X-Men United Is Bringing Back a Revelation Mystery (& It Could Be a Big Issue for Emma Frost)

Issue #8 of X-Men United resolved Blade’s hunt for his missing daughter Brielle, reuniting the pair amidst an action packed story where Blade not only fought a sizable amount of vampires but faced off against his estranged father, Lucas Cross. Blade along with X-Men members Wolverine, Jubilee, and Dani Moonstar assumed Brielle’s kidnapping must’ve been Cross’s plan, only for Brielle to reveal another villain at fault, a mysterious Ruby Scion. Brielle never caught an actual name, but for fans who’ve been following X-Men since the Second Genesis: Revisited event know the character as Justina LaGuardia.

Justina LaGuardia was briefly introduced in “Revelation: Superior”, a story by Al Ewing and Sara Pichelli. Taking place entirely in flashback, Justina LaGuardia was approached by Charles Xavier while in Italy and asked to join his new X-Men team. LaGuardia refused to be recruited — a feat in itself given how even recent villains like Moira MacTaggert, Doug Ramsey, and Chairman Beast all once believed in Xavier’s dream — and criticized the idea of a mutant paramilitary strike force. Not only that, she proved herself more powerful than Xavier by surpassing his notable psychic defenses and erasing his memory of them ever meeting. 

Since then, it’s been unclear whether LaGuardia would show up again. Despite her initial appearance having “Revelation” in its title, she was completely absent from the X-Men line wide event Age of Revelation and she has had no involvement in the recently disbanded 3K. LaGuardia was introduced as a big deal, but had yet to live up to that promise until now. 

LaGuardia is set to go head to head with Emma Frost in X-Men United #9 with the preview describing LaGuardia’s mutant powers as “to be better than any mutant she encounters”. With that power set, she’s fit to be Frost’s rival, a character who has long been fixated with perfection. LaGuardia is reportedly going after Graymatter Lane in the next issue, giving Frost an opposing force that isn’t Cyclops’ pragmatism or a team-building exercise gone wrong. 

LaGuardia Could Be What X-Men United Needs

Even after eight issues, X-Men United still feels like a mixed bag each time it comes out. Eve L. Ewing’s ongoing was pitched as a bold new era for X-Men with Emma Frost once again assuming a leadership role and opening a psychic school for mutants. The students aren’t completely safe from danger, but they can at least avoid the infrastructure getting blown up or turned into a prison. So far, X-Men: United has featured petty squabbling between Frost and Cyclops, Captain America joining for time travel hijinks, and Blade showing up because of his missing daughter. 

With it being an X-Men comic, audiences know danger is ahead. During “Shadow Play, Pt 1” and “Shadow Play, Pt 2”, it looked like the ongoing series had found a Big Bad in the Shadow King. Amahl Farouk hadn’t played a big part in X-Men since the fall of Krakoa, and while Eve L. Ewing’s previous X-Men title Exceptional X-Men was focused around Mr. Sinister, it felt unlikely for him to return so quickly. 

The reappearance of LaGuardia calls whether that was the work of the Shadow King into the question. If LaGuardia is powerful enough to mindwipe Charles Xavier, she can surely stage an attack on Graymatter Lane. The preview for Issue #9 shows LaGuardia behind Emma Frost holding her head with the short description stating that LaGuardia is to set her sights on a collision course for the psychic school. Emma Frost is no stranger to mind games, but it has been quite some time since she’s been overpowered. Can she rise to the challenge? 

Pros and Cons of a Blank Slate

LaGuardia could be what X-Men United needs to become a great comic. She also could be another new character that gets forgotten about in five years given the large swaths of villains already existing for the X-Men. It feels too early to say either way. She was introduced two years ago, but we don’t know much about her. 

The ending of X-Men United #8 showed LaGuardia leveraging her power against Cross, reminding him that she lived up to her part of the deal — she brought him Brielle — and she is fully intending to collect her money. All of Lucas Cross’s accounts have been signed over to LaGuardia, marking the end of LaGuardia and Cross’s partnership, much to Cross’s chagrin. 

The next issue promises to finally answer who Justina LaGuardia is. Given that she’s been working in the shadows, she’s not going to be part of the Hellfire Club, or a Brotherhood likely. What that leaves is uncertain, but it has to be compelling if it wants to get readers to care about a character that’s been left a mystery for the last two years. 

Comment your theories on who Justina LaGuardia is down below!

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