The X-Men’s Most Unlikely Threat Has Arrived (But Which Marvel Villain Is Pulling the Strings?)

The X-Men are one of the strongest superhero teams around, including planetary threats like Professor X and Jean Grey, but Glob is not a character anyone would think could be anywhere near their level. Robert Herman was born with the utterly disturbing mutant power of bio-paraffin skin. Effectively, his skin is a living wax that’s bright pink and see-through. That’s it. Aside from being more flame-retardant than the average person, he doesn’t exactly have any special powers that would make him uniquely qualified for fighting alongside the X-Men, which is exactly why he’s usually on the back lines or taking care of their home base.

Everyone overlooks Glob, given how far he’s come from his terrorist high-schooler days. But all of that might be about to change, given that Glob is gearing up to be the X-Men’s next big threat. As revealed in X-Men (2024) #39, Glob can awaken from his coma whenever he wishes, but it’s definitely not him at the steering wheel. He proved exactly that when he slaughtered several Z.E.R.O. agents intent on killing him with zero effort. Odds are that Glob has been possessed, and my money is on one of three very dangerous opponents, all of whom could bring the X-Men to their knees. Two of them already have. These candidates are the monstrous Shadow King, Sublime, and even the “Age of Revelation” version of Glob himself.

The Candidates of Disaster

Every one of the aforementioned characters could be possessing Glob. The first two have a well-known history of doing exactly that, while the third could have easily hitched a ride to the past in the same manner as the future versions of Cyclops and Beast. Let’s quickly discuss future Glob first, as, while possible, I consider him the least likely candidate. This could be the “Age of Revelation” Glob sent back in time just as his compatriots were, but given how he specified that he hadn’t seen a human in years, and given how everyone in that reality died, I find it unlikely he would have had the time for this switch. A major part of DNX is the Chairman shouting that unleashing the Mutant Virus like this would change the future, so it’s also possible that he’s from a new future, but the comic will likely want to keep moving forward instead of focusing on just the one plot beat.

The real candidates are the Shadow King and Sublime. Shadow King is a powerful psychic entity with the desire to corrupt and destroy everything from the inside out, with a particular hatred of the X-Men. Professor X has typically been the only telepath capable of standing up to him, and with him off-world, this would make it a prime target. This could also tie into Jean’s return to Earth, as with the Professor gone, she would be their only hope against him. Of course, the way Glob spoke implied that he was coming from somewhere far away, and the Shadow King is, potentially, the villain of the current arc in X-Men United. If he is responsible for that, it would lower the chances of it being him astronomically.

The third most likely candidate would be someone like Sublime. This sentient bacteria has had it out for mutantkind for millennia. Although he has the restriction of not being able to possess mutants, he might have found a way to use the injured Blob as a template for evolution. He’s even infected Glob before with Kick, which could poise him as a unique candidate for possession. A whole new category of mutants has been created in the pages of DNX, and we know that O.N.E. will be declaring open season on the X-Men. This is the prime moment for Sublime to strike. His ultimate goal is to destroy all other life on Earth, and fostering this conflict would be the best way to do that.

The Wax-Man Who Could (Not Cause Damage)

Glob is the centerpiece of all of this devastation. Nobody would ever suspect Glob of being dangerous, as even though he’s well-known for kicking into gear and being willing to commit carnage when he feels that he has to, he’s also a non-combatant vegetarian who has worked hard to make the people of his Alaskan home trust him. He’s the X-Men’s chef and caretaker, making their base into a home while the rest of them are out saving the world. He’s certainly not someone capable of taking out trained soldiers with that ferocity or ease, especially considering he was heavily injured. Whoever is in control of him now has the chance to strike the X-Men in a way that they will never see coming, especially if they can augment his strength in some way.

Of course, the real danger of this scenario, whether it be one of the three I highlighted or even another party like the demonic Belasco, is if this entity can jump into other hosts. Blob was obviously chosen for a reason, which probably relates to the fact that he was in a coma, but if they use Blob to generate strength and corrupt the others, then the X-Men would be torn apart from the inside out. Again, we should be thankful that Jean Grey is making her return after the end of the “DNX” saga, as she’ll be pivotal in ferreting out interlopers with her psychic powers.

Who do you think is in control of Blob, and what threat do they pose to the X-Men? Let us know in the comments below!

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