Major evidence in this week’s Uncanny Inhumans #1 that a X-Men vs. Inhumans war is brewing. Is Charles Soule sewing the seeds for a major Marvel crossover of the new era in 2016?
Here’s what you need to know:
The Terrigen Cloud unleashed by Black Bolt is creating new Inhumans but it’s attacking mutant DNA. Mutants are being sterilized or dying after exposure to Terrigenesis while NuHumans continue to pop up around the globe. Cyclops, Emma Frost are other X-Men are missing in action as the All-New, All-Different Marvel Now is being revealed.
Storm is leading a team of Extraordinary X-Men to rescue mutants from the new threat, Magneto will have a team of Uncanny X-Men taking the fight to his race’s enemies.
And Beast? Hank McCoy is working for Medusa.
As Inhumans rise…will mutants vanish?
Uncanny X-Men #600 and the new Uncanny and Extraordinary X-books are on the way there’s a critical conversation in this week’s big number one sure to fuel speculation about the future of the mutants.
SPOILER ALERT!
If you have not read Uncanny Inhumans #1 yet stop reading now.
Seriously.
Here it comes.
In an homage to the first Avengers movie, Medusa’s team takes on a squad of invading Chitauri in Manhattan showing the world they are heroes and want to keep the shared world of humans and Inhumans safe.
Back in New Attilan, Medusa has a telling exchange with Dr. Hank McCoy in the labs. Beast is teaching Iso but as Medusa tells Hank she knows “you’re here because of your friend CYCLOPS.”
Beast denies his friendship with Scott but reveals, “he thought you were stealing his planet. His friends still do. It’s just a matter of time before they try to take it BACK.”
Medusa warns, “if mutants and Inhumans comes into open conflict again, one of our species will end, we cannot allow that to happen.”
The conversation continues and writer Charles Soule set the stage for several other compelling story arcs including Black Bolt vs. Kang and the Inhuman King’s reaction to finding Medusa embracing Johnny Storm, who’s new post-Fantastic Four role is revealed.
But the big one is a likely war for survival between Inhumans and Mutants.
The X-Men must find a way to stop the Terrigenesis or find protection from its deadly effect on mutant DNA. The once reclusive Inhumans want to keep expanding their race. We still don’t know Black Bolt’s endgame but there’s a reason he detonated the Terrigen bomb way in Infinity that unleashed the Terrigen Cloud.
Signs of conflict began in Uncanny X-Men #15 by Brian Michael Bendis. In this Inhumanity tie-in issue, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde and new mutants encountered NuHumans.
Terrigen effects on mutants can be traced back to House of M and Son of M. After Scarlet Witch declared “No More Mutants” and decimated the mutant race, Quicksilver stole the Terrigen Crystals from Attilan in a mad quest to re-power de-powered mutants…with disastrous results. Black Bolt’s plan to retake the Crystals lead to the Silent War event.
So there’s a history of mutants and Inhumans all tied to Terrigen which leads back to the big new burning questions:
Is Cyclops infected or dead from Terrigen exposure?
In a possible War of Queens – Is Storm willing to risk a conflict with Medusa to protect her race? (Remember Ororo’s classic duel with Callisto of the Morlocks!?)
Will wild cards like Magneto, Old Man Logan and Mister Sinister go all-in in fight with the Inhumans to save the species even if means wiping our the other?
As the new X-Books start arriving, watch for the signs. X-Men vs Inhumans could very well be the first big event of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Now. It also defuses the conspiracy theories about Marvel wanting to end the X-books.
You may remember before the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, there was a crossover with the X-Men. As Inhumans rise on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a future movie, it’s a crossover with the X-Men that will expose them to a greater audience. There’s no denying the power of the X-Men to empower other franchise teams.
By Editor