An Iconic X-Men Foe May Be the Heroes’ Only Hope Against Doom

One World Under Doom has presented the heroes with a very big problem — Doom has taken over the world, and everyone but them supports him. The Fantastic Four and the Avengers have done their best to defeat Doom, but to no avail, as Doom has out-maneuvered them in every way. This has led the Avengers to team up with the Masters of Evil, coming up with a plan to not only take down Doom but also figure out how he got the world’s leaders on his side. The Masters of Evil are known for their roster changes, and this latest version of the Masters counts one of the X-Men’s most iconic foes — Madelyne Pryor. Madelyne Pryor is integral to the plan, as she’s both a powerful telepath and a skilled magic user.

Madelyne Pryor has played a huge role in the X-Men’s history over the years. The one-time wife of Cyclops has a rather twisted and confusing history, as she was created for one purpose — creating a child that could destroy Apocalypse. Madelyne Pryor gets something of a bad rap, mostly due to writers trying to make her into something she’s not, and looking at her history reveals just how misused the characters has been over the years.

Madelyne Pryor Was Driven to Villainy by the Insane Circumstances of Her Life

After the supposed death of Jean Grey in “The Dark Phoenix Saga”, Cyclops decided to leave the X-Men. He moved to Alaska to become a pilot, and while there meets a woman who reminds him of Jean — the beautiful Madelyne Pryor. The two of them start dating and eventually fall in love, getting married. Cyclops was mostly retired as an X-Man during this time, and Pryor got pregnant, birthing the first baby from a member of the X-Men — Nathan Summers, the child who would one day become the soldier Cable. However, the return of Jean Grey saw Cyclops form X-Factor with the four other original X-Men, leaving his wife and child behind to play superhero. Eventually, Mister Sinister came after Pryor and Nathan, and the truth of Maddie’s life was revealed — she was a clone of Jean Grey created so that Sinister could get his hands on a child produced by Cyclops and Grey. This, combined with her husband leaving her, drove Maddie mad. She started seeing Havok, mindcontrolling her brother-in-law, and joined up with N’astirh of Limbo in an invasion of Earth from Limbo in the 1989 crossover “Inferno”. Maddie’s madness saw her go after her child to sacrifice him to keep Limbo’s portal open, and she was defeated by the X-Men, thought dead.

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Madelyne Pryor was resurrected when Nate Grey, the “Age of Apocalypse” version of Cable, somehow pulled her back together psionically when coming to Earth-616 through the M’Kraan Crystal. Nate and Maddie hung out for a while, and she would eventually go back to fighting the X-Men, bringing together a team known as the Sisterhood of Mutants. She’d be defeated again and again over the years, dying and resurrecting. Her latest life stems from events in the Krakoa Era. Sinister sent his Hellions against Maddie when she gained control of his cloning tech, and Havok himself, under the control of Psylocke, killed her. Emma Frost eventually got Maddie resurrected for Havok, and she became the Queen of Limbo. Maddie teamed with Ben Reilly for another Limbo invasion, but Jean Grey gave Maddie all of her memories of Nathan growing up, which was all Maddie wanted. Havok joined Maddie and the two of them formed an X-Men team to fight Orchis from the Limbo Embassy in New York City. Havok left her after Orchis was defeated, and joining the Masters of Evil is the first thing she’s done since.

Madelyne Pryor Plays an Integral Role in the Avengers’ Plan

Looking at the history of Madelyne Pryor, it’s plain to see that her life was almost completely out of her control. She was created as a powerful brood mare, but found actual love. This love was stolen from her by the return of Jean Grey, the person she was made to replace, and she lost her mind because of that and the truth about her life. Maddie was broken by the actions of the men in her life, and her tale is a tragedy in many ways. However, most writers just make her into the evil mom who wants to kill her kid, instead of as a victim who was broken by her life. Maddie joining the Masters of Evil isn’t something anyone would have foreseen, but it fits into the chaos of Maddie’s life.

The Avengers and Masters of Evil’s plans has two prongs — the first is that the combined force of the two teams attack Doom to distract him. As that is happening, Scarlet Witch, Madelyne Pryor, and Baron Mordo go into the minds of the world’s leaders, trying to figure out how Doom was able to get them to agree to him becoming Emperor of the world. Madelyne is the key to the whole plan. She’s a powerful telepath with magical skill, and serves as the connection between Wanda, Mordo, and the leaders. Everything goes off without a hitch, until the three magic users learn the truth behind the whole scheme. Doom’s plan is better than anyone could have realized, and learning the truth was only possible with Maddie’s help.

One World Under Doom #3 is on sale now.