Kid Juggernaut’s Origin Has Been Revealed (& It Changes Everything)

If you weren’t aware that there was someone named Kid Juggernaut running around the Marvel Universe, then I don’t blame you. Until now, Kid Juggernaut has exclusively been appearing in Marvel’s digital only comic book lines, specifically Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic and Avenger’s Academy. But that stops now, as Marvel has released the new Kid Juggernaut special comic, which consolidates the six issues of Kid Juggernaut: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic into a physical print for the first time ever, officially bringing Kid Juggernaut into the physical world alongside other comic book legends. The special details Kid Juggernaut’s origin story, and serves as a great jumping on point to get into the world of Marvel’s digital comics.

How is There a Kid Juggernaut?

Kid Juggernaut’s real name is Justin Jin, and he is the grandson of the Juggernaut. Not Cain Marko, Charles Xavier’s stepbrother and longtime enemy and friend to the X-Men, but the original Juggernaut, Jin Taiko. Marko may have been the first to show up in our world’s chronological history, but Jin Taiko actually held the title of Juggernaut years before Marko did. Jin was a poor farmer in South Korea who constantly had to defend his farm and life from bandits. One day, after a particularly brutal beating, Jin stumbled into what he thought was an abandoned building, only to discover that it was a temple dedicated to Cyttorak, the god that gives the Juggernaut his power. Jin found the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, and was bound to the evil god as his servant, becoming the Juggernaut.

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Jin fought under Cyttorak’s orders for years, committing countless atrocities in his name. One day, however, Cyttorak ordered the name to destroy his home village, and Jin refused. As punishment, Cyttorak chose Cain Marko as the new avatar of his power, and sent him to kill Jin and retrieve the Crimson Gem. Marko did so, and Jin was killed, but not before he managed to hide a small fraction of the crystal with his own son Jung-Woo. Jung-Woo grew up in the shadow of the evil his father committed, and became a broken, cynical man. Still, at one point he married a woman named Hae-Ran and they had Justin, before Hae-Ran left with their son to move to Canada. Jung-Woo told his son that they were only taking a break, but that break never ended, and Justin grew up barely knowing his dad.

Becoming Kid Juggernaut

When Justin was seventeen he received the terrible news that his dad was killed by a man named Malphegor, a sorcerer dedicated to Cyttorak and obsessed with becoming his avatar. Jung-Woo’s shard of the Crimson Gem was mailed to Justin upon his death, which Justin accidentally touched, granting him the incredible powers of the Juggernaut. This put a major target on his back, as Malphegor was willing to do anything to rip the Gem out of Justin’s cold, colossal hands. Malphegor might have succeeded, but Justin was saved at the last minute by the timely arrival of Doctor Strange, who took Justin to a temple dedicated to Cyttorak.

There, Strange told Justin about Malphegor’s history as a sorcerer, and how he would stop at nothing to get the Gem. He also told Justin that the only way to save himself would be to kill Malphegor. Just then, Malphegor bursts through the wall, and Justin fights him with all that he has. He eventually gets the better of his father’s murder, but chooses to spare him. Justin realizes that the real Doctor Strange would never tell him to kill someone, and unmasks the imposter as Cyttorak in disguise, who was testing Justin to see if he would be a worthy avatar of his power. Justin swears to only use his unstoppable power to help others, and instead of fighting him, Cyttorak allows Justin to keep his powers and go free, telling him that he will never be able to escape his destiny of working for the dark god. The comic ends with Justin arriving at Avenger’s Academy, eager to learn how to be a hero unlike anyone else.

Revealing Kid Juggernaut’s origin as being tied to the original Juggernaut andnot Cain Marko makes for not only some interesting storytelling, but also gives the character a solid place in the overall legacy of the character. It takes Kid Juggernaut beyond simply having the cool abilities of Juggernaut and opens the door for some rich stories as Justin chooses heroism over destiny. It’s an interesting shift and one that changes everything about Juggernaut-adjacent stories going forward.

Kid Juggernaut is on sale now!