"If there’s a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking to him, you got a table with 11 Nazis." but it's about the Quiet Council of Krakoa.

Seems like the Atomic Age inspired every second superhero to get his or her powers through radiation. The radioactive spider bite is probably the most well known example, but I saw some pretty wacky ones. Wondering if you know any other crazy or interesting ones too?

A lot of the Silver Age superheroes were radioactive, in no small part because Stan Lee was a nut on the subject and didn't particularly care about the actual science. So in addition to Spider-Man (and many of his rogues' gallery), you have the gamma bomb test that created the Hulk and many of his rogues' gallery (although Al Ewing invented a fascinating Kabbalistic mythology on top of the whole gamma radiation thing), the radioactive ooze that blinded Matt Murdock (and created the Ninja Turtles), and on and on...

The one you're probably less familiar with is the first origin story for mutants in the X-Men:

While the nuclear origin of Professor X and the 05 were eventually superseded by Chris Claremont's decision to shift from atomic radiation to genetic mutation, which would be formalized as the X-Gene, X-comics didn't completely abandon the Silver Age origin story for mutants. Building on Xavier's backstory of being the children of government scientists working at a top-secret project at Alamagordo, New Mexico (a clear allusion to the Trinity Test conducted at Los Alamos as part of the Manhattan Project), Fabien Nicieza, Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, and especially Mike Carey invented the Black Womb Project.

In a feat of paranoid conspiracy rarely seen outside of a game of Illuminati, the Black Womb Project was a secret genetic mutation research group using nuclear research as a cover story. Led by "Dr. Nathan Milbury" (aka Mister Sinister aka Nathaniel Essex) and the almost-as-evil Amanda Mueller (aka "the Black Womb Killer"), the Black Womb Project hired Dr. Brian Xavier (Charles' father), Dr. Kurt Marko (Cain Marko's father), and Irene Adler (working undercover to foil Sinister's bid for Dominion).

This project involved wildly unethical experimentation on thousands of children abducted by FBI agents Fred Duncan (who would become Professor X's FBI liason) and Carl Denti (the future anti-mutant villain "X-Cutioner"), including many of the Silver Age villains like Fred Dukes (the Blob) and Mortimer Toynbee (Toad), as well as experiments conducted by Drs. Xavier and Marko on their own children Charles and Cain. Supposedly, the Black Womb Project was designed to test a number of different methods of activating latent X-Genes...

But secretly, Nathaniel Essex/Mister Sinister was intending to use the Project as a springboard for his goals for immortality and ultimate dominion through something called the Cronus Device. This involved the implantation of Sinister's DNA into Xavier and Marko so that if Sinister ever died, a failsafe would activate that would wipe the minds of Charles, Marko, and their descendants and implant Sinister's mind and abilities into them.

While Sinister's plans were foiled by Irene Adler's precognition and Amanda Mueller's attempt to usurp the Cronus Device and replace Sinister's backup with her own (Mueller's mutant power gave her immortality but not eternal youth, so she wanted to use Sinister's backdoor to clone herself into youthful bodies), it did succeed in installing a Sinister backdoor into Charles Xavier and Cain Marko that Sinister would eventually infiltrate into the mutant DNA database at the heart of Krakoan resurrection. Sinister then used his backdoors to attempt to seize control of the Quiet Council and create an intergalatic mutant empire, which he would then sacrifice to fuel his ascension into Dominion.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that Enigma had gotten there first...

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

October 13th - Sabertooth

Victor Creed was born in the middle 1800’s somewhere in the Northwest Territory of Canada.  His Mutant powers manifested in childhood, bestowing him greatly enhanced senses and physical attributes, along with sharpened claws and teeth and a healing factor that enabled him to quickly recover from nearly any injury.  Victor’s father was a cruel and superstitious man and became convinced his son had become possessed by some sort of lupine demon.  As such, he beat young Victor, chaining him in an attic and forcibly removed the lad’s teeth and fingernails.  These would grow back quickly and his father would repeat this brutal ordeal again and again.  

The abuse drove Victor mad and he crewed off his own hand in order to escape and murdered his father.  His limb regenerated and Victor wandered the Yukon ultimately finding work laying railroad tracks.  Constantly finding trouble, Victor committed several murders as he made his way to Calgary.  

Around the turn of the century, Victor learned that his older brother, Saul had been killed by a mysterious man named Logan (the individual who would go on to become the X-Man called Wolverine).  Victor sought this Logan out and captured him, bringing him to a scientist in America named Nathaniel Essex.  

Some time thereafter, Victor (who was now going be the name ‘Sabertooth’) traveled to Japan under the employ of the mysterious figure called Romulus.  Logan had escaped Essex and was extorted by The Hand to bring Sabertooth down.  The two battled once more and this time Logan was victorious.  During this battle, the two came to realize the similarities of their regenerative powers, leading to speculation that the pair might be related.  Victor escaped Logan and the two would later meet again fighting as mercenaries in the Sino-Japanese War of 1938.  

Sabertooth would go on to fight for the Allied Forces during the Second World War and was later recruited by Colonel Nicholas Fury to act as a member of his Avengers team, hunting down nazi war criminals and preventing the rise of a fourth reich. Some years thereafter, Sabertooth was reunited alongside Logan onto a black operations military squadron called Team X.  During his time with Team X, Victor had an affair with the Mutant shapeshifter, Mystique, and she became pregnant with their child.  

Team X was disbanded and Sabertooth was sent to Viet Nam to conduct illegal covert operations for a secretive governmental organization.  Some time thereafter, Sabertooth was approached by Charles Xavier who offered him a place among his Mutant team of heroes, The X-Men.  Victor soundly refused Xavier’s offer, showing no interest whatsoever in fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and Mutants.  

Later, Victor fell in with a beautiful young telepath named Birdy.  The two became lovers and Birdy used her telepathic gifts to cool Victor’s rage and offer him the sense of peace that had always eluded him.  Meanwhile, Victor’s son, Greydon Creed, had become involved in politics and the darker aspects of U.S, foreign policy.  Although both his parents were Mutants, Greydon was born human and he came to despise Mutants, seeing the stoking of anti-Mutant sentiment as a hugely effective means to bolster his fledgling political career.  So to torture his hated father, Greydon arranged for the murder of Birdy, causing Victor to return to his bloodthirsty ways.

Sabertooth would go on to partner with the super villain known as The Constrictor and had numerous run-ins with the heroes Iron-Fist, Power Man and others.  Sometime thereafter, Sabertooth was recruited by Mister Sinister to act as the field leader of this team of killers, The Marauders.  He led the Marauders into the Morlock tunnels below New York City and conducted a massacre that all but eradicated Morlock society.    

Acting as Sinister’s agent, working for others, or just on his own, Sabertooth would go on to have numerous altercations with Wolverine, The X-Men and many other heroes.   During the attack of the alien Phalanx, Sabertooth found himself allied with the X-Men and helped to save a number of the younger Mutants who would go on to form the team Generation X.  

Sabertooth was then outfitted with an inhibitor collar and forced to act in a heroic fashion as a member of X-Factor.  This only lasted a while before he was able to circumnavigate the collar and continue to his villainous ways.  

Some time thereafter, the Axis event resulted in a number of villains becoming heroic. Even after the event ended and most of the villains returned to their original states, the effect on Sabertooth seemed to continue.  This new heroic Sabertooth served as a member of The X-Men, becoming especially close with his teammate, Monet, and helping her work through the Mutant vampirism that had been afflicted onto her by her brother.  

The effects of the Axis event eventually wore off and Sabertooth returned to his original nature.  He was placed on a new team of covert Mutant agents modeled after the Weapon X program.  

Following the foundation of the Mutant nation of Krakoa, Sabertooth was deemed too dangerous a threat to Xavier and the governing council’s goals.  As such, he was imprisoned in a subterranean cage in the bowls of the living island.  Whilst there, Sabertooth came to realize there was something secretive and possibly nefarious about Xavier’s true intentions for Krakoa.  Sabertooth orchestrated an escape alongside the other poor Mutants imprisoned under the isle and remains at large.  

Sabertooth has featured in a pair of the Fox Films X-Men movies, portrayed by actor Tyler Mane in The X-Men and by actor Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  The villain/antihero first appeared in the pages of Iron Fist Vol. 1 #14 (1977).  

Meet Cyclops's New Nemesis, Doctor Stasis!

Meet Cyclops's New Nemesis, Doctor Stasis! #xmen #comics #comicbooks

The following article is a revised version of a post originally from my tumblr blog Alfie talks about comics Doctor Stasis is the overarching antagonist for the first year of Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz‘s X-Men. Stasis is a member of the anti-Mutant organization Orchis with a penchant for macabre genetic experiments. He is also Nathaniel Essex, but he is not Mister Sinister. He’s a different…

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Meet Cyclops's New Nemesis, Doctor Stasis!

Doctor Stasis is the overarching antagonist for the first year of Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz's X-Men. Doctor Stasis is a member of the anti-mutant organization Orchis with a penchant for macabre genetic experiments. He is also Nathaniel Essex, but he is not Mister Sinister. He is a different Nathaniel Essex. Doctor Stasis is the first of three additional Essexs to be revealed. All of whom are represented by their own French suit, the kind you find in a deck of playing cards.

