Marvel’s relaunch of the X-Men franchise continues to turn heads and bend minds, with the second issue of Powers of X offering more glimpses into the past and futures of the merry mutants. And while there are still many more revelations to come in the remaining four issues — not to mention the four issues of House of X left — creators Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva, and Marte Gracia have finally revealed what’s left of the X-Men in the period 100 years in the future, also dubbed “The War.”
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The first issue introduced new characters Rasputin, Cardinal, Cylobel, and Percival, the latter two of whom were quickly killed off. But the remaining mutant Chimeras escaped back to their base on Asteroid K, and the issue revealed they were working alongside Xorn, presumably fan-favorites Magneto and Wolverine, as well as a new tree-like creature that was the subject of much debate.
Now Powers of X #2 reveals not just who they’re working for, as Apocalypse makes his big debut as their new leader, but also that the tree-creature is actually Krakoa itself after taking over the body of the now deceased Doug Ramsey AKA Cypher.
Ramsey was seen in House of X #1 alongside the mutant genius Sage, and is said to have established a working language and coding system in a short time through his work with the Krakoa network. Cypher is never explicitly named in this new issue, but Krakoa mentions the character’s distinct mutant power of communication, making it clear that he’s referring to the New Mutants member.
Many fans speculated this new character could be either an evolved version of Black Tom Cassidy or perhaps even an alternate take on Groot. But no, it’s much simpler and tracks with Krakoa’s heightened importance in the current X-Men run. Black Tom Cassidy would have been a let down to more casual fans who are unaware of the character, especially since he has had a prominent role in the franchise for decades now.
While this team of X-Men is both all new and all different, it still has a lot of familiar echoes as they continue their shadow war against the thread of Nimrod the Lesser. How all of this feeds into the time of the Ascension, hinted at in the final pages of the issue, will likely be further explored as Powers of X approaches the finishing line.
Powers of X #2 is now available in stores and online.
