Marvel has long pitted the X-Men against the Horsemen of Apocalypse. Now they’re facing something new in the Horsemen of Salvation.
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SPOILERS for Uncanny X-Men #3 by Matthew Rosenberg, Kelly Thompson, Ed Brisson, YIldray Cinar, and Rachelle Rosenberg follow.
There’s a lot going on for the X-Men right now. Kitty Pryde has gone missing. Multiple Man is multiplying out of control in Kansas. Dinosaurs are attacking towns in Montana.
Jean Grey decides to split the teams up into two groups. She, Iceman, X-23, Bishop, and Northstar head to Montana to fight dinosaurs while Storm leads Psylocke, Jubilee, Cannonball, Polaris, and Nightcrawler to Kansas to find out what’s going on with Jamie Madrox.
The young X-Men are left at the mansion, which is soon surrounded by anti-mutant protestors. On top of that, the students are still bitter about how they’ve been treated by their teachers, feeling like they’ve been constantly left waiting for their chance to shine. Being left at home even though the X-Men have more crises on their hands than they can manage only serves to reinforce this notion.
Things escalate when Legion, the omega-level psychic mutant son of Professor X, show up at the Xavier Mansion’s doorstep. The students are reluctant to let Legion inside, but decide it’s better to let him in than risk letting him go off on the protestors outside.
Legion appears in control at first, but when he learns that the X-Men are fighting Madrox in Kansas he loses it. It turns out Legion had kidnapped Jamie and forced him to create countless duplicates to house Legion’s many alternate personalities. Legion slams his head several times until his hair stands on end and a manic expression appears on his face.
Legion begins fighting the young mutants. The X-Men arrive in time to insert themselves into the fight, though this does nothing to salve the younger team’s bruised egos. Legion tries to explain that he’s actually trying to help them and save them from some unseen threat.
That’s when the threat reveals itself as the Four Horsemen of Salvation:
These four Horsemen are Magneto, the Blob, Omega Red, and Angel. Angel is another X-Man who recently went missing, in his case while the X-Men were fighting Multiple Man’s dupes at a political rally.
Magneto identifies himself as the Horseman of Peace. He labels the other Horsemen as representing Bounty, Life, and Wellness. He doesn’t specify which is which, but it seems likely that Blob is the Horseman of Bounty given his size, that Omega Red is the Horseman of Life given his life-sapping mutant powers, and that Angel is the Horsemen of Wellness given that “wellness” is a vague and generic enough term to be associated with Warren Worthington III.
In the name of peace, Magneto then blows up the Xavier Mansion. Again.
Magneto alludes to the Horsemen working for a greater master. He doesn’t name this master, but knowing what’s coming for the X-Men line in 2019 suggests it is likely X-Man, the self-proclaimed mutant savior.
What do you think of the Horsemen of Salvation? Let us know in the comments!
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