The backstory behind the various Essexs is as follows. In the late 19th century, Doctor Nathaniel Essex envisioned four routes to triumph over machine dominance. Those routes were as follows: The Cosmic Powers, Post-Humanity, Magic, and Mutants. For these four routes, he created four clones, each marked by a French suit on their foreheads. In Essex’s eyes, the clones were in competition, survival of the fittest. The winner he hoped would allow him to ascend to godhood. 

Doctor Stasis is the clone with the suit of clubs on his forehead. He is the route of Post-Humanity. Stasis believes in artificially improving human bodies through genetic experiments. Stasis views the rise of Krakoa and mutants as a threat to humanity and his long-term goal of immortality. In his mind, Mutants are a cancer that must be excised from the earth if humanity is ever to ascend. 

In the first year of Duggan's X-Men, Doctor Stasis plans on exposing the secret of mutant resurrection. He wants the X-Men to attempt to suppress the story so Orchis can reveal that mutants took action against the freedom of the press, turning public sentiment against Mutantdom. 

Part of Doctor Stasis’s plan was to kill and collect a sample from Cyclops and run tests to see if it was a clone or if the mutants had truly conquered death. Once Cyclops was resurrected, he and fellow X-Men Synch hunted down Stasis where they learned he was actually a version of Nathanial Essex. Even though Stasis escaped, his plans were still foiled when Cyclops revealed the truth of mutant resurrection to reporter Ben Urich instead of suppressing the story as Stasis had hoped. 

Doctor Stasis has the potential to be a nemesis for Cyclops. Mister Sinister has long haunted the Summers bloodline but recently expanded beyond that to greater machinations. Doctor Stasis is representative of a specter that has haunted Scott Summers his entire life. 

Stasis’s angle of Post-Humanity is a novel take on Sinister. Mister Sinister views Mutants as tools to be used in his grand design. However, Doctor Stasis is repulsed by Mutants and is disgusted at the idea of them existing on the same planet as him. Sinister wants to use Mutants, Doctor Stasis wants to eradicate Mutants.

Another thing Doctor Stasis has going for him is his design. Pepe Larraz is one of the most talented artists working in comics today. Larraz has created so many instantly iconic designs, Doctor Stasis among them. I'd also like to note that Stasis has a cane sword. You can never go wrong with a cane sword. 

Doctor Stasis is a fantastic new addition to the X-Men’s rogues gallery. He has a killer design and a great narrative hook. He is an antagonist for Cyclops that harkens back to the character's past. Doctor Stasis is ripe with potential and represents an exciting development for the franchise.

Remaking 3 more of Fox's "X-Men" films

Here we go! I hope you liked my other post for Fox's X-Men, because I've got more ideas for their other films.

X-Men: Phoenix--I honestly didn't know what to do with First Class since, to my knowledge, it's mainly an original story. Because of this, I'm forgoing the past X-Men stories and keeping everything in the present, continuing on with the Dark Phoenix arc. I'm probably about to screw up this storyline (I wouldn't be the first one) since I have A LOT going on, but I do hope you appreciate some of my creativity. Given the content, this could probably be two movies. I was torn on whether or not to go the comic-accurate "space adventure with a cosmic entity" or the modern "alternate personality" route. I went with the former for the fans, but tell me if the alternate personality concept would be better!

Recap: Decimation has already happened, leaving Wolverine, Storm, Havok, Jean, Shadowcat, and Colosuss (as well as younger mutants) as the only X-Men with powers. As a result in the decline of mutants, Xavier's institute has formed a contract with the government to ensure the remaining mutants' safety and protection. Returning from mission to rescue NASA astronauts, Jean in exposed to a solar flare that unlocks her full potential as a telepath.

During this point, many powerless students have returned to their normal lives, though some (such as Cyclops and Rogue) stay at the mansion still, earning ire from some anti-mutant groups. However, life is somewhat better: Scott can see without his glasses, and Rogue is able to socialize without reservation. However, following Jean's declaration that she is called the Phoenix, she dissappears, and several months afterwards, Scott goes on a mission to find her, believing to have found her at a family reunion in Alaska, but is shocked to find she has no memory at all, and is bewildered by his question about the phoenix and calling herself Madelyne. Owing her survival to a scientist named Nathaniel Essex, Scott feels indebted to him and accepts Essex's offer to help Jean unlock her memory. Alex, at the reunion also, alterts the Professor, who advises him to keep an eye on Essex. During this period, Madelyne says she has strange dreams, which Scott assumes are her memories resurfacing. We catch glimpses of them, such as the reparation of an alien crystal.

At this point, it is revealed that Mastermind still has his powers, and hopes to join the Hellfire Club, consisting of Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce, and Henry Leland. During this period of time, we see via Jean's dreams that Mastermind seduced her into believing she is the black queen. At this point, Essex encourages Cyclops to return home, as the stress of helping Jean has gotten to him, though Alex insists on staying. At this point, it's revealed that seeing Jean being seduced by Mastermind were actually present-time events, as the X-Men (Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Shadowcat, and new recruits Dazzler, Banshee, and Forge) find out after being captured by her. The Madelyne is a clone, though Xavier doubts she has knowledge of it. It's noted her dreams were actually of being cloned, and that we were secretly seeing the real Jean as Phoenix.

As Alex feels bad for Madelyne's abuse by Essex and Clone Jean appreciates his kindness, they begin a relationship while Alex tries to find a way to beat Essex, who has much more secrets. Emma Frost attempts to distract a newly-returned Cyclops from finding out where the real Jean is, but he rebuffs her advances and attempts to find Jean, only for Mastermind to probe his memories with the clone and betraying Jean. It's revealed that Jean is possessed by a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, and the Hellfire Club crave her power, especially since there aren't as many mutants here anymore. This twists her even further, fleeing to space, where she devours a planet for nourishment. The Shi'ar empire is alerted to her presence, but she easily defeats them when they try to destroy her.

Jean returns home, and she notes how she can't hold back the Phoenix for much longer. The X-Men arrive to try to talk her down, and she wonders if she'll ever be free of other people's fear. It is revealed Xavier managed to track down Wanda, who restored his powers in order to fight Jean, though she refuses to help anyone else. The X-Men have reservations about this, given how much of a threat Wanda is, and they blame her further when the phoenix defeats the professor as soon as he secures psychic barriers around her mind to give Jean more control. The film ends with the abduction of the X-Men by the Shi'ar.

Post-Credits Scene: It's revealed that Emma Frost has her own school that has a small share of mutants, which has received an influx of students, given renewed hate for mutants. Beast notes that the Xavier Institute also receives new students, dubbing them the New Mutants. Havok returns with Madelyne, claiming Essex disappeared suddenly. It is revealed that this is not true, as Alex have been brainwashed by Essex, going by Mister Sinister, to keep tabs on the X-Men, and hints that Madelyne is pregnant--strangely at 9 months. Bonus: It's not shown a lot, but we see certain relationships grow stronger (Colossus and Kitty's romance, as well as Kurt and Rogue's sibling relationship). I'd also introduce Gambit around here, and show a blossoming relationship with him and Rogue.

New Mutants: I won't lie. I never saw the movie. This is just my idea, loosely based on my take on them in my "X-Men: Evolution" remake. I'll try to condense it more than the Phoenix saga.

Following her failure to control the Phoenix force, Emma Frost turns her attention to her own school, which houses a small amount of mutants, who she uses as weapons. Seeing that the X-Men are in space, she decides to wage war on the remaining mutants at the school with her Hellions, who include Hellion, Empath, Wither, Dust, Magma, and Warpath. Beast, being the only teacher left, cultivates what mutants are left, forming a team out of the strongest of them: Magik, Mirage, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, and Cypher. Amidst all of the emotional stuff within the Phoenix Saga, I enjoy the idea of this being a lot lighter, more fun, seeing the teens at school with a rivalry from the newly transferred Hellions, punctured by the Inferno storyline.

While taking the group on a "fun" stop in Limbo, Ilyana's demon powers emerge. While she marvels at her powers and the other mutants practice their own, Madelyne gives birth to twins, though to her horror, Ilyana's lack of control of her powers teleports them away from her. Discovering their disappearance, Sinister shows up to discover what has occurred, making Alex and Madelyne defeat the mutants and kidnap Beast, who Sinister brainwashes through cruel torture. He also reveals to Madelyne that she is a clone of Jean Grey, made out of Sinister's obsession with Jean and Scott's DNA, believing they will give birth to the perfect mutant. Viewing Alex as a satisfying alternative to Scott while Sinister searches for the twins, he manipulates Madelyne by reminding her of Alex's true love for her.

