Ultimate Wolverine is definitely firing on all cylinders, giving readers a new type of Wolverine story. Ultimate Wolverine #3 is yet another banger from the book, revealing more about Wolverine’s past, as well as the Opposition’s battles against the Eurasian Alliance. Readers also get to meet Ultimate Gambit, Kitty Pryde, and Black Widow, three important characters, both in general and to Wolverine’s 616 life. Ultimate Gambit is a leader of the Opposition, and readers soon learn why Mikhail Rasputin, the older brother of Colossus and Magik, isn’t one of the leaders of the Eurasian Alliance: Gambit killed him a year ago in an event that is called “the Mikhail Massacre” by the Eurasian Alliance. This is a very surprising turn of events for a variety of reasons.
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While longtime Gambit fans know that his powers can reach the rarefied level of Omega-class mutants, most of the time, the character has never held that level of power. However, Mikhail Rasputin is an Omega-level mutant, one with the power to alter reality itself. All three of the Rasputins are powerful, but Mikhail is one of the most powerful mutants on the face of the Earth. Most fans aren’t really familiar with him, but Mihail has a very interesting past in Marvel’s 616 universe.
Mikhail Rasputin’s Past Is Filled with Tragedy & That’s Molded Him Into a Dangerous Mutant
Mikhail Rasputin grew up on the same collective farm as his siblings, eventually joining the Russian air force. He eventually became a cosmonaut, but this would lead to his downfall. Mikhail was drawn into a dimensional rift on his trip to space and crash-landed on an alternate world. Mikhail was taken in by the locals, even marrying a princess named Tra-Mai-A-Zath. Her father, Avatar, was something of a tyrant, and Mikhail was drawn into a civil war. During one of the battles, a dimensional rift opened, and he used his powers to close it, which caused a massive explosion that killed hundreds, including his wife. Mikhail became a hermit, but eventually the X-Men were pulled into the rift. Colossus was able to save his brother, and when the X-Men escaped, they took Mikhail with them. However, the mental damage done to Mikhail had a huge effect on the man. When the Morlocks started to cause trouble again, Mikhail got involved, using his powers to pull the Morlocks into another dimension, where they could live in the sun and not have to stay in the sewers.
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Time moved faster in this dimension, and Mikhail ended up training Marrow and the Gene Nation, sending them back to Earth to wreak havoc on humanity. Mikhail was able to kidnap Storm at one point, trying to force her to become his queen, but after she threatened to kill him, he let her go. Mikhail next tried to call the past version of his sister Magik to the present, warning her about her Legacy Virus infection and telling her he could heal it. However, he wanted to use her powers to cure his infection, which he spread to her, ensuring her death in her future.
He later got more powerful and wanted to try to resurrect his sister, pulling Colossus and Marrow into his dimension. The two X-Men realized that Mikhail was possessed by a mysterious being and Mikhail tried to fight it, throwing Colossus and Marrow through a rift. However, Colossus grabbed his brother, bringing him home. Mikhail would leave again during the battle against Apocalypse in “The Twelve”, but would return again with Mister Sinister, who was trying to kill the Rasputins. Mikhail turned on Sinister and ended up exiling himself again. In the Krakoa Era, Mikhail returned one last time, joining the Russians in their opposition to Krakoa and taking control of Colossus. However, this ended badly for him, as Colossus was able to break Mikhail’s control over him, killing his older brother.
Even as Powerful as Gambit Is, Mikhail Would Be a Difficult Kill For Him
Mikhail Rasputin’s reality-altering powers kept growing over the years. At first, he could barely open a dimensional rift without great difficulty, but as time went on, he was able to do it like second nature. His return in the Krakoa Era was him at his most powerful, and the fact that Colossus was able to kill him at all was a very big deal. While Earth-6160 is quite different from Earth-616, the Maker would have made sure that Mikhail was at his most powerful before putting him in charge of the Eurasian Alliance.
Ultimate Wolverine #3 references the Mikhail Massacre twice, but doesn’t totally explain it. It looks like Ultimate Gambit is using his powers to cause explosions on a grand scale and has hit three more locations since the death of Mikhail. While Mikhail is quite powerful — the Age of Apocalypse version of Mikhail was able to manifest rocky skin, so other versions would definitely be able to do it — if Gambit’s attack was a surprise, say charging the foundations of the building, and Mikhail wasn’t ready for it, then it’s easy to see how he could kill the mightiest Rasputin.
Ultimate Wolverine #3 is on sale wherever comics are sold.
