
In X-Men #15 – by Jed MacKay, Carlos Fabian Villa, Ryan Stegman, J. P. Mayer, John Livesay and Erick Arciniega – the X-Men battle a new mutant villain. Their foe is one of a set of twins, absorbed into her sister Piper in the womb. However, when the absorbed twin’s mutant powers activate, she suddenly manifests as a separate person, unleashing biokinetic powers and forming a monstrous body to call her own.
One person who understands what the new mutant is going through is Cassandra Nova – Charles Xavier’s twin who Xavier likewise killed in the womb. Nova gets in contact with the new villain, encouraging her to attack the X-Men while setting up the beginnings of a mentor relationship. The issue ends with the new mutant still causing destruction, and Cassandra Nova ‘protecting’ her mind from Cyclops’ team, ensuring she gets to continue her rampage.
Biokinesis is mental control over biological matter – the new mutant appears to be able to reshape whatever flesh she touches, transforming the corpse of an alien Acanti ‘space whale’ into a gigantic, ogre-like body.
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The X-Men’s Newest Villain Is Cassandra Nova II
The Franchise’s Most Evil Villain Is Becoming the Dark Xavier
In X-Men lore, Cassandra Nova is a Mummudrai – a disembodied spirit that identifies people of immense power and copies their genetic structure, allowing it to be born as their twin. Thankfully, Xavier sensed the danger Nova posed while in the womb and caused her death. However, Nova’s consciousness hung on, and she was eventually reborn as one of the world’s most powerful psychics, attacking the X-Men and exposing Xavier to the world as a mutant.
Now, Nova is back as one of the leaders of a new hate group 3K, which seems committed to taking charge of Earth’s mutants and replacing the X-Men as the de facto leaders of mutantkind. While Nova is definitely just throwing the young mutant at the X-Men to cause them harm, she’s an insidious and incredibly cruel person, and if she can make this new mutant feel understood, she’ll definitely choose to weaponize her long term. Of course, Nova isn’t lying about the similarities of their experiences, and she knows exactly what it’s like to seek revenge on the twin who got the life you didn’t.
Interestingly, Magneto also recently began a mentorship of a young mutant who can warp reality, suggesting that in X-Men’s new status quo, it’s the villains (and former villains) who are getting their own protégés. It’s incredibly interesting to see the Xavier/Cyclops bond turned on its head, especially as the X-Men franchise has long been about teaching and protecting the next generation. With Cyclops‘ team of X-Men stuck constantly fighting off new threats, it seems that mentoring new mutants is falling to dubious characters like Cassandra Nova and Magneto – a fact that is sure to have consequences sooner rather than later.
X-Men #15 is available now from Marvel Comics.
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The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
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Cyclops, a.k.a. Scott Summers, is the X-Men’s core team leader and one of the first characters to appear in the franchise. As a human/mutant hybrid, Cyclops has the power to launch massive bursts of energy from his eyes that are regulated through the use of a specially designed visor. Despite his calm and collected demeanor, he tends to lose it when in the presence of a fellow team member, Wolverine.
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