Marvel Debuts Terrifying New X-Men Villain in House of X #4

Beyond all the head-trippy sci-fi staples, Jonathan Hickman's "Dawn of X" storyline has been circling one major conflict in the X-Men universe: mutants' eventual eradication at the hands of The Sentinels. Well, in House of X #4 that conflict hit a major inflection point, and fully introduced a fearsome new villain into the Marvel Comics Universe.

That new villain is none other than Mother Mold, an advanced A.I. that produces Master Mold facilities, which in turn produce the Sentinel robots that will eventually wipe out mutantkind.

Mother Mold hasn't been a secret of the "Dawn of X" storyline - it was teased from the very first issue of House of X that began the story. However, House of X #4 is the first time we actually see Mother Mold come online, and the A.I. quickly establishes itself as a major new threat in the X-Men Universe.

The story of House of X #4 sees the X-Men's elite strike force caught in what quickly becomes a suicide mission to infiltrate the orbital base of Orchis, the human supremacy organization, in detach four anchors that keep Mother Mold from floating into the Sun, which happens to serve as the giant machine's power source. After the X-Men manage to cut three of the four anchors securing Mother Mold, the mission quickly goes south, resulting in some shocking X-Men character deaths. However, the X-Men's resolve proves stronger than Orchis, as they face certain death in order to complete their mission.

To stop the X-Men's plan, Orchis leader Dr. Gregor brings Mother Mold online early - despite the potential danger that the A.I. will be underdeveloped and "insane." As the final countdown begins, the X-Men are forced into a drastic final play: Nightcrawler and Wolverine sacrifice themselves to teleport from the Orchis station onto Mother Mold's final anchor, which is in outer space and within the hellish inferno of the sun's radiation. Nightcrawler is incinerated instantly, but Wolverine's healing factor lets him stay alive long enough to sever Mother Mold's final anchor. However, before Mother Mold floats away into the eye of the sun, the A.I. becomes self-aware enough to make this ominous proclamation about the war between man and mutant:

"If man... If man made me, then they ar God. And you ar titans, their spoiled lineage... But while you war, we children sit in judgement of those above us... We judge and find you both wanting. Do you hear us, Olympus? We have stolen your fire, and with it, we will burn you all."

Mother Mold (and Wolverine) are seen vanishing into the eye of the sun - but that doesn't mean the threat is over. House of X's accompanying series Powers of X has already laid out a dark possible future where Mother Mold gives rise to Nimrod and the "Man-Machine Supremacy" that goes to war with mutantkind. If the newly-activated Mother Mold at the Orchis station found anyway to transmit its consciousness or create some kind of other body or offspring for itself - the X-Men of Krakoa are still in great peril.

...And based on Mother Mold's final words about the machines 'stealing Olympus' fire' to burn down both humanity and mutants, its easy to presume the threat of Mother Mold is far from over.

House of X 1 - 3 and Powers of X 1 - 3 are all now on sale.