X-Men Discover The Three Words More Dangerous Than ‘No More Mutants’

Warning: contains spoilers for Way of X #2!

Mutantkind’s most devastating moment came when the Scarlet Witch uttered three words, “No more mutants,” erasing the mutant gene from the vast majority of individuals in the Marvel Universe and leaving the X-Men to pick up the pieces. It took years, and the intervention of a cosmic force of rebirth and destruction, to set things right, but now three different words threaten to devastate mutant society in a far more lasting way. Jonathan Hickman’s revamp of the X-Men line has seen mutantkind create a new nation. The island of Krakoa is a sanctuary for all mutants, where even the dead rise again thanks to the unique powers of its citizens. With ambitions stretching to the end of time itself, Krakoa is a truly post-human society, and that comes with post-human problems.

In Way of X – from Simon Spurrier and Bob Quinn – Nightcrawler has decided those problems need to be addressed. His religious beliefs shaken by mutantkind’s new immortality, Kurt nevertheless believes his people need some larger spiritual framework to guide them, if only because without it, darker beliefs are taking root. Magneto’s brutal Crucible – in which depowered mutants are ceremonially executed – is starting to shape mutant society, with the Scarlet Witch and the mysterious Patchwork Man becoming folk devils in a culture that no longer fears death.

Until now, Nightcrawler has been unable to name the problems he sees in Krakoa, but a confrontation with David Haller, aka Legion, has finally made the danger facing mutantkind clear. A mutant whose mind contains almost limitless personas, Legion has been captured and experimented on by Orchis, a human group intent on destroying Krakoa as a world power. Entering Legion’s mindscape, Nightcrawler discovers his personas embroiled in a grisly war, quickly realizing David’s alters are being used to model the fall of mutant society. While genius hero Doctor Nemesis identifies that the fall is down to a natural breakdown of socially agreed morality in an infinite society, the problem has been exacerbated by Orchis’ addition of an ‘invasive exotic’ idea expressed as three words – “Me before we.”

In a society where death isn’t the end, and where the right combination of powers can be used to achieve almost any goal, morality is nebulous, and both real and philosophical boundaries are made to be broken. Orchis has discovered the natural ruin of mutantkind, and developed an invasive thought pattern designed to speed it along. Legion even finds evidence of tampering in Nightcrawler’s own mindscape, revealing to Kurt that the nightmarish Patchwork Man plaguing Krakoa is a new form of the psionic entity known as Onslaught, likely acting as a physical manifestation of Orchis’ “me before we” philosophy.

As devastating as Scarlet Witch’s “no more mutants,” might have been, Orchis’ “me before we,” is even deadlier. Mutantkind could now potentially exist until the end of time – in fact, that’s very much Professor X and Magneto’s plan – but their breakdown as a society threatens that legacy, whether in the short-term thanks to Orchis, or the long-term thanks to the psychological experience of living forever. Nightcrawler’s mutant religion finally has a concrete goal: to offer immortal beings some philosophy or code that can keep them invested in the world around them and prevent the breakdown Orchis has foreseen.

Sadly, while Kurt might have had centuries to develop his new way of thinking, Onslaught’s return changes things, and it’s now down to Nightcrawler and Legion to purge mutant society of this invasive thought pattern and turn it away from both Onslaught’s temptation towards chaos and Magneto’s barbaric vision of rebirth through combat. Way of X continues the X-Men relaunch’s sci-fi exploration of an infinite society, as Nightcrawler abandons his old beliefs to fight for the soul of mutantkind.

About The Author

Robert Wood
(398 Articles Published)

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Robert Wood is a comics editor for Screen Rant and the author of ‘The False Elephant (and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories).’ He received his Master’s in English Literature from Lancaster University, and now happily spends his days applying it to Daredevil and the Hulk.

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