The Most Unlikely Person Just Beat the X-Men (& He’s Dying)

The latest chapter of the X-Men saga, “X-Manhunt”, has begun in Uncanny X-Men #11, by writer Gail Simone and artist Javier Garron. “X-Manhunt” builds out of threads that have been running through the X-Men books since the Krakoa Era. The story’s inciting incident is an attack in the Shi’Ar Galaxy on Empress Xandra Neramani, the daughter of Professor X and Shi’Ar Empress Lilandra. Xandra links minds with Professor X, and shows him the terror of the attack on her. Imprisoned in the former X-Mansion Graymalkin Prison, Xavier begins to lash out telepathically, forcing the controllers of the prison to do their best to calm him down, even tranquilizing him. However, with the help of ex-girlfriend Sarah Gaunt, Xavier is able to break free.

While all of this is happening, Graymalkin calls in Rogue’s team of X-Men to calm down Xavier. What follows is the kind of one-sided fight that will shock X-Men fans, one that shows off just how powerful Xavier can be unleashed. However, there’s another factor to this battle, one that makes Xavier even more dangerous than before, and there’s no way it’s not going to play a huge role in “X-Manhunt” — a killer tumor in Xavier’s brain that makes him more powerful, but less controlled, than ever.

Xavier Has Been Able to Wipe the Floor with the X-Men for Years Now

Professor X isn’t the kind-hearted wise mentor he’s always portrayed himself as. Xavier has had nothing less than the weight of mutant survival on his shoulders, a weight he put there himself, for decades. This has forced him to make many decisions in the background, ones that no one ever would have guessed he would make. He knew that creating a superhero team of mutants would help him in his goals, but he also knew how dangerous they could be as a unit in a world where mind-controlling enemies were the norm. So, Xavier created the Xavier Protocols, a series of ways for him to destroy the X-Men if they ever went evil. Xavier knows everything about his X-Men, and with power like his, there is no doubt he could defeat the X-Men anytime he wants.

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Uncanny X-Men #11 sees Xavier at nowhere near his best. His witnessing the battle against Xandra shook him, as he realized how badly he’s neglected his daughter over the years. The X-Men showing up seems like it might defuse the situation. However, the true problem with Xavier is revealed throughout the battle in flashbacks. Xavier has been diagnosed with a rare tumor on his brain stem, a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. The X-Men have encountered this before, starting with a young mutant named Harvey X, who died of it after revealing a chilling vision for the future. Meanwhile, the wardens of Graymalkin have also experienced it, as their chief telepath also has developed the same tumor in the same place. The tumor causes Xavier to hallucinate, seeing him unleash his full power against the X-Men and making him much more dangerous than ever.

Xavier Has Become the Greatest Threat to Mutant Peace

Charles Xavier is the most powerful mind on Earth. His powers allowed him to download the memories of thousands of mutants all while doing a million other things, and there are few more skilled in psychic combat. He has spent years honing his powers and there are few people who know the X-Men better, something that makes him dangerous. “X-Manhunt” has taken this dangerous Xavier and made him even more deadly than ever. The hallucinations caused by his brain tumor, exacerbated by his feelings over the attack on Xandra, make him more likely than ever to lash out at anyone who he perceives as a threat. Unfortunately, that’s basically anyone.

“X-Manhunt” is going to get much worse before it gets better. Xavier is going to have to face off with Cyclops’s more militant team at some point, which will be dangerous for both sides, and it seems like the story will eventually lead to Shi’Ar space. Xavier is at his lowest ebb right — imprisoned over his actions to save his people, and with the added trauma of realizing how his terrible fathering has hurt a daughter he used for his own ends for years — and that means that anyone in his way is going to suffer his wrath before the affair gets anywhere close to a resolution.

Uncanny X-Men #11 is on sale every where comics are sold.