Curropted by her demonic urges, Ilyana decides to invade Earth, and her teammates rush to stop her, managing to convince Warpath and Magma to help them. Rahne and a human Nightcrawler eventually manage to talk her down, but even after shutting down the portal and preventing more demons from coming to Earth, the demon N'astirh possesses Madelyne and vows to find her children in order to use them as sacrifices to reopen the portal for Limbo. However, in an attempt to not be used as a pawn any longer, she wills herself to die at the combined onslaught of the New Mutants and some of the Hellions, revealing that she was created with a spark of the Phoenix Force. Emma, in her bid for power, makes herself a host for the force, though it bids her to return to one form, making her go to find Jean.

The film ends with Sinister destroying the mansion, but to the mutants' surprise, there are people willing to take in some of the mutants, having seen them go against the demons (not realizing it was Ilyana who caused it). Warpath and Magma join the New Mutants as well, with Warpath having let go of his hate for the X-Men.

Post-credits scene: The X-Men arrive on the Shi'ar ship, and are told that Jean Grey must die. Meanwhile, we see Emma Frost approach them, claiming she wants to help and knows how to defeat the Phoenix, not revealing that she intends to take this power for her own.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix--I'm gonna try and keep this concise. You know how this story goes.

Xavier challenges the Shi'ar empress Lilandra to a duel, which she cannot refuse. During this time, we see flashbacks of Jean as a child, joining the X-Men (with the original group being made up of her, Cyclops, Beast, Storm, and the Professor), as well as how her romance has impacted Wolverine and Cyclops. Forge takes note of the Shi'ar technology here, as well as Cyclops rebuffing Emma's seduction attempts, due to his feelings for Jean, as well as his experience with Madelyne and Emma's affiliation with the Hellfire Club.

When Charles wins the duel, he insists on letting the Imperial Guard and the X-Men fight in order to decide who will deal with the Phoenix. Wolverine and Jean share a tender moment, and Scott is vulnerable enough for Emma to invade his mind, mentally sleeping with him as Jean, but Jean sees this and once again feels as though Scott has betrayed her. Xavier, trying once again to tighten the control on Jean's mind, is killed in his attempt, leaving the X-Men horrified. Emma, sensing her chance, attempts to absorb the Phoenix power for herself, only for Jean to strip her of her spark, as the phoenix sees Jean as a more powerful host.

Jean attempts to hold back with what little willpower she has, though the X-Men realize the Phoenix cannot be contained. They battle the imperial guard, thinking back on times that they got to share with Xavier, as well as thinking about the message Alex sent Charles on the events of the previous film. During the battle, Scott is severely wounded after he jumps into battle to save Jean, and he laments that he couldn't live a normal life with his family while still knowing Jean, promising that he only truly loved her. He dies, and Jean's final restraints threaten to break. Noticing an ancient Shi'ar weapon, she uses it to destroy herself, releasing the Phoenix into the atmosphere. The X-Men return home, grieving their losses, with a defeated Emma Frost with them. They attempt to pick up the pieces, only for it to be revealed that any hope for normalcy once again threatened, this time from Mr. Sinister, as Alex warns them of the danger Sinister presents, especially if he finds his and Madelyne's children. While searching, they discover Collosus has gone missing.

Post-credits scene: It is revealed that Mr. Sinister was working for Apocalypse, the first mutant, and has recruited his horsemen: a brainwashed and repowered Angel (now Archangel) as Death, Polaris as Pestilence, a new mutant named Sunfire as Famine, and Colossus as war.

Lemme know what you think! I was gonna do the Apocalypse saga next, but I wanna get feedback on this, first.

stone-monkey

So what Im getting from this is that Nathaniel is now every new mildly mysterious supervillian?

LOL, no, just three of them. ;)

Basically - once upon a time, there was just one Nathaniel Essex aka Mr. Sinister, doing his eugenics fuckshit back in Victorian England when Apocalypse happened across him and was like yes, you get it. So he gave Essex a Celestial tech makeover and imbued him with longevity and all kinds of powers and set him on the road to becoming the Mr. Sinister we all know and loathe....except wait, maybe we never knew him at all.

Because in the last Immortal X-Men issue, we flashed back to when Irene Adler aka Destiny and Raven Darkholme aka Mystique aka Sherlock Holmes, were solving a mystery back in the late 1800s in London, which traced back to Essex and SEEMED to end in his death. But then cut to the 1940s, and Essex is somehow alive and well, and working on a shady US government funded genetics project with Irene and his other longtime co-conspirator Amanda Mueller (a mutant from the 1800s with the power of longevity but NOT eternal youth, and who happens to be the great-great-great-grandmother of Scott, Alex and Gabriel Summers). 

This project was really just a front for the original Sinister/Essex to use as a cover while in secret utilizing its resources to create four clones/genetic offshoots of himself. With each of them then implanted with a degree of his memories and made to believe that they were the original Sinister before he engineered their ‘escape’ and let them loose in four specific directions....because he was seeking the answer/solution to what he saw as the biggest threat to his own ambitions and well, Earth as a whole: the coming Phalanx invasion.

(The Phalanx are an infamous machine intelligence race in Marvel lore, think the Borg on steroids because they hail from extradimensional space and seek to assimilate life in every plane of existence, including the astral plane).

And so by creating these four under-Sinisters, each themed to a playing card motif, he sought to gain a foothold in the four most likely places to find viable resources or strategies to use against the Phalanx....but specifically in the four places he deemed too incompatible to ever work together for a common goal on their own.

Thus we got the Diamond Sinister we THOUGHT we’d known all along, as he looks the most like the original Sinister....but this Sinister was genetically engineered to be a mutant and obsessed with mutants and ended up on Krakoa as one of the Quiet Council.

Club Sinister is Dr. Stasis, a completely human version of Nathaniel Essex who ended up in the hierarchy of Orchis, the big anti-mutant organization obsessed with the eradication of mutantkind and willing to work with anyone to accomplish that....including Nimrod and Omega Sentinel, two machine intelligences who behind the backs of the rest of Orchis are plotting the annihilation of all humanity along with mutantkind, and are trying to pave the way for the looming Phalanx invasion.

Spade Sinister is Orbis Stellaris, the version of himself that Nathaniel heavily modified with extraterrestrial-derived Celestial tech and then yeeted into deep space, where he became a prominent figure in the Galactic Rim Collective, rising to power there by genetically engineering clone armies he mass produced and sold to the highest bidders, turning this into political cachet that eventually got him a seat in the Galactic Rim Collective’s government, similar to how Diamond Sinister weaseled his way into mutants’ government.

And Heart Sinister is Mother Righteous, the odd woman out of the group in all sorts of ways, not the least of which being she’s the one of the four obsessed not just with science and genetics but with magic and the occult as well. She’s spent the last few decades building a power base for herself on the astral plane itself, becoming known as ‘the wheeler/dealer of the astral plane, who can offer you anything you seek in exchange for a favor’ as she built up a system of quid pro quo wherein she trades in gods, spirits, wishes....by using the power and resources of beings who utilize her ‘services’ in order to fund and back the requests of the next people to seek her out. Like one giant occult Pyramid Scheme based out of her lair on the Astral Plane where she spies on everyone’s dreams. 

Currently Mother Righteous is hanging out in the Altar, which is a bubble-space in the Astral Plane that was created by Legion (David Haller, Professor Xavier’s omega level mutant son) and tethered to Arakko in real/physical space. (Arakko being Mars, renamed after twelve omega level mutants terraformed the planet and relocated Krakoa’s sister-nation Arakko to it, making it the mutant homeworld). Mother Righteous seems to think Legion is the key to defeating the Phalanx, and has as her right-hand man a fusion being called Vox Ignis (Voice of the Fire) who are basically a symbiosis of Sean Cassidy aka Banshee and a Ghost Rider-esque spirit that’s called the Spirit of Variance rather than the Spirit of Vengeance. We don’t know much about what their deal is yet.

But anyway.....this is all building up to an event in January called Sins of Sinister where Diamond/Krakoan Sinister is going to make a power play to basically take over the solar system.....and seems to be on a collision course with the other three Sinister-derivations, who each have their own agendas that don’t play well with ‘letting Diamond Dave screw up all OUR plans by playing Master of the Universe or whatever fuckshit he’s on about now.’

Odds are the event, which is almost guaranteed to pit all four against each other, will end with the four of them taking each other out, everyone else believing that Sinister is gone for good (because only Irene and Mystique know that there’s a FIFTH Sinister running around, the original who created the other four....well Apocalypse and Amanda probably know too, but the former’s in Amenth and who knows where the latter is these days). But ultimately I’m betting this is all according to OG Sinister’s plans and he’s just been biding his time til his creations all take each other out so he can co-opt everything they’ve learned and come up with for facing off against the Phalanx, and pick up where each of them left off without having to share, lol.

can we get a sneak peak of your upcoming colossus drabbles/fics?

Okay, so I don't really have anything I wanna take excerpts from right now, but I can give you an inside look at what I'm planning next for the series in terms of, like, over-arcing themes and plot (gonna through in a read more for those who don't want spoilers):

So, right now, we're entering the first pregnancy arc. That's mostly going to be just a lot of softness around the reader's first viable pregnancy and all the fluff that goes with it. So, things like setting up the nursery, baby showers, gender reveal party (which is only bc the reader's miscarried so many times, so she and Piotr want to celebrate making it far enough along to determine the gender), getting supplies, and so on.

