Marvel’s New Ultimate X-Men Revives a Forgotten Villain

At long last, Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men #1 has hit the shelves at comic stores, giving Marvel fans their third entry in the second iteration of the Ultimate Universe. The comic has debuted to universal acclaim, earning a near-perfect 4.5/5 star rating from ComicBook.com’s Chase Magnett. The comic has become a hit because of its uniqueness, with most critics saying it’s unlike any X-Men comic ever released. In fact, most might not even think it’s an X-Men comic at all if a legendary mutant villain didn’t make his long-awaited return in the comic.

Though it’s not explicitly stated who the shadowy character stalking Hisako throught the pages of Ultimate X-Men #1 really is, most might assume the character is none other than the Shadow King, Amahl Farouk. Quite frankly, he’s a villain that pushes the spookiness of the comic that much further.

Evident throughout the first issue of Ultimate X-Men, Momoko isn’t afraid to hold back with her storytelling. In the first issue alone, Hisako has to grapple with multiple suicides of friends and acquaintances all while being stalked by an enigmatic shadow.

It’s been a minute since the Shadow King has been prominently featured in an X-Men series. The last he appeared was a glorified cameo in a pandemic-era New Mutants title, seeing his banishment from Krakoa after being forced to go to rehab. While the rest of the Ultimate Universe features all-new versions of popular characters, there’s a chance this version of Shadow King can technically be the same one as the one located on Earth-616. Since his introduction, Shadow King can traverse multiple realities; that, coupled with the fact he’s one of the publisher’s most powerful psychics, and most would consider him one of the X-Men’s most dangerous villains.

The next two issues of Ultimate X-Men have been solicited, but neither of the snyopses have unveiled as if the shadow actually is the Shadow King, or who the primary antagonist of the series is.

Ultimate X-Men #1 is now available for purchase wherever comics are sold while Ultimate X-Men #2 is currently set for release on April 10th.