Powers Of X: 10 Things Fans Should Know About The X-Men 100 Years In The Future – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Jonathan Hickman'sHouse of X/Powers of X event has been reshaping the X-Men and their place in the Marvel Universe, as the line heads towards the "Dawn of X" relaunch. To do this, each issue released weekly has been telling an oddly linear non-linear story that takes place across different timelinesduringdifferent time periods withinthose timelines.

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Thanks to the newly-revealed abilities of Moira X, she has had lifetimes tosee if and how the mutant race can survive. So far, sadly, the answer she's found is that they can't survive. This was shown perfectly by the brief look at the X-Men from 100 years in the future, which revealed some interesting information about the team, Moira, and their place in the Dawn of X.

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Technically, we've seen what the X-Men might look like a hundred years in the future already, when Marvel launched their2099 line of comics. This series introduced new characters based on present-day heroes, as they existed about a hundred years in the future.

The X-Men 2099 were mutants who followed in the same footsteps as Xavier, though their members were not connected to the present-day team beyond serving as inspirations. With the 2099 characters set for a return in upcoming Marvel storylines, it seemed important to specify that these are different X-Men from the future.

Given that this team of X-Men appears 100 years in the future, it would be nice to think that they are flourishing and co-existing with humanity in Xavier's dream utopia. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. Earth has been taken over by Nimrod and the Sentinels, who work together with enslaved humans to wipe mutants off the face of the Earth.

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Theyhave almost succeeded in this mission: the majority of mutantkind escaped to the Shi'ar Empire, while the remains of the X-Men stayed behind to continue the fight. The total population of mutants left on Earth whenreaders were introduced to the X-Men of the future? Eight.

Our first introduction to the X-Men of the future comes during one of their final battles, as a team of familiar but different mutants fight against cybernetically-enhanced humans and Sentinels from the Man-Machine Ascendency.

The mutant known as Rasputin is an amalgamation of mutantgenes from Colossus, Quentin Quire, Shadowcat, X-23, and Unus the Untouchable. Her partner is the pacifist known as Cardinal, who resembles a red-tinged Nightcrawler and is also made from multiple strains of mutant DNA.

The hybrid mutants Rasputin and Cardinal were actually the third attempts at genetically engineering a new race of mutants using thecombined DNA of multiple mutants, and they were known as Chimaera mutants. We saw the beginnings of Sinister's DNA database inPowers of X, whichwas originally requested by Xavier and Magneto.

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As revealed by the additional information included in the issues, following the decliningmutant population and constant threat from humanity, Sinister set up breeding pits on Mars and went about constructing mutant combinations based around military operations. The Man-Machine Ascendency would replicate this process with its less successful HOUND program.

Asteroid K serves as the last bastion of the mutant race on Earth and is a remnant of Krakoa that floats above the Earth in orbit. The remaining X-Men were forced to relocate there after the fall of Krakoa on Earth, which was followed by the destruction of the breeding pits on Mars.

While the majority of the mutant race then left for the safety of Shi'ar space, the X-Men set up shop on the space-bound Krakoa, which is fitting considering that a chunk of Krakoa was hurled into space during the legendaryGiant-SizeX-Men #1, which rebooted the team back in 1975.

While our first introduction to the team is through the Chimaera mutant hybrids, when they reach Asteroid K the remaining mutants are revealed and they include a couple of familiar faces. Leading the team is Wolverine, who appears to have shrunk a bit in his older age but is still the same old Logan.

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He is joined by the powerful mutant Xorn, whose abilities derive from a singularity that is housed within his head. Joining the present-day members is a Groot-like being that is revealed to be Krakoaand Cypher in a merged state, though his dialogue indicatesthat Cypher is no longer with them.

The team is revealed to be discussing their plans with none other than Apocalypse himself, who (up until this point in the comics) was always more of an enemy than an ally. His role as the leader of this future team of X-Men gave readers a few clues about these characters and their role in the timelines ofHoX/PoX.

The mutants we previously discussed are actually Apocalypse's Four Horseman, along with North, a Chimaera mutant with the abilities of Lorna Dane and Emma Frost. As revealed by the info sheets, Wolverine is War, Xorn is Death, North isPestilenceand Krakoa/Cypher is Famine.

Apocalypse led his Four Horseman on a final mission into the Man-Machine Ascendency's archives, while the Chimaera mutants (and Xorn) distracted Nimrod's forces. Their mission was to locate the date that Nimrod would come online in the past, which proved to be incredibly important given all the sacrifices made.

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Not only were the Chimaera mutants wiped out when Xorn's mask was removed and his singularity exposed, but Apocalypse and his Horsemen were also taken out by Nimrod. Wolverine was the only survivor to make it back to Asteroid K with the recovered information.

The Chimaera mutants' distraction was simply an attempt to buy Apocalypse and his Horsemen time in the archives. While Rasputin, North, and Xorn were more than eager to fight, Cardinal was genetically cursed with pacifism and usually unable to join in the battle.

However, he revealedthat he had taken a "terminal apocalypse seed" to deal with his usual peaceful nature. Apocalypse has used Death and Life seeds of Celestial origin before, but given his connection to Krakoa and the role the plants are playing inHoX/PoX, we have to wonder what other kinds of seeds the X-Men are using to amp up their powers.

As we previously mentioned, Moira X's mutant abilities allow her to live her life beginning to end multiple times, and she retains the memories from each lifetime. She has spent these lives on various paths that explored the options available to mutant-kind, with each action usually resulting indisastrous consequences for mutants and/or humans.

When the Wolverine of the future escaped back to Krakoa after the X-Men's final mission, he awakened Moira from her stasis, which revealed that this was the version of Moira who had attempted to follow Apocalypse's way to save mutantkind, apparently to no avail. The information about Nimrod's beginning in the past was downloadedby Moira and she was killed by Wolverine, ending her ninth life alongside Apocalypse's X-Men and beginning the timeline ofHouse of X.

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Tags:marvel comics,x-men

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