X-Men: Marauders Confirms a Major Kate Pryde Theory

Marvel's "Dawn of X" relaunch has exceeded fans' expectations at basically every turn, with epic new moments and earth-shattering takes on the X-Men canon. Over the past year-or-so, the slate of comics has also made some significant updates to characters that fans know and love -- including confirming some long-running fan theories. The most recent issue of Marauders was certainly no exception, focusing on the return of beloved phase-changing mutant Kate "Kitty" Pryde. Now that Kate has been resurrected thanks to Krakoa's advanced technology, Marauders #12 showed what her new chance at life will entail -- and confirmed her to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community in the process. Spoilers for Marauders #12 below! Only look if you want to know!

The issue followed Kate in her first moments post-resurrection, including a lengthy reunion with her mutant friends and family. This included an endearing moment with Illyana Rasputin/Majik, where they embraced and were knocked onto the ground in the process.

Later on in the issue, Kate and Illyana exited the Krakoan party to go get food on the Marauder, and Kate found her way to a tattoo shop, not unlike the one where she and the Marauders got tattoos in the series' early issue. Kate paid the female tattoo artist to give her new knuckle tattoos, as her previous ones had not been carried over when she resurrected. The tattooist and Kate bonded over the tattoo process, and as Kate was getting ready to leave, she kissed her on the lips.

This moment served as a culmination of decades of queer-baiting that has surrounded Kate in the comics, with fans speculating for quite some time that she had romantic feelings for women in some way. While Kate has had multiple relationships with male characters over the years, ranging from Colossus to Star-Lord and even Spider-Man, her dynamics with female characters have been less overt. She nearly kissed fellow X-Men member Karma in the Mekanix miniseries, and she has had close relationships with both Illyana and Rachel Grey.

While the exact nature of Kate's sexual identity - whether bisexual, pansexual, queer, or otherwise - still remains unconfirmed, this serves as the strongest canonical confirmation yet that she is a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

What do you think of Kate Pryde being confirmed queer in Marauders? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!