There'll be some angst, too; obviously, we've seen the Reader deal with her pregnancy related trauma -but Piotr's got trauma from the miscarriages as well that he needs to work through. The Reader's also a higher risk pregnancy, so there's stress that comes along with that. All in all, though, it's gonna be a lot of fluff.

I'm also going to do a "throwback" run (which I might intersperse with the pregnancy arc, haven't decided yet) based on a lot of the asks I've been getting! That'll just be stuff from before Piotr and the Reader were engaged, and it's gonna be p much just pure fluff with maybe some smut on the side.

We're also moving into the next stage of plot, which involves setting up Nathaniel Essex as the main antagonist for the remainder of the series (along with some occasional interference from anti-mutant groups and other Big Bads). I don't have that completely figured out, but we're gonna start see him showing up and moving towards his own goals.

I'm also contemplating some more stuff about Alexandra's past, but that'll probably be dependent on time and audience interest.

Scott Summers Character Study

Okay, does anyone else have those characters that they don’t follow full-time, but they always come back to? Kind of like that old sweatshirt you keep: sure, you have new ones, and they’re great, but that old one is just comfortable, and perfect.

Scott Summers has always been that character for me; like, sometimes I might go months, or years without writing, or looking up anything Scott Summers related... Then something happens, and boom. There it goes, I’m on a roll again. And so... Here we are with my rant of the day.

Buckle in folks, this is gonna be a long one.

I think a lot of people have dismissed Scott as a character, saying that he’s ‘flat’, or ‘one-dimensional’. And if you only periodically glance at comics, or peruse through the movies, I can see how you’d come to that conclusion.

Because unlike Logan (who I do enjoy, this isn’t an anti-Logan post), whose story is easy to follow, easy to understand, Scott’s story is nuanced; it’s something developed over time, with small hints and glimpses thrown in.

For example... what we find out is that Scott is the way he is, because Xavier made him that way. Xavier needed a leader, but he was stuck with Scott: a boy who had lost his parents. A boy who’d suffered from a horrific brain injury. A boy who’d been experimented on, and mind-raped by Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mr. Sinister for Scott’s formative years following his brain injury. A boy who escaped a sadistic telepath, only to end up in the hands of an abusive criminal.

So what does Xavier do? Well, he smooths out those edges; he puts subtle compulsions to turn Scott into the leader he needs him to be. He takes the edge off of the worst memories, and turns them into something distant; something that Scott can look at like a movie starring someone else as the traumatized kid.

Now, don’t misunderstand me: Scott was a brilliant leader. He had the tactical ability, the logistical knowledge to be a leader, even without Xavier. Which is what makes what Xavier did that much worse.

Because what that means is that Scott could’ve gotten there on his own; he could’ve been that leader without Xavier screwing with his head.

Xavier took a kid who needed a home, who needed stability, who needed therapy, and said, “Aha! I know a quicker route! Screw that other stuff; that’ll take years to be effectual! I’ll just do a bit of mental landscaping, and wall off the emotions he felt; I’ll just take the edge off those memories! Surely, nothing can go wrong!”

Looking at Scott’s relationship with Jean from this perspective also sheds new light on it: Scott’s mind had been violated by three telepaths, all of whom had only their own goals in mind. Mr. Sinister, Jack Winters, and Charles Xavier all were concerned more with Scott as means to an end, than they were with Scott himself.

Enter Jean Grey. A young girl, who is a freak even by mutant standards. She struggled to keep her telepathy under control, and we’re frequently shown in comics, books, and even the movies, that she picked up stray thoughts from almost everyone, leading to some very embarrassing moments for everyone. She was an outcast among outcasts.

Not to Scott though. When everyone else is worried about keeping their thoughts locked up tight around Jean, when everyone else is avoiding her so she doesn’t accidentally read their minds... Scott embraces her. He falls in love with her.

And I don’t think we truly ever look at why. Because here was a kid who had every justifiable reason to hate Jean -he’d spent roughly half his life being a plaything for telepaths, people who plucked out things they didn’t like, or added things they wanted. Out of everyone at the Mansion, Scott truly had the best reason to fear and/or hate Jean; out of all of them, Scott best knows the dangers of having a telepath rooting around in other people’s minds. But he doesn’t. Instead, he falls in love with her.

Why? Don’t misunderstand me, they had things they loved about each other in their relationship, but how did it even begin? Why was Scott so open and accepting about Jean’s fragile control over her telepathy in their teenage years?

Because he’d never had any say in who played in his head to begin with. To him, Jean’s accidental slip-ups were nothing compared to the other telepaths he’d interacted with. While everyone else saw Jean’s powers for what they were (an invasion of their most sacred thoughts, accidental or not), Scott was so screwed in the head that it wouldn’t have crossed his mind to be angry or upset about it.

This isn’t to malign Jean, or her and Scott’s relationship; after all, Jean hadn’t done anything wrong either. But it casts a rather dark shadow over the beginnings of their relationship.

But why does Scott become so enamored with Jean? To the point where, after her death, he marries a woman who -although he doesn’t know it -is quite literally a clone of her?

Because Jean was the first telepath who didn’t screw with his head; probably the only person who truly knew what was going on in Scott’s head, and didn’t run screaming. Although he would later meet another, for many years, Jean was the only telepath Scott had had in his mind who didn’t remake his mental landscape.

And think about it: how many people would’ve been comfortable having a lover who literally knew what you were thinking, 24/7? That’s not being mean, that’s just pragmatism: we rarely share our innermost thoughts with anyone, and yet we see that Jean was as comfortable in Scott’s head as she was her own.

We see that Jean’s death devastated Scott; for the first time, he went against his programming. For the first time, we start to catch glimpses of Scott beyond what Sinister, Winters, and Xavier created.

Now, what Scott did to Madelyne was wrong; there’s no two ways around it. However, what can we learn from this, when viewed in context with everything else?

Following Jean’s death, Scott acted like a man who’d lost a piece of himself. He starts searching for his past (finding his grandparents in Alaska), where he meets a woman who is practically the physical twin of his soulmate. Within months, Scott proposes, and they get married, eventually having a son (and we won’t even get into the fact that Scott allows Madelyne to name his son after a man who nearly broke him).

As an adult, these actions can only be looked at as selfish, and reprehensible. But what if we look at it through a different lens for a moment.

These actions would be considered ‘normal’ by teenagers, and young adults; hell, most of us went to school with couples whose story emulated Scott and Madelyne’s. Scott’s first and only girlfriend dies tragically, and he decides to try and learn more about his past -for the first time since his parents died. He meets a girl, rebounds hard, and gets married quickly, only to realize what most adults already know: rebounds never work, and never last. Looking at Madelyne was a benefit at the start, but as time went on, it became a knife in his chest: she was the physical twin of Jean, after all, but she wasn’t really Jean -in fact, Madelyne and Jean had very little in common beyond the physical.

Any healthy adult would have understood this; that physically looking like someone doesn’t mean two people are the same. While this doesn’t excuse Scott’s treatment of Madelyne, it at least gives us a reason. He’s acting out, searching for his origins, and falling in love with a girl who looks like the only person who loved him for who he was. Just like a teenage boy would do.

Now, again: this behavior is unacceptable. As a society, we teach boys this, and they learn through experience. It’s a life lesson -however, it’s one that Scott never got to learn. Scott never got to be a teenage boy; he never got the chance to learn, because Xavier had turned him into his perfect little soldier who never questioned him from such a young age (and prior to that, his only consistent interactions were with the men who abused him, mentally and physically).

Later, we see Scott with Emma Frost -a woman most consider to be a villain, a woman who had fought against the X-Men before. Why?

Well, firstly, let’s consider the implications that Scott chooses another relationship with a female telepath. Sure, with Jean, we explained why they ended up together, but by the time Scott meets Emma, he’s older; he’s more experienced. Why does he put himself in a relationship with someone with the same telepathic abilities as the men who nearly destroyed his very sense of self as a child?

We have to remember that, at first, Emma simply offers to telepathically counsel Scott; to try and piece together the shattered void of his mental landscape. Meaning that Emma was the first person at that point to see the emerging Scott Summers -Jean knew the Scott that had been created, manipulated, and ordered around by Xavier, but following Jean’s death, we start to see glimpses of the real Scott. And Emma is the first telepath to get to see inside Scott’s head, as he starts to throw off the remnants of what Xavier had turned him into.

And she starts to fall in love with him. Unlike with Jean, there are no demands or expectations in place; Emma accepts him for who he is. He questions his loyalty to Xavier? Emma’s okay with that. He questions who he actually is? Emma offers to help him find out.

(Please note: this isn’t knocking Jean; she was as much a victim of Xavier as Scott was, in her own way).

But for the first time, we see Scott Summers start to come into his own; we see him making decisions, expressing opinions, expressing wants and desires outside of life as an X-man. We see him show doubt of Xavier, we see him struggling with who he actually is, and who he was made into.

And Emma... Emma just accepts it. She accepts Scott for who he is, with no agenda, no pressure, not expectations.

