X-Men: Why Storm Changed Her Marauders Costume for X of Swords

Marvel’s latest X-Men crossover has begun, and it’s already given Storm a new look. X of Swords […]

October 10, 2020, 2:12pm

Marvel’s latest X-Men crossover has begun, and it’s already given Storm a new look. X of Swords tasks 10 champions of Krakoa with tracking down 10 powerful swords with which to battle the 10 swordbearers of Arakko. In Marauders #13 by writer Vita Ayala and artist Matteo Lolli, Storm travels to Wakanda — the nation she once was the queen of while married to Black Panther — to obtain the kingdom’s sacred sword, Skybreaker. Upon arriving in Wakanda, Storm is dressed in a new costume that is her current costume recolored white. During the X of Swords panel at New York Comic Con Metaverse, Ayala explained why Storm put on the white costume, and why she quickly took returned to black.

“With the costume, I thought ‘well, she’s a diplomat as well as being the former regent of this place,’” Ayala said during the virtual panel. “She is on friendly terms, but she’s asking a favor. All right, well, let’s dress her in white because she’s going under a flag of truth. She’s literally wearing that. And then, of course, she becomes a thief in the night, and I was like ‘you’ve got to reverse that, now. All black.”

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Ayala also touched on what makes this mission such a challenge for Storm. “To me, that’s tied into her relationship not just with mutantkind, but with humankind as well,” Ayala says. “She’s always been a protector. She was a goddess. She’s been someone who’s larger than life, and I thought, ‘how do you explore that in a way that’s interesting?’…the way to complicate it is to complicate it emotionally.”

That complication came from having to request the swords from Wakanda’s royal family while Black Panther was off on Avengers’ business. Considering the political upheaval that the sword’s removal would stir in Wakanda, Queen Ramonda and Shuri asked that Storm wait for Black Panther’s return. Storm was unwilling to wait until her ex-husband decided he had time for her and stole the swords from its temple, first donning her black costume again. Now she waits alongside Magik and Wolverine for the other champions to claim their swords and the spots in the tournament.

Marauders #13, chapter five of X of Swords, is on sale now.