Powers of X Reveals Origin of Nimrod

Nimrod has been one of the X-Men’s deadliest foes ever since appearing in the X-Men comics back in the mid-80s. The future descent of mutant-hunting Sentinels, Nimrod first appeared in the dark and dreaded “Days of Future Past” timeline, before returning to the present, where he has plagued the X-Men for many years, in many different forms.

And yet, while Nimrod has been a major X-Men villain for years, the exact details of his origin have never been revealed – at least until now, with the release of Powers of X #2! (WARNING – SPOILERS FOLLOW!)

While most of the intrigue in Powers of X has so far been the 100 year and 1,000 year future of the X-Men, the books have also made sure to fill in some details of the present-day X-Men, and their “House of X” storyline. Powers of X #2 looks in on one key scene in the modern era: the official origin of Nimrod!

The X-Men of the House of X era in “Year Ten” are shown in their Krakoa headquarters, reviewing a major piece of intelligence. That intel points to the growing threat of Orchis, the human organization made up of agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M., S.W.O.R.D., H.A.M.M.E.R. and HYDRA, with one goal in mind: preparing for the inevitable war of dominance between humans and mutants. Orchis decides on one particular path to victory in the inevitable genetic war: the development of better mutant-hunting machines, in the form of “Mother Mold,” a version of Master Mold designed to build other Master Molds. Orchis keeps Mother Mold in orbit around the Sun, producing its wares, and the X-Men’s leadership (Professor X, Magneto, and Cyclops) are discussing what to do about the threat.

Cyclops points out that the Mother Mold isn’t that much of a new threat, as the X-Men have defeated various Master Molds and their evolving Sentinels. Xavier understands that sentiment, but points out that his situation may have one key difference: Xavier and Magneto believe that Mother Mold marks the point in history where Sentinels will first evolve into Nimrod!

Now, like everything in Jonathan Hickman’s “Dawn of X” storyline, this reveal only leads to bigger questions and mysteries. Powers of X already chronicles two futures in which two very different versions of Nimrod exist: the Man-Machine-Mutant War of the future sees a Nimrod with very human personality traits (“Nimrod the Lesser”) fighting a war against Apocalypse and his team of Future X-Men. The Worldmind of Nimbus in the 1,000-year future sees Nimrod changed into the form of a single A.I. drone, who keeps company with “The Librarian” a mysterious blue entity who built the Nimbus Worldmind to attract the Phalanx race. The working theory is that these distant futures are all part of Moira Mactaggert’s ninth life cycle, which means that in her tenth life, Moira would understandably be able pinpoint when Nimrod was first built and brought online, giving the House of X X-Men a chance to actually end that future threat before it begins.

Powers of X 1 & 2, and House of X 1 & 2 are all now on sale, with new issues of each book released in alternating weeks.