X-Men Brutally Reveals Why Kitty Pryde Is One of the Deadliest Marvel Mutants Around

Marvel's X-Men Universe got dealt a near-fatal blow during the 2023 Hellfire Gala, where the human organization Orchis launched a surprise attack against the mutant nation of Krakoa, slaughtering even some of the most powerful X-Men characters, banishing nearly every mutant from the Earth, and framing mutants for their own "Mutant Massacre." The surviving X-Men have been left on the run and/or going into hiding – except for Kitty Pryde, who takes up a very dark and brutal mission of war...

X-Men #25 SPOILERS FOLLOW!

The story of X-Men #25 jumps back and forth between the immediate aftermath of the Hellfire Gala attack, and several weeks (months) later, when the surviving X-Men have settled into a new dystopian status quo. Emma Frost takes on a new public identity as Tony Stark's secretary, while the Avengers and X-Men meet in the Morlock tunnels in the sewers to mount resistance efforts.

One of the biggest questions to come out of the Hellfire Gala was what happened to Kitty (Kate) Pryde. After never being able to use Krakoa's warp gate portals, Kitty discovered (purely by error) that Orchis's hacking of the gates has literally and figuratively opened the doors for her. Unfortunately, last we saw, Kitty ended up in Jerusalem, surrounded by a squad of Orchis agents.

X-Men #25 drags out the mystery of how Kitty got away until the climax, spending more of its page time conveying how Kitty's new "Shaodwkat" persona has made her a ruthless wartime spy. However, in the climatic reveal of the issue, we see that Kitty became "Shadowkat" by pulling off some of the most brutal mutant power kills we've ever seen!

In a flashback scene, we see Kitty face the Orchis agents in Jerusalem and give them the ultimatum to stand down – or else. Even though Kitty is a high-value target due to her phasing powers, the Orchis agents are far from intimidated by her – with the commander trying to shoot her down in cold blood; however, Kitty Pryde was once trained by Wolverine's ninja master, Ogun, and isn't an easy kill. Realizing that her ability to move through the closed portal gates is one of the only major tactical advantages that mutantkind has now, Kitty decides she has to dispatch every Orchis agent who witnessed her secret – with extreme prejudice. 

What takes place neck is the most fearsome display of Shadowkat's mutant phasing powers: phasing the squad commander's pistol barrel into his brain; partially phasing other soldiers into solid objects; phasing two other soldiers into one horrific Cronenberg fused body, punching out a heart – even phasing two grenades into the bodies of soldiers who promptly exploded in masses of blood and guts. The most horrific thing about it all is that afterward we're told that Kitty covered the slaughter by phasing the carnage into the floor, leaving no trace. 

This brutal incident definitely transforms "Kate Pryde" into "Shadowkat" – i.e. giving the heroine her own "Ronin" phase. The cold survivalist demeanor Shadowkat has is a nice change to the character – the closest she's arguably ever been to her Age of Apocalypse counterpart. Pirate "Kate" was a lot of fun – "Shadowkat" is poised for a much darker arc – starting with her misguided mission to take out the X-Men's double agent inside Orchis, Firestar. 

X-Men #25 is on sale at Marvel Comics.