Professor X Erased Marvel’s Most Powerful Mutant From Existence

Faced with little to no options, Professor X of the X-Men did the unthinkable and erased a fellow mutant from all of existence. Charles Xavier is a champion of mutant rights and one would initially believe he would never go so far as to kill anyone, let alone a mutant. But in Uncanny X-Men #23, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art and colors by Kris Anka, Xavier explains his rationale behind his decision to his students – from beyond the grave.

The X-Men gather before Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk, to hear Professor Xavier’s last will and testament. Among multiple revelations (marrying Mystique, for one), Xavier’s message to his fellow X-Men mostly consists of a warning about a person named Matthew Malloy. He’s a mutant, and one of the most powerful reality-warpers Xavier has ever encountered – even stronger than Xavier himself. The present X-Men must track him down and ensure the safeguards Xavier put in place years ago remain inside Malloy’s mind.

When Xavier detected Matthew’s mutant powers, he feared it was already too late. Matthew had killed his parents unwittingly with his abilities, and may have killed others. His powers of telepathy and telekinesis were so strong that during an outburst, only Professor X’s years of practicing his own abilities saved him from being obliterated. When Xavier eventually confronted Malloy when he was younger, the young mutant begged to have his powers removed. “I don’t want the power…take it away from me.” But Xavier couldn’t do that without killing Matthew – a line he wouldn’t cross. Instead, he placed psychic blocks in the mutant’s head so he would forget he had mutant powers at all. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t last.

After losing his wife in a Skrull attack during the Secret Invasion event, Malloy’s powers violently reawakened, creating a massive crater and killing dozens. The SHIELD task force sent to detain him were all similarly slaughtered (though not deliberately; Matthew acts in self defense but is unable to pull his punches, so to speak). In more fights with a larger SHIELD force and other mutants, Cyclops and Emma Frost are killed, along with Malloy – who astoundingly finds that he can resurrect himself (but not others). Faced with an unstoppable mutant who can’t control his powers, Xavier resorts to drastic measures: he uses Eva Bell to travel back in time and make sure Malloy’s parents never met, preventing his conception – and thus the deaths in the SHIELD attack.

This is not the first time a powerful mutant was assassinated for the sake of all mutant-kind. However, this is the first time Xavier sanctioned such an action – and thanks to going back in time, it was by his own hand. While the Professor X of the Krakoa Era is highly pragmatic, the man before clearly only erased Malloy as a last resort to protect the world and the X-Men.