Hellions #1 brings back.... a surprise X-Men story twist from the 90s

[MAR420X]

In X-Men Vol. 2 #34, we saw the team of Beast, Rogue, Gambit & Psylocke infiltrated Mr. Sinister's base beneath a Nebraska orphanage, in the hopes of finding information on the Legacy Virus.

They soon discovered Sinister's genetic cloning material and realized what they have expected along from the grand schemer.

Also, In X-Men Vol. 2 #52 Sinister reveals to Gambit and Bishop that he's a good geneticist but also a historian of collecting DNA and data about Homo Superior.



These two issues are great companion stories for what's Sinister's intentions are in the House of X/Powers of X year 10 era.

This brings up what we see in Marvel's Incoming issue last year why its essential for Sinister of having the genetic material of Omega Level Mutants.



In the new issue of Hellions #1, Sinister's sets up the team of (Scalphunter, Wild Child, Empath, Nanny, Orphanmaker, Psylocke, Havok) to destroy the Clone farm he's built underneath the Nebraska house.




The final pages sees the emergence of the infamous goblin queen of Madelyne Pryor and clone copies of the Marauders being possessed.

It's been a reoccurring theme of Sinister's abilities to clone mutants but also betray for his true intentions.

What's Sinister's endgame on Krakoa?

Let's discuss....

[coveredinbees]

Why do you think he betrayed the mutants in Moira's Apocalypse life? I don't recall Hickman stating a motive.

[Will Evans]

Not gonna lie, for a second I thought you were going to talk about Threnody.

[Askani5]

Why do you think he betrayed the mutants in Moira's Apocalypse life? I don't recall Hickman stating a motive.

His motivations are pretty much the same as little finger in the game of thrones. Chaos is a ladder.

[houndsofluv]

Why do you think he betrayed the mutants in Moira's Apocalypse life? I don't recall Hickman stating a motive.

He's playing a longer game, probably something to do w/ the omega mutants and gene splicing .. I wish we had more to go on bc that's one of the most interesting budding storylines rn

[MAR420X]

from the variant of issue 2 I'm guessing were gonna see some sort of hybird of mutant DNA splicing being unleashed on the team

maybe something like richard palance character

[nx01a]

Sinister's endgame should be giving himself Franklin Richards' x-gene. It should be all our endgames.

[MechaJeanix]

I want Sinister to start to do something with the omega mutant's genetics. I also want to see what Hickman has in store with the omega mutants besides a plot with Sinister (I still think they will be important down the line - or it is wishful thinking).

Hellions was such a fun book. While I'm not sure about Maddie's return I do expect the book to be fun and entertaining. I loved Nanny, Orphan Maker, and empath. Alex and Kwannon are fun too.

[houndsofluv]

I also want to see what Hickman has in store with the omega mutants besides a plot with Sinister (I still think they will be important down the line - or it is wishful thinking).

my guess is its gonna morph into the "pushing prominent mutant couples into having babies" thing we've heard quiet whispers of in and out of the books

[JB]

Oooh that variant is fun. I like the idea of the Hellions going up against such creations that allow them to cut loose.

I'm also perplexed about Sinister's agenda, which makes me happy. As for the omegas, I'm very curious to see if and when Mister M will appear on the board.

[coveredinbees]

my guess is its gonna morph into the "pushing prominent mutant couples into having babies" thing we've heard quiet whispers of in and out of the books

I hope not. That isn't playing with villainy; it's awful.
I was appalled he put that bit in about Moira and Xavier looking at the perfect humans to make reality warping babies, especially considering Joe MacTaggert was abusive to Moira.

[houndsofluv]

right?? its a super sinister turn ( pun unintended )
I'm kind of fascinated with it in the "look, a train wreck" typa way... what will it look like if they "go there" ???

[coveredinbees]

right?? its a super sinister turn ( pun unintended )
I'm kind of fascinated with it in the "look, a train wreck" typa way... what will it look like if they "go there" ???

Yes, I am enjoying Hickman even if/or because the Krakoan X-Men are eerie. I'm actually nervous that if they lose here they'll never win again!


As for Sinister speculation, I'm hoping he'll be fighting against Maddie. Maybe she'll try to take his operation from him? Would she free or destroy her sister Maddies?

[Sutekh]

Sinister's long-term goal has always seemed to be splicing together Jean (omega psychic who goes up to ludicrous scale with access to a vast power source like the Phoenix force) and Scott (a living portal to an infinite amount of energy), to make uber-baby, a living 'Phoenix' without all the cosmic 'chaos angel, end-bringer' apocalyptic planet-eating baggage.