Moving a head a bit, let’s look at the action that turned Scott into one of the most reviled comic characters: his killing of Charles Xavier, while under the control of the Phoenix Force.

Now, you can look here for my opinions on Xavier, and why I think we should’ve all been celebrating his death. But let’s look at this for a moment.

Most people’s reactions to this were ‘Xavier raised Scott! Scott was like his son! Scott was one of his first students! How could he?!’

I think the better question, when we look at all the events in Scott’s life is... how did he refrain that long? Xavier’s betrayal of him was so much worse than Sinister’s or Winters’ because Xavier did it as a friend. As a parental figure. Sinister just rewrote, erased, or destroyed things in Scott’s head as he pleased, simply for kicks. Winters’ used his -admittedly limited -telepathic abilities to force Scott to help him steal.

But Xavier saved him from that, right? Xavier gave him a safe place to stay. A place with no more experiments, no more mind-control, no more pain. He earned Scott’s trust, gave him a home, a life, and a purpose.

Only... he didn’t. Xavier betrayed Scott, in a way that Sinister and Winters couldn’t have done. Because Scott didn’t trust them. He trusted Xavier, and Xavier fucked with his head just as badly as Sinister had done. Whereas Sinister and Winters had taken a sledgehammer to Scott’s mental landscape... Xavier just chiseled away at it until it became something he wanted. 

I’m going to end this here, because really, there wasn’t much of a point to this post, other than to detail out a lot of thoughts that have been kicking around for a while. If you agree, or disagree, I’d love to hear it. 

Jammer, Jammer - Warum es absolut egal ist, dass Taskmaster in “Black Widow” nur wenig mit Taskmaster zu tun hat

Plötzlich also stört es die Leute, dass Taskmaster in “Black Widow” wenig mit Taskmaster zu tun hat. Weil Taskmaster ja so ein beliebter und allgegenwärtiger Comic-Charakter ist, den jeder kennt und liebt. Nur, dass das eben nicht stimmt. Aber immerhin geht es hier um einen Film, der eine Frau in den Mittelpunkt stellt, und man muss ja irgendetwas finden, das man gegen ihn sagen kann, also nimmt man das, da man so zumindest so tun kann als wäre die Kritik berechtigt, da man ja so ein Überfan der Comics ist.

ACHTUNG BLACK WIDOW SPOILER VORAUS! Ja, sie haben Taskmaster gendergebendet, und ja, der Charakter tut im Grunde nicht das, wofür er in den Comics bekannt ist, nämlich Schurken ausbilden, sondern ist ein Opfer, das gerettet werden muss. Aber zumindest besitzt er die Fähigkeiten von Taskmaster und mehr oder weniger auch den Look. Was mehr ist als viele andere Charaktere in Comic-Adaptionen von sich sagen können. Nicht mal das genderbenden änder so viel. Und ist auch nicht das erste Mal im MCU. Mar-Vell und Flagsmasher wurden ebenfalls gendergebendet. Genau wie Tilda Swintons Charakter! Und bei DC macht man das übrigens dauernd, mindestens ein drittel der weiblichen Schurken aus dem Arrowverse sind eigentlich Männer in den Comics, zuletzt Mirror Monarch, die auf Evan McCulloch den zweiten männlichen Mirror Master basiert, und da hat sich darüber keiner aufgeregt, was ich mitbekommen habe. Aber natürlich würde es dann wieder die Behauptung geben, dass es nicht um das genderbenden geht sondern um die Figurencharakteristik und den geänderten Hintergrund des Charakters. SPOILER ENDE

Da hat man das Gefühl diese Leute hätte noch nie auch nur einen “X-Men”-Film gesehen. Oder Christopher Nolans “Dark Knight”-Filme. Oder eine Folge von “Arrow”. Oder wollt ihr MCU-Beispiele aus diesem Jahr? Im Rahmen einer Besprechung von “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” habe ich das schon einmal gesagt, aber ja, Flagsmasher ist in den Comics ein politisch engagierter  Charakter, der eine Welt ohne Landesgrenzen herbeisehnt, nicht um den Status Quo seiner Kindheit aufrecht zu erhalten, sondern um eine Utopie zu erreichen, ein Ideal, das die Welt verbessern soll. Er will Änderungen anstatt zurück zu alten Ideen, also will er im Grunde das Gegenteil von dem Ziel des namengleichen Charakters in der Serie. Und er hatte auch zumindest die meiste Zeit über keine Superkräfte. Oder nehmen wir “Loki”. ACHTUNG SPOILER FÜR LOKI! Sylvie ist in den Comics kein alternativer Loki, sie ist ein eigenständiger Charakter, der nicht auf diese Weise mit Loki zusammenhängt und eine vollkommen andere Backstory hat. Die TVA ist in den Comics ebenfalls vollkommen anders, genau wie ihre Angestellten, von Mobius bis Renslayer hat niemand dieser Charaktere auch nur viel mehr als den Namen mit ihren Comicvorbildern gemeinsam (wenn man davon absieht, dass manche von ihnen für die TVA arbeiten) SPOILER ENDE Aber darüber regt sich scheinbar niemand auf, weil ... die Charaktere aus den Comics niemand kennt oder wie?

In “X-Men 3″ haben sie Callisto und Caliban zu einem Charakter verschmolzen und jeder “X-Men”-Leser kennt diese beiden Charaktere, die wichtige Nebencharaktere sind und sogar Mitglieder von X-Teams waren. Wo war die Aufregung deswegen? Nolan hat es nicht einmal geschafft Robin den richtigen zivilen Namen zu geben, und dabei hätte er mehrere zur Auswahl gehabt. Warum hat sich darüber niemand aufgeregt? Oliver Queen im Arrowverse begann seine Karriere als Serienmörder, hat aus irgendwelchen Gründen Firestorms Stiefmutter, die nichts mit ihren Comicvorbild zu tun hatte, geheiratet, und sein Sohn stammt von der falschen Frau, und nach der linksradikalen politischen Einstellung, die den Charakter in seiner nach allgemeiner Übereinkunft besten Zeit in den Comics prägte, sucht man in “Arrow” ebenfalls umsonst. Trotzdem haben sich die Leute gerade mal über den Mord an Black Canary und darüber, dass eines der größten Comic OTPs in der Serie einfach durch irgendeine Fanspinnerei ersetzt wurde aufgeregt. Trotzdem ist die Serie acht Jahre lang gelaufen. “X-Men: First Class” hat erneut zwei Charaktere verschmolzen und Kevin Bacon zwar Sebastian Shaw genannt, ihn aber im Grunde Nathaniel Essex spielen lassen, und uns damit darum gebracht einen der wichtigsten X-Feinde, nämlich Sinister, jemals in der Filmreihe sehen zu können. Darüber habe gerade mal ich mich aufgeregt. Dass Mysterio ein Kollektiv von Mitarbeitern in “Spider-Man: Far from Home” hatte, hat niemanden gestört, und wenn wir gerade beim Thema sind, Iron Man Junior hat mit Peter Parker ungefähr noch weniger gemeinsam als Taskmaster mit Taskmaster und die Nebencharakterer, die ihn im MCU umgeben, besitzen gerade mal die Namen der Charaktere, die sie sein sollen und sonst nichts von ihnen, aber nein, das ist ja eine gelungene Adaption, weil Peter endlich jung ist, weil es ja nicht so ist, dass die ersten beiden Filmreihen nicht auch mit Highschool-Schüler Peter begonnen haben und Peter Parker seit den 60ern nicht mehr auf High School ist, sprich jeder, der behauptet Peter müsste ein Schüler sein und kein junger Mann zwischen 20 und 35 lügt oder hat nur “Ultimate Spider-Man” gelesen, was in einem anderen Universum spielt.

Aber klar, Hugh Jackman ist auch ja auch der perfekte Wolverine, ist ja nicht so, dass Wolverine in den Comics 1,50 ist. Michelle Jones ist Mary Jane Watson, obwohl sie nicht mal den selben Namen hat wie dieser Charakter, und nicht zu vergessen Nega Sonic Teenage Warhead ist ja so cool, obwohl der Charakter, auf dem sie passiert andere Kräfte hatte, anders aussah, und vor ihrem Filmauftriff einfach nur existiert hat um zu sterben.

Das erinnert mich daran, wie sich diese Fans darüber aufgregt haben, dass die Skrulls die Guten in “Captain Marvel” sind. Etwas anderes konnten sie nicht kritisieren, also haben sie das genommen und all die vielen guten Skrulls, die es in den Comics gibt, ignoriert und die Tatsache, dass die Kree immer schon viel böser als die Skrulls waren und deren ewigen Krieg angefangen haben, ausgeblendet. Hauptsache man kann so tun als würde man legitime Kritik anmelden. Wenn man bedenkt, was für eine untergeordnete Rolle Taskmaster in “Black Widow” spielt, dann ist es sowieso egal was sie mit diesem Charakter machen. Sie hätten irgendjemanden nehmen können und ihn “die Waffe” nennen können, der Effekt wäre der gleiche gewesen, da sie aber die Fähigkeiten von Taskmaster genommen haben, haben sie den Charakter eben Taskmaster genannt (obwohl genau genommen nicht einmal das stimmt, aber darauf will ich jetzt nicht eingehen).

