One of the Most Disrespected X-Men in History Is Now an Omega-Level Mutant

While X-Men fans love to debate the merits of their favorite mutants, there is a class of X-Men who rarely earn that benefit. The number of forgotten X-Men is in the hundreds, and at times it can be hard to keep track of them all. They’ve all been disrespected at various levels, but there aren’t many X-Men who have been disrespected at the level of Japheth, aka Maggot. Whenever there’s a “Worst X-Men” list, Maggot’s name always seems to be on it. However, the days of Maggot being disrespected appear to be over as he latches onto Marvel’s Most Powerful Mutant. WARNING: Spoilers for Storm #6 below.

Storm #6 comes from the creative team of Murewa Ayodele, Luciano Vecchio, Alex Guimaraes, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Travis Lanham. The issue is Part 3 of “X-Manhunt,” the latest crossover in the X-Men line of comics. The event centers on the X-Men’s former mentor, Professor Charles Xavier, who has escaped from Graymalkin Prison after receiving a distress call from his daughter, Xandra, empress of the Shi’ar Empire. This has driven a line between the X-Men, with one team wanting to capture Xavier and send him back to prison, and the others wanting to aid him.

[RELATED: Murewa Ayodele Casts Storm Into the X-Men: From the Ashes Era (Interview)]

Maggot factors into this when he shows up in the Storm Sanctuary, the place that Storm has made her floating headquarters. Charles Xavier has also traveled to the Storm Sanctuary to speak to his former student and ask for her help. Storm agrees to assist Xavier, and Maggot also steps up when Cyclops and his X-Men arrive to retrieve their former mentor. It’s during this battle

Storm upgrades Maggot to an Omega-level mutant

Storm dons her Vibranium armor right before Cyclops and the X-Men teleport inside the Storm Sanctuary. While Maggot and Charles Xavier don’t have Vibranium armor, they prepare nonetheless, with Xavier slipping on his Cerebro helmet, and Maggot absorbing his slugs, Eany and Meany. After trading words, the fight commences. Storm and Cyclops get paired together, but Cyclops’ optic blasts are no match for the Eternal Storm.

It appears Cyclops is either near death or gravely injured, which sends Juggernaut into a fit of rage that he takes out on Maggot. “The gloves are off,” Juggernaut says as he rips Maggot’s right arm off his body. However, Storm remains unfazed and jettisons the X-Men team out of the sanctuary. In a startling development, Storm uses her new cosmic powers to summon the compressed essence of Eegun from her mouth and feeds it to Maggot’s slugs, allowing them to heal Maggot and transform him into the “Omega Maggot.”

Storm now has cosmic powers

Storm received her cosmic upgrade when she traveled to Latveria to meet with Doctor Doom, aka the self-proclaimed Emperor Doom. Similar to Maggot, Storm died while fighting the ancient spirit Eegun since Storm broke their pact that she wouldn’t use her mutant powers for seven days. As Storm starts to pass into the afterlife, she reunites with her deceased father, who tells Storm that her time to die has not yet come and that she has a greater purpose.

Enter the cosmic entity known as Eternity, who transforms Storm into his herald, the Eternal Storm. This is what allows Storm to heal Maggot, supercharging his abilities as well. Storm #6 doesn’t show us readers what new powers and abilities Maggot has, but perhaps that will happen in the next issue.

X-Men crossover X-Manhunt sends Charles Xavier on the run

Charles Xaviers is on the run in “X-Manhunt,” a seven-part crossover engulfing X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, NYX, Storm, X-Factor, and an Exceptional X-Men tie-in, concluding in the X-Manhunt Omega double-sized one-shot. Fans can expect some surprising alliances and betrayals in “X-Manhunt,” and part of the fun will be seeing which X-Men side with Professor X and which ones still hold a grudge over his betrayal in the Fall of X. Xavier’s heel turn was unexpected, but it allowed other X-Men like Rogue and Kitty Pryde to step into larger leadership roles in X-Men: From the Ashes.

The big surprise in “X-Manhunt” is that Charles Xavier is dying from a tumor in his brain that while also killing him, is also super-charging his mental powers. Xavier’s confrontation with Rogue’s Uncanny X-Men results in Xavier wiping the floor with his former students, which leads to him showing up in Storm #6.

What do you think about how Marvel upgraded Maggot to an Omega-level mutant in Storm #6? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!