Marvel’s X-Men Reveals That Mr. Sinister’s Clone Has Secretly Been A Major Cosmic Influencer

Marvel’s X-Men new Universe has made yet another big reveal – one that takes us a step closer to a major event that’s on the horizon. The latest phase of the X-Men’s new “Dawn of X” era has revealed that the influence and role of Nathaniel Essex (aka Mr. Sinister) has been more widespread and long-lasting than anyone would’ve ever guessed. 

Thanks to a century’s worth of investigation by Mystique and Destiny, it was uncovered that the original Nathaniel Essex was consumed by his own out-of-control powers during the 19th century. In order to achieve the “Immortality,” needed to witness key events in evolution, Essex cloned himself into four different Mr. Sinister bodies – each one with a forehead that was branded with one of the four suits found on playing cards. Those four clones broke loose and were in the wind after Essex died – and so far, we’ve only known where two of them ended up. 

The clone of diamonds version of Sinister is the one we know the most from X-Men comics; that version of Nathaniel Essex was tasked with exploring and shepherding the mutant gene, to see if mutants could evolve to dominate over humanity and machines, and has been manipulating mutant bloodlines, ever since. The club-suit version of Sinister set about the path of pushing humanity to the next level, taking on the alias of “Doctor Stasis” and conducting wild experiments in human-animal hybrids and the like as part of the Oblivion Institute and one of the key leaders of the ORCHIS human extremist group.

Now, we know where the clone of spades version of Sinister ended up… 

Mr. Sinister ‘Clone of Spades’ Revealed

In X-Men Red #10, Cable’s mixed crew of Krakoa and Arakko warriors faces the creators and their master Obris Stellaris at the World Farm where the Progenitors help shape (or destroy) various alien races across the universe. That battle ends with Cable powering up and punching Orbis Stellaris through a wall, before teleporting away with his team. In the aftermath, it’s revealed the Orb is actually a life-support shell, one that is housing Nathaniel Essex’s clone of clubs inside! 

His appearance is that of an aged and decrypted (but human-looking) Nathaniel Essex, who is seen commanding the Progenitors to prepare him a new life-support vessel, as his organic body cannot survive long outside of it due to advanced aging. The fact that club of spades Sinister has some level of control over the World Farm and Progenitors is definitely significant, as it implies Sinister has been influencing the very shaping of the entire Marvel Universe. And now he fully has it out for Krakoa and mutantkind!

Various X-Men books have implied that the original purpose of Nathaniel Essex’s cloning was giving himself four possible paths to avoiding organic life’s destruction at the hands of evolved machines. The clone of diamonds Sinister has shepherded the “Essex Men” (mutants) in order to create and foster omega-level mutants; the clone of clubs Sinister has been tinkering with non-mutant forms of human enhancement or hybridization. This clone of spades Sinister clearly left Earth and traveled to the far reaches of the known universe, engineering alien creatures and presumably controlling the fates and evolution of countless other lifeforms, along the way. 

Who Is the Final Sinister Clone?

The only Sinister clone left is the clone of hearts, who presumably would have taken the final path to beat the machine threat: magic. The question of which magical being the clone of hearts Sinister has been masquerading looms large – as does what will happen when all these Sinister clones inevitably collide.

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