Das Problem hierbei ist natürlich, dass der Film über ein Jahr verspätet herausgekommen ist. Seit dem ersten Trailer wurde immer wieder Promomaterial herausgebracht, und Taskmaster war ein Charakter, der große für die Promotion genutzt wurde. Um alles noch schlimmer zu machen hat Marvel eine neue “Taskmaster”-Mini-Serie herausgebracht, um auf Grund des Films mehr Leser anzulocken, was normalerweise nie funktioniert, dieses Mal wegen der langen Wartezeit aber scheinbar doch Leute dazu gebracht hat diese Serie zu lesen um zu wissen was es mit diesen Charakter auf sich hat, die dann verwirrt vorm Film saßen. Aber ich habe einen Newsflash für euch: Das MCU war noch nie eine besonders treue Verfilmung der Marvel Comics! Hank und Janet Pym sind im Alter von Iron Man und Co., Quicksilver ist nie gestorben, Pepper war mit Happy verheiratet nicht mit Tony, Steve Rogers große Liebe war Sharon Carter, nicht Peggy, und er ist sicherlich nicht zurück in die Vergangenheit gegangen um dort zu leben, Thanos will die Hälfte alles Lebenden umbringen, weil er Death liebt und beeindrucken will, Überbevölkerung ist ihm eigentlich schnurz, Peter Quills Vater ist ein böser Imperator und kein lebendiger Planet, Nebula und Gamora sind keine Schwestern, und Natasha und Bruce hatten nie diese Art von Gefühle füreinander, und kein Ase ist jemals schwarz, aus offensichtlichen Gründe. Und Doctor Strange wurde in Tibet ausgebildet, verdammt!

Ist Taskmaster ein Charakter, den wir gerne mal so wie er sein sollte, in einem Film gesehen hätten? Ja, aber nichts an “Black Widow” verhindert das, wenn es jemand wirklich wollen würde, dann könnten sie das immer noch tun und einfach einen neuen Taskmaster machen. Immerhin geben sie jetzt ja bereits Namen an neue Charaktere weiter. Und um ganz ehrlich zu sein, niemandem ist Taskmaster wichtig genug um ihn so dringend richtig in einen neuen Film sehen zu wollen. Tut mir ja leid, wenn er euer Lieblingscharakter sein sollte, aber wenn man mir weder Sinister noch Sebastian Shaw gönnt, müsst ihr mit dieser Version von Taskmaster leben.

Natürlich kann man diesen Aspekt der Adaption kritisieren, aber so einen Aufstand darüber zu machen, heißt nur eines: Euch ist nichts anderes eingefallen, womit ihr die ach so böse feministische Propaganda kritisieren konntet.

Wir sprechen uns wieder wenn der Großteil der Charaktere in der falschen Altersgruppe ist, mehrere Hauptschurken zu einer Figur verschmolzen wurden, zwei Charaktere, die das definitiv nicht sind und eigentlich kaum etwas miteinander zu tun haben, plötzlich Ziehgeschwister sind, und der Anti-Held/Schurke mit seiner Philosophie eigentlich recht hat und damit die ganze Agenda der Helden ab absurdum geführt wurde. Dann dürft ihr euch beschweren. Oder ihr habt endlich “X-Men: First Class” gesehen. Ich meine, die haben die Hellfire Club in einem Film, der in den 1960ern spielt, versaut. Zu allem anderen noch dazu. Und ihr beschwert euch allen Ernstes über “Black Widow”?!

You know what I dislike?

When villain fans try to claim that they want to see a villain forgiven, because they’re projecting and deep down THEY want to be forgiven!!!

Honestly, I think it’s bullshit.

First of all, these are the same people who turn around and white wash the villain’s crimes entirely.  They blame the victim, they claim the heroes are just as bad.  They ignore collateral damage entirely.

That’s not “wanting forgiveness”.  That’s wanting to be excused from their misdeeds altogether.  And that’s an entirely different kettle of fish.

For one thing, NO ONE deserves to have that kind of absolution.  It doesn’t matter how good a person you are.  If you act in a cruel way, if you hurt someone, that should be acknowledged.  That should be dealt with, if possible, and understood and learned from, if it’s not possible.

There’s something a little inconsistent about the idea of identifying with a villain because of self-hatred, and then explaining very earnestly that the villain isn’t actually that bad.

Look, if you’re not a mass murderer who joined a fascist organization and aided in mass enslavement or genocide, you’re a better person than Kylo Ren.  Go look in the mirror and remind yourself of that.  Hourly if you have to.

Second, we ALL identify with villains sometimes.  And it’s not always out of self hatred.  The fact of the matter is, villains are generally more fun than the heroes.  They get to do what they want without consequence.  They don’t have to deal with regret, shame, or guilt.

Really, that “getting what you want without consequences” tends to explain the white washing more than self-hatred does, in my opinion.

But either way, just because we identify with them does not make them good people.

I like to joke that the X-Man character that I most identify with is Mr. Sinister (we’re both assholes obsessed with Scott Summers, and sometimes I do think I’m a bad day away from building a secret orphanage to play mind games on people.)  That doesn’t mean that Nathaniel Essex deserves a happy ending!

Third, okay, let’s say it’s absolutely true.  These folks identify with Kylo Ren or Billy Hargrove or <insert token pretty boy villain here> out of self hatred, and you want him to be forgiven so you can imagine yourself forgiven.

Well, that’s fine.  Until they decide to try to guilt the rest of us into playing along with this wish-fulfillment fantasy.

Because that’s what tends to happen next.  “I NEED Kylo Ren to be redeemed, for my own mental health!”

Okay, well, a lot of people who identify with Finn, Rey, or Poe might NEED Kylo Ren to die for hurting them.  A lot of people who have been hurt by entitled white men who were born in privilege and hold a lot more power than they do might NEED Kylo Ren to pay for his crimes.

Why are the Kylo fans’ needs more important than the rest of us?

And of course it turns into: “If you hate this villain, you hate the mentally ill/abuse survivors/LGBTQ people”, because of course, the only people who are mentally ill, abuse survivors, and so on are villain fans, right?

Ultimately, I think it’s an attempt to shut down the conversation entirely.  And fuck that shit.

People can and will like who they want.  They’ll identify with whoever they want.  But they don’t have the right to push that onto the rest of us.

Honestly, I don’t think the creators care what we think: whether we’re fans or antis.  They’re going to redeem or not redeem these characters based on the story that they have planned.  We can try to predict it, but in the end, any one of us could be right in the end.

That doesn’t mean we have to like it, though.  Or that we have to shut up about it either.

Grimm told me that serial rapist Adalind got a happy ending with one of her victims.  I’m going to complain about that until the day I fucking die.

Walking Dead may be trying to tell me that Negan will deserve a happy life with the rest of the survivors.  I’m still going to hope that one of his former victims shivs him in his sleep.

And sorry, but even if you think that you basically ARE Kylo Ren on a fundamental level, and even IF Lucasfilms actually redeem him in Episode IX (which I still HIGHLY DOUBT), I’m still going to call him what he is: a mass murdering, torturing, abusive war criminal with no redeeming characteristics.

If that bothers you, there’s a block button, feel free to use it.

Nephalem of X

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ZLoFkP

by Ronin2016

Born without the ability to perform magic, Harry is thought to be a Squib and is given away by his parents to a family friend, Nathaniel Essex, also known as the villain Mister Sinister. Having discovered that the boy is actually a mutant with powerful abilities, Sinister takes him into clandestine Weapon Plus program, where Harry is experimented upon, and where he becomes a deadly Nephalem, lethal and dangerous weapon agaisnt enemies of Weapon Plus and Sinister. However, despite being mind controlled by the Weapon Plus, a chance encounter with the X-Men and defeat their hands finally frees Nephalem from the control of Sinister and Weapon Plus.

Deciding not wallow in self-pity and depression, Harry adopts the name of Nephalem and becomes a force for good, joining the ranks of X-Men and the SHIEILD, fighting for the betterment of mutants and humans alike against whatever threat may loom over them- aliens, terrorists, extra-dimensional demons, and even Dark Wizards and Witches. Let the Dark Lord tremble, for there is now a new hero who stands agaisnt him, and his name is Nephalem, the X-Man Who Lived.

Primarily based on Marvel Comics, with elements of various films added in.

