Apocalypse Just Recruited Two Familiar Faces and Their X-Men History Makes It Even Stranger

The X-Men have been in something of a state of flux since the end of the Krakoa Era. The mutant race lost the home and power it had built up, with the various mutant leaders trying to stabilize things for them. There’s one leader who we haven’t heard a lot about since Krakoa ended – Apocalypse, one of the X-Men’s greatest villains. He was mostly heroic during the Krakoa Era, working with the mutant nation and ended up retaking his place as leader of Arakko, Krakoa’s sister island that spent millennia battling the demonic hordes of Amenth. Beyond Heir of Apocalypse and an appearance in the future of “Age of Revelation”, he’s not really played a role in mutant affairs, but all of that is about to change in Tomb of Apocalypse #1.

The issue sees Apocalypse try to recruit Gambit to help protect his old grave on Earth, but instead gets Jubilee and Wolverine. The two of them battle against the Hydra agents trying to get into it and steal En Sabah Nur’s secrets, while Apocalypse and Jubilee discess the situation. However, the Egyptian mutant is smarter than the average bear and decided to hedge his bets by recruiting one of the X-Men’s strangest duos – Rictor and Shatterstar. The two of them have quite a history with each other, but it’s about to get even stranger with this new mission, especially for Rictor.

Rictor and Shatterstar’s Relationship Is One of the Weirdest In the X-Men Mythos

Rictor was the first of the two of them to debut, first appearing in X-Factor (Vol. 1) #17. This was back when the original five X-Men were pretending to be an anti-mutant group who would come and take mutants prisoner to protect humanity. However, they usually ended up training the young mutants, and that included Rictor. Eventually, he would make his way to the New Mutants, working with the team in its later stages. Rictor was still associated with the group when Shatterstar first appeared, leading to the formation of the deadliest mutant team, X-Force. While Rictor had a rather pedestrian origin, Shatterstar was the wildest one you can imagine.

So, before we begin, I’m not sure how well I understand the convoluted nature of ‘Star’s origin. It was always hinted at that he was a resident of Mojoworld, the home of Longshot. Longshot and Dazzler began a relationship in the later stages of the Claremont run, and she was pregnant around X-Men (Vol. 2) #11, so most fans just assumed that he was a time-traveling child of the two of them. However, this was apparently too easy for everyone, and it was soon established that because of temporal shenanigans, he was also responsible for the creation of Longshot. We make a lot of jokes about people becoming their own grandfather because of time travel and apparently Shatterstar is now the punchline of the joke.

The two started their friendship in X-Force and right away, fans could feel the closeness. This was back when Marvel wasn’t as about queer relationships as they are now; things like this were usually subtext, but their burgeoning relationship was always kind of obvious. The two of them eventually became a couple in the ’00s and since then, the two of them have been an on-again, off-again couple. However, a big change was made to their relationship in the Krakoa Era, when Rictor started going down a new path, one that he was led on by Apocalypse himself. Rictor’s earth manipulation powers are some of the most potent, but it was revealed that his powers were a form of “mutant magic”, something that Apocalypse was pushing at the time. The two became student and pupil, with Rictor starting something of a closer relationship with the ancient villain.

The reveal that Rictor and Shatterstar are in Tomb of Apocalypse isn’t all that surprising; Rictor has been a part of Apocalypse’s circle (although I wouldn’t say the inner part; more like the outliers, but still there) for a bit, so him getting recruited isn’t all that weird. Where Rictor goes, Shatterstar usually goes as well, so that also makes sense. However, what makes the whole thing weird is the fact that we thought that Rictor and Apocalypse’s time together was mostly over when Doug Ramsey, and not Rictor, became the heir of Apocalypse. It seemed like the perfect way to end Rictor’s plot with the mutant villain, moving him elsewhere.

However, showing that Rictor and Shatterstar are still in the good graces of Apocalypse could take them in some new directions. As far as it goes, the two of them have the same kind of stories, mostly just standard superhero couple stuff, but this could take them in a new direction. We don’t know exactly what’s down in the tomb of Apocalypse, but it’s safe to bet that it’s something that could change them forever. That’s how Apocalypse’s technology works; it makes you into something new and often more powerful. This miniseries may lead to one – or both – of them transformed into something new, perhaps as servants of En Sabah Nur. That would be a huge change to their status quo.

Rictor and Shatterstar Could Be Heading In a Dangerous Direction

Shatterstar and Rictor are the X-Men’s most underrated couple. Their relationship has been built over decades, all while the weirdness of Shatterstar’s origin was discovered. Rictor working with Apocalypse in the Krakoa Era was the biggest change to their status quo in ages, but it ultimately didn’t really lead anywhere. Mutant magic as a concept was one of the bigger failures of the Krakoa Era (Tini Howard has some fans in the X-space, but most of us realized that her ideas were mid at best) and it’s left Rictor with basically nothing to do. However, Tomb of Apocalypse shows that his time with Apoc’ isn’t over yet and it might lead to some big new changes.

As much as fans enjoy Shatterstar and Rictor as a couple, they can get kind of boring. Having them as servants of Apocalypse, working with and against Jubilee and Wolverine to save the contents of the tomb, is a change to their status quo that can lead in some new directions. There’s something terrible in that tomb and it may upend their lives completely. Will they be Horsemen or Dark Riders or some new group of Apocalypse allies? Will mutant magic finally become cool? Is someone pregnant (with Shatterstar, who knows what’s possible)? Rictor and Shatterstar could go in some new directions, which is always a good thing.

Tomb of Apocalypse #1 is on sale now.

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