So it will be interesting to see what other mixes he's got in mind. Gabriel and Alex both are also vast vast reservoirs of power, and various other mutants have this omega designation that causes them to 'scale up indefinitely' like Jean does, so mixing one of them with one of these 'infinite power sources' seems like a fun pastime. Then again, mix-n-match mutants is always fun, and not just when it's Scott and Jean. Imagine what sorts of powers a child of Rogue and Remy would have? (Charges up energy blades to throw that drain life-force and make her stronger and give her flashes of insight about the victim, while knocking out and mind-wiping their target?) Or Rahne and Jaime Madrox? (A woman woman wolf-pack!) Kitty and Pete Wisdom? (Turns to fiery plasma, a woman sized 'hot knife!') The more unconventional the pairing, the better, since we've seen enough variations of Scott + Jean already.

As for the book itself, I'm not entirely thrilled with the character regression of Empath, who was developing ever-so-slightly back in the day, and is now almost being handed an 'out' by being labeled a sociopath. (Even more inexplicable in the world of mutant telepaths who can teach someone an entire language or skillset in seconds, including, one would assume, *social skills,* so his purported inability to fully empathize (ironic, that) could be fixed by Emma, Jean or Chuckles in, like, 2 seconds, leaving him with, IMO, the much more meaty tale of whether or not he *chooses* to be a manipulative prick...) I feel like his story was much more poignant when he was just a dick, who had to learn not to be a dick (helped by his genuine affection for / attraction to, Amara, and Emma's tough love of shutting down the projective aspect of his powers and forcing him to interact with people without them for a time, being only able to sense their feelings, but not control them), and not some woobie who was a victim of his powers making him grow up without social feedback or some such twaddle.

On the upside, I'm curious as to what powers 'Peter' the Orphanmaker even has. He's a super-fighter, but then again, so are characters like Wolverine or Gorgon, and that has little or nothing to do with their mutations, really, so I wonder what sort of mutant power he has under all that armor... Is it the power making him a Thunderbird-like strongah, fastah, bettah fighter, or *the armor,* and the mutant power a surprise just waiting to be unleashed at a dramatic moment?

[dragon1440]

Sinister's long-term goal has always seemed to be splicing together Jean (omega psychic who goes up to ludicrous scale with access to a vast power source like the Phoenix force) and Scott (a living portal to an infinite amount of energy), to make uber-baby, a living 'Phoenix' without all the cosmic 'chaos angel, end-bringer' apocalyptic planet-eating baggage.

So it will be interesting to see what other mixes he's got in mind. Gabriel and Alex both are also vast vast reservoirs of power, and various other mutants have this omega designation that causes them to 'scale up indefinitely' like Jean does, so mixing one of them with one of these 'infinite power sources' seems like a fun pastime. Then again, mix-n-match mutants is always fun, and not just when it's Scott and Jean. Imagine what sorts of powers a child of Rogue and Remy would have? (Charges up energy blades to throw that drain life-force and make her stronger and give her flashes of insight about the victim, while knocking out and mind-wiping their target?) Or Rahne and Jaime Madrox? (A woman woman wolf-pack!) Kitty and Pete Wisdom? (Turns to fiery plasma, a woman sized 'hot knife!') The more unconventional the pairing, the better, since we've seen enough variations of Scott + Jean already.

As for the book itself, I'm not entirely thrilled with the character regression of Empath, who was developing ever-so-slightly back in the day, and is now almost being handed an 'out' by being labeled a sociopath. (Even more inexplicable in the world of mutant telepaths who can teach someone an entire language or skillset in seconds, including, one would assume, *social skills,* so his purported inability to fully empathize (ironic, that) could be fixed by Emma, Jean or Chuckles in, like, 2 seconds, leaving him with, IMO, the much more meaty tale of whether or not he *chooses* to be a manipulative prick...) I feel like his story was much more poignant when he was just a dick, who had to learn not to be a dick (helped by his genuine affection for / attraction to, Amara, and Emma's tough love of shutting down the projective aspect of his powers and forcing him to interact with people without them for a time, being only able to sense their feelings, but not control them), and not some woobie who was a victim of his powers making him grow up without social feedback or some such twaddle.

On the upside, I'm curious as to what powers 'Peter' the Orphanmaker even has. He's a super-fighter, but then again, so are characters like Wolverine or Gorgon, and that has little or nothing to do with their mutations, really, so I wonder what sort of mutant power he has under all that armor... Is it the power making him a Thunderbird-like strongah, fastah, bettah fighter, or *the armor,* and the mutant power a surprise just waiting to be unleashed at a dramatic moment?

Empathy is not always a learned skill set through things like teaching social skills. Empathy actually has more to do with physical brain. Many serial killers are reported as being extra charming so knowing social skills but not empathizing due to malfunctions of phtsical brain. My mom met ted bundy when he was in jail. She was the nurse who took him his meds in dade county jail system at one point. One of the politest people sge ever met she said. Empathy has nothing to do with social skills.