Words: 12403, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, X-Men - All Media Types

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/M

Characters: Harry Potter, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Marauders (Harry Potter), Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort (Harry Potter), Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Logan (X-Men), Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, Other X-Men Characters, Harry Potter Characters, Nick Fury, Dorea Black Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Captain America - Character, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, x-men - Character, Avengers - Character, SHIELD Agents & Staff, Nathaniel Essex

Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter

Additional Tags: Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Misguided Albus Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Charlus Potter and Dorea Potter are James Potter's Parents, James Potter Being an Asshole, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, Wolverine is a bro, X-Men Inspired, Dark Harry, Harry Potter is a Mutant, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, BAMF Nick Fury, Nick Fury is a Good Bro, BAMF Phil Coulson, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Magneto is an anti-hero/not a villain, X-Men are supportive', alternative universe, Strong Female Characters

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2ZLoFkP

X-Men First Class Hellfire Club Re-Design

I was going through some old stuff of mine and found ideas for a version of the Hellfire Club in First Class that would be more comics-accurate and enjoyable for me. I think I might have posted it before, but in case I didn’t, here it is! In this version, the Hellfire Club has the same history and origins as its comicverse counterpart: Founded in the 18th century as a society for the most wealthy and elite, and is so to this today. However, while most of its members see it simply as a social club for them to enjoy mingling with fellow people of their status, it has a secret Inner Circle made up of some of the most powerful and influential people on the planet, who seek to dominate the world economically, politically, and socially through wealth. And now, that Inner Circle is made up of mutants. Their goal is the one that Sebastian Shaw originally espoused in their early appearance in the comics, but never quite seemed to get around to: Owning the mutant genome. Mutants are emerging, and the Hellfire Club sees in them the potential for profit if they can get there first. They want to get their hands on every mutant they can and use them for the development of bio-weapons, medicines, anything and everything that could be done using the literally endless potential abilities of mutantkind. They don't care about mutant rights or human acceptance or any of that---they care about profit, and they will happily put other mutants on the dissection table for it. They're also equally happy to profit from human bigotry, which they are already preparing for, developing and testing anti-mutant weapons so that when humankind becomes aware of mutants and panics, they'll already be ready to sell them the goods before anyone else. As with the original move Club, they're also doing the whole "trying to start the next world war" thing, justthey're instigating it for profit rather than propagating the mutant species. Unlike their comic book counterparts, their image should not evoke the 1700s/1800s or BDSM themes. Instead, they should be dressed in chic corporate business-wear most of the time; in combat, however, they switch to one-piece battle uniforms like the X-Men have. However, their uniforms should have a sleeker, more regal look, and admittedly a little on the sexier side too. They should just look 'cooler' than the X-Men, somehow; it fits with their 'better than you' attitude. Also unlike the comics, the Inner Circle are not named after chess pieces, but their comic book codenames are alluded to by being given these names (Black King, White Queen, etc.) in something like a government file, or over a secret radio transmission, something like that, either by themselves or by the government or by the X-men (ex: “White Queen incoming, over” or the like)

Hellfire Club Members:

Sebastian Shaw - Definitely not Kevin Bacon, definitely never a Nazi. Sebastian Shaw has the same background as his comicverse counterpart---born a poor steel worker, became a billionaire industrialist--and has the whole "tall muscular guy with sideburns and a ponytail" thing going on, as he should. He also is going to rip his shirt off at least once. Shaw should basically epitomize the "all business, nothing personal" approach. Profit and power are his first/only concerns, and he openly sneers at Erik's beliefs as much as he does at Charles'. Like Bacon!Shaw, he initially offers the X-Men the option to join him, but unlike Bacon!Shaw he makes no pretenses about being unwilling to "harm another mutant" if they don't. He should be a brilliant strategist, and incredible in physical combat (and not just because of his mutant abilities either) as well as classy as fuck (although there should a scene where he loses it and his poor Pennsylvania miner accent slips out and he looks mortified because he worked so hard to lose it) His big weakness, and the weakness of the Hellfire Club on the whole, is an inability to understand or trust people; he has recruited others based only on their powers and use to him, but he doesn't trust them or vice versa. Any of them would sell any of the others out in a second, in contrast to the solidarity between both the X-Men and, eventually, the Brotherhood. As with Bacon!Shaw, he has the prototype anti-telepathy helmet, invented by his labs and Dr. Essex, which both he and Dr. Essex wear (and which Magneto will take from Dr. Essex like he did with Bacon!Shaw, see Essex's section below) Emma Frost - Unlike Shaw, Emma doesn't come from a working class background, but was instead born into upper-crust society. However, she didn't coast by on her family's cash, but instead chose to build a fortune of her own as a businesswoman. While her mutant abilities are what made Shaw recruit her, it's this work ethic that gained his respect. Like Shaw, she's incredibly classy and intelligent, but she understands people much better he does because of her telepathy, and this makes her far better at manipulation. He makes battle strategies, she makes people strategies. While she lacks the physical combat skills of Shaw, her diamond form helps her make up for it, making her pack a hell of a punch and be immune to almost all physical assaults. She speaks with either a British accent or a posh WASP-type one, and she is very clearly equal to Shaw, not subordinate to him (in other words, no, she does not get him fucking ice for his drink, and if he dared ask, the movie would end a lot sooner BECAUSE SHE’D KILL HIM) Tessa/Sage - Their living version of Cerebro, the movie-verse Sage's abilities are limited to being able to detect other mutants. However, she also displays incredible combat abilities, which could either be the result of a super-human physique or simply of very dedicated training. Like the comicverse Tessa, she's the usually-silent assistant/secretary of Sebastian Shaw in both business and super-villainy (which, for him, are the same thing), rarely speaking or displaying personality, virtually a flesh and blood robot. She's practical to the point of ruthless, but also lacks any cruelty or sadism. Cold, detached, polite, but never mean, and even attempts to warn the X-Men away from messing with the Hellfire Club for their own sake. Selene Gallio - An eccentric heiress from Rome, she possesses telekinesis and pyrokinesis. She's secretly scheming to eliminate Shaw and Emma so as to put herself in the most powerful Inner Circle position, and uses the conflict with the X-Men to do so. Shaw and Emma, meanwhile, are also secretly trying to bump her off too! Again, this ends up being a big part of the reason that they're defeated by the X-Men, who use the backstabbing and manipulative nature of the Hellfire Club to play them off each other. Shaw also personally dislikes her for having only inherited her money, never worked for it, while she looks down on him for the reverse reason. While Shaw and Emma seem to see things as a business venture, she views it more as a game, and is less concerned with profit, more concerned with fun. Her opinion of mutantkind is that they have evolved to be predator upon humans, since humans have not had any natural predators for too long a time and nature abhors a vacuum; she is quick to note, however, that she herself is equal-opportunity in her selection of prey and thus happy to kill mutants as well, just like the rest of the Club.

Additional Hellfire characters:

Dr. Nathaniel Essex - Obviously, Magneto's story was the most powerful one in the First Class movie, so I of course want to keep it. But how, since this Sebastian Shaw won't have had anything to do with his past or Nazis? Well, Dr. Essex will take his place! Many fans have noted that movie!Shaw is much more like Mr. Sinister (Dr. Essex)--fascinated with mutants from a scientific POV, amoral, heartless, all about experiments and outcome, and worked as a Nazi scientist in the concentration camps (young Magneto even met him!) And since he also was affiliated with the Hellfire Club in the comics too, yeah, it fits perfectly. Just take the plot with movie!Shaw and Erik and stick in Essex in movie!Shaw's place. Movie-version Dr. Essex is originally from England but joined the Nazis in order to enjoy more "scientific freedom" regarding the experiments he was allowed to perform. He agreed with the idea of a master race, just one other than Aryans: Mutants, who he had become aware of through his work in England. At an unknown point after this, he is hired by the Hellfire Club to work in their labs. He himself is human when he works in the camps and puts young Erik through the torments that awaken his powers, but by the time Erik encounters him as an adult, he has used science to alter himself with mutant DNA, equipping himself with a regenerative healing factor, metahuman strength, endurance, reflexes, and resistance to injury. He lacks the strange appearance of Mr. Sinister, and is never referred to by that name, just as Dr. Essex. Donald Pierce - A human who was deposed from his spot in the Inner Circle by Shaw due to not being a mutant...and lost all his limbs in the process to Sebastian Shaw, nearly dying (he now relies on prosthetics) He is a prominent industrialist as well as very good with machinery/robotics, and he lends both his company and his own hands to the government in addressing the problem of the Hellfire Club. He's supposed to work together with the X-Men, but the moment the Hellfire Club is defeated, he turns on them, claiming that what the Hellfire Club did to him is what all mutants are going to do the moment they get the chance and "I won't give you that chance." Magneto kills him with his own machinery/weapons/prosthetics, but in the end credits, his severed head is seen in the labs of his company, attached to wires and cords, and the eyes open. Jetstream - A young mutant taken in by the Hellfire Club, he fights Banshee and Angel in aerial combat. Like his comic-book counterpart, his powers destroyed his lower body, and so he uses prosthetics built for him by Pierce prior to Pierce being ejected from (and nearly killed by) the Hellfire Club Catseye - Another young mutant basically adopted by with the Hellfire Club, she's a felid shapeshifter. Her comic book counterpart took the form of an enormous purple cat, but since that's a little goofy for the big screen, this version instead becomes a sort of human/black panther hybrid, and functions as a counterpart to Mystique and Beast, both of whom she fights Roulette- A young mutant with luck powers who works for the Hellfire Club. She is shown briefly during a montage that shows how the Club is using various mutants for their own profitable purposes; in Roulette's case, she uses her luck powers to manipulate the stock marker in favor of the Inner Circle. Benazir Kaur- A mutant who works for the Hellfire Club, shown in the same montage as Roulette. She can causes sickness and disease in people, and is used in the medical labs. A few other mutants will be shown in the montage too, I just haven't picked which. I'd ideally like for them to have been associated with the comicverse Hellfire Club instead of just random people like Riptide, though. I'd especially like to get in a cameo of Harry Leland. I don't see him as needed for the plot, but since the other members of the original comics Inner Circle---Shaw, Frost, Pierce, Tessa---are included, it seems unfair to leave him out entirely. We could also keep Riptide and Azazel too, if you want. I'm neutral on them. A teleporter is useful, but the comics canon Hellfire Club has two we could pick from (Lourdes Chantal and Trevor Fitzroy) and while I'd prefer Lourdes, I guess Azazel keeps the whole nod to Nightcrawler's parentage. Of course, I don't really care about that either, so whatever.

