Marvel Reveals the True Identity of a Major New X-Men Villain

Marvel has finally revealed the true identity of a major new X-Men villain – one who has been operating from the shadows since the “Dawn of X” era began back in 2019! 

When Marvel’s X-Force (vol. 6) relaunched following the “House of X” reboot event, the book was immediately marked by a darkness in X-Men lore we had not seen before. A global anti-mutant organization called XENO was introduced as the main foe X-Force was battling; that organization’s leader was a masked man who was only known by the elaborate peacock sleeve tattoo on his right arm. None of X-Force’s operations have managed to bring them closer to apprehending or killing (or even seeing) XENO’s mysterious leader – who has, in turn, inflicted some truly horrific pain and suffering on the mutants of Krakoa. 

Well, in X-Force #37 we finally get the long-awaited reveal of who is behind the mask of the Man with the Peacock Tattoo – and it turns out it’s a face connected to one of the darkest periods in mutant history!

SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

Part of the story of X-Force #37 involves The Man with the Peacock Tattoo trying to mentor Max, the young mutant telepath he stole as a baby from Krakoa’s Bowery (a safe haven for orphaned mutants) and accelerated to older age through gene manipulation. As a telepath Max can sense his “father’s” true identity and history, leaving The Man with the Peacock Tattoo little choice but to have an honest conversation with his “son.”  

Who Is X-Force’s Man With The Peacock Tattoo? Explained

The Man with the Peacock Tattoo is revealed to be a clone of Dr. David Moreau – aka the infamous “Genegineer” of the former mutant slave state of Genosha. The original Moreau was responsible for taking otherworldly knowledge from the Age of Apocalypse (provided by the nightmarish “Sugar Man”) and creating the “mutates” of Genosha: mutants who had their memories and personalities wiped away and their powers tampered with, in order to turn them into perfectly obedient superpowered slaves of the state. 

As a government-sanctioned program, Moreau’s mutate process was protected by political and diplomatic powers; however, that all changed when anti-mutant extremist Cameron Hodge came to Genosha and took over. Hodge’s alliance with the Genegineer led to the ’90s “X-Tinction Agenda” crossover storyline in Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants, in which Xaviers students have to invade Genosha and free friends and/or teammates form Hodge’s capture. The culmination of that storyline saw the original Moreau betrayed and killed by Hodge. However, one of his clones – who was disfigured saving Moreau’s son from a lab accident – escaped, fearing what would ultimately become of him as an experiment of a mad scientist. 

The Surviving Moreau clone eventually became The Man with the Peacock Tattoo, whose purpose was getting revenge on Moreau – until Hodge killed him. The clone set out to be better than his “father” by finally creating the perfect mutant specimen – which is apparently a Frankenstein monster built of pieces of the X-Men’s most powerful members. Yikes. 

X-Force is on sale from Marvel Comics.