Story differences:

So, FC ends with Erik embracing the ideals of Shaw and the Hellfire Club, and taking over the latter to make it his Brotherhood of Mutants. Obviously, in this version, that won't happen because the ideals of Shaw and the Hellfire Club aren't what Magneto believes in at all. Instead, what happens is that the Hellfire Club and their exploitation of mutants shows Magneto the danger that mutants are in, and he agrees with the Hellfire Club that when humans realize mutants exist, they are indeed going to react with panic and want to wipe them out (which he points to Donald Pierce as evidence of). And like the Hellfire Club being prepared to sell anti-mutant weapons to the masses, Magneto wants to be prepared too. The Hellfire Club also shows him the danger of what will happen if mutantkind isn't united, if they don't come together---it will become mutant on mutant, selling each other out to the humans just to save their own skins. That's why it's so imperative to him that Xavier and every other mutant agree with him, because there can be no room for division in their ranks or else this will happen again. So he still walks off and takes Angel and Mystique with him, as well as possibly some Hellfire-affiliated mutants that like his ideals better than being exploited for profit by the Inner Circle (which could include Riptide and Azazel, and/or some of the ones from the brief montage). He kills Essex just like he did originally with Shaw, complete with helmet and Charles screaming and mind-linking and all...obviously Essex doesn't have Shaw's abilities so he wouldn't have the "absorbed nuclear bomb level power" situation but I'm sure there could be something else set up. As for the Hellfire Club themselves...they're a worldwide organization, they can't be eliminated. It's more like they just get defeated in whatever they were trying to do, but they still succeed to some degree too through cleverness and backup plans, and it's very clear they're still around and going to come back again. This still has a lot of the flaws of the original (namely, that Magneto hating humans doesn't make as much sense when the first danger to mutants he runs into is OTHER MUTANTS, but at least it fixes the fact a mutant killed his mother in FC, which is really stupid story-wise/for his character, imo) but it has a Hellfire Club that I would have much preferred to see onscreen. If the canon FC version of the Hellfire Club worked for you, hey, great, I'm glad, this is just for me and what I would have liked.

We love the fact that An Englishman In San Diego is an open, fair space for fans and enthusiasts to share their fandoms – you can get in touch if there’s something that you want to write about and get out into the world.

One of those that had something to share is good friend of the site, J.C. (@StrayShotFirst), who wanted to talk about his thoughts on the latest installment of 20th Century Fox‘s X-MEN franchise, LOGAN – if you are one of the very few that hasn’t thrown your shekels into the cap for this box office busting film, maybe J.C. can convince you to check out the film before it eventually abandons the big screen…

J.C: I spent my Sunday night and about eight pounds watching Hugh Jackman‘s latest and last rendition of X-MEN‘s Wolverine, and I have to say I was not disappointed by how I spent my money and time.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie – I haven’t been a fan of the character of Wolverine since I watched the animated yellow suited anti-hero as a kid, finding the following film adaptation personally quite dull, as an adult. Indestructible and, in some versions of the comic, able to regenerate from a single drop of blood, his conflict lacked any real risk or tension for me. It’s the classic Superman effect, and it forces writers do engage ‘deux ex machina’ in reserve to keep things interesting.

(For my anti-hero, I’m more of a PUNISHER fan normally, especially Jon Bernthal‘s performance in session two of DAREDEVIL. Okay, sure, we can be pretty positive that he’s going to end up coming out on top in the end, but the guy gets messed up on the way. No shrugging of shotgun blasts for Frank Castle, just pure old fashioned grit through the blood sweat and bullet holes. I digress, though.)

Any-hoo, having now successfully annoyed the Wolverine fanboys, let me tell you why I think LOGAN was a fantastic movie and, if you haven’t seen it at the cinema already, you probably should do.

Firstly, Hugh Jackman‘s take as “Old Man Logan” was an exceptional example of character acting. For all of the character flaws, Jackman has always been a perfect fit to play Wolverine, even in those films I didn’t put much stock into. However, what you see in LOGAN is more than just Hugh Jackman playing a stock grouchy anti-hero. From the very first scene, he practically radiates the feeling of been old, beaten and worn out in every nuance. For me, this was one of the highpoints of the film’s appeal.

Gone is the mutant with the unbreakable bones, adamantium claws and healing factor who can cut effortlessly through an army of machine-gun toting, faceless minions; in his place is an man whose every step out of the bed – or, in a hungover state, wherever he ends up laying his head – feels like an endeavor. Jackman’s Logan here is someone who can barely take a beating, getting punched, knifed, stabbed and shot, yet still somehow drags on through sheer stubbornness. I felt tired and weary just watching him – in today’s charged landscape of people feeling they just have to keep lowing on, Logan became a hell of a lot more relatable than his previous incarnations than just an unstoppable killing machine.

This sense of an broken-down hero, hiding on the outskirts of civilization, also makes the subsequent fight scenes all the more engaging – suddenly every unblocked blow counts, every wound taking a bit more out of him, every un-dodged shot is potentially going to lay him out on his back, maybe this time for good. Now, THAT makes for some exciting action sequences!

“Hang on, though,” I hear you say. “Fast-paced action sequences and unstoppable killing machines are why I love the WOLVERINE films, do you mean there is nothing in this for me?” Whoa, there! Steady on, don’t worry, LOGAN has something for you as well.

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For you, enter the mysterious young mutant Laura, superbly played by Dafne Keen. Laura arrives on the scene within the first act, and her character more than fulfills the unspoken requirement of Wolverine films to have an often unestimated badass. Not only does she deliver some amazingly satisfying action sequences but the contrast of the scenes of her child-like innocence will tug on your heartstrings. If that still doesn’t work for you, and it’s Jackman you need to see kicking ass well, they still find a few ways to get that in there too.

Alongside Hugh Jackman and Dafne, SIR PATRICK STEWART plays an interesting and previously unexplored version of Charles Xavier. I won’t talk too much about his take in fear of spoiling the film, but Hugh Jackman isn’t the only one who does his aging character justice and all the Earl Gray in the world won’t stave off the rigours of advancing years. Xavier provides not only the expertly timed comic relief but also his fair share of tear-jerking moments.

So, you’ve heard me praise the heroes – villains in films and especially comic book movies often make the film, as much if not more so, than the heroes. Boyd Holbrook as Pierce, a sardonic rogue hunting our protagonists, and RICHARD GRANT as Dr. Rice, the evil scientist with the eerily calm nature. Both play their roles well, Pierce especially finding the right balance between being someone you’d quite like to get their comeuppance but still want to get plenty of screen time.

I’ve talked a lot about the characters and not much about the plot itself – that’s because the plot in this film isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, you won’t find some big twist or a radical story arc here. It’s a classic road movie, visiting some everyday locations and characters, still compelling because all the  characters encountered are interesting and relatable. We care what is going to happen to them, and for that reason, we are willing to watch them travel along a very simple plot that leads to a satisfying and moving ending. Director James Mangold‘s pacing, while just a beat too slow, I felt worked well with the old and worn out tone of the film.

LOGAN is a rarity in the modern era of action films full of motion blur and 2d characters and outlandish over the top plots where everything is at stake, so nothing is. It’s a simple story, with heart, and characters that you can root for and against, and for those reasons alone I think it’s worth your time.

LOGAN is directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Green and David James Kelly. It will be produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Set in the future of 2024, Logan and Professor Charles Xavier must cope with the loss of the X-Men when a corporation lead by Nathaniel Essex is destroying the world leaving it to destruction, with Logan’s healing abilities slowly fading away and Xavier’s Alzheimer’s forcing him to forget. Logan must defeat Nathaniel Essex with the help of a young girl named Laura Kinney, a female clone of Wolverine. Stars Hugh Jackman  (Logan), PATRICK STEWART (Proffesor X), Sienna Novikov (Laura Kinney), Boyd Holbrook (Pierce), STEPHEN MERCHANT (Caliban), and RICHARD E. GRANT (Dr. Zander Rice). The film’s release date is March 2017.

Spoiler-Free Review: LOGAN (@wolverinemovie), by J.C. (@StrayShotFirst) @Mang0ld @20CenturyFoxUK We love the fact that An Englishman In San Diego is an open, fair space for fans and enthusiasts to share their fandoms - …