The X-Men Are Getting Their Own Captain America (Cover for X-Men #6)

[rdman]

My off the beat guess is the Mimic from the Exiles. He is from another reality and can mimic and retain powers much like Synch.

[Grunty]

Marvel's overdid it with the "let's mix two characters together!" stuff lately, but chimeras seem to be a more interesting, and reasonable take on the concept.

But honestly, I'm interested in chimeras for the story potential. How would Sinister influence them? Would being artificial or only knowing a post-Krakoa world have any meaningful impact? Would they have any sort of relationship with their genetic sources? How would normal, weaker mutants deal with their land breeding powerful mutants; would they be worried or feel inferior? How would people feel if their DNA was used without their consent, and they had to look at this breach of agency as it lives its own life? Would they develop their own, unique personalities, or just be retreads of their sources? We already know that some of the chimeras became pacifists despite their nature, and that'd be very cool to explore. The "what if powers were combined?" question could also lead to characters with very fun and unique uses of power.

That's a good perspective and some cool ideas.

But i don't think there is currently enough foundation in Marvel Comics and the X-men office to think how this could ever be achieved in a satisfying manner over the necessary time, at least currently.

Not only do we have far too many characters in the current status quo which are viable to be used for a main cast, including c-listers and "reformed" villains who's fans are eagerly hoping for them to get one of the rare spots which aren't allready taken by the same characters as have been used for 40 years (not that many of them are getting some good usage or development either), but there is also the issue of constant relaunches and writer changes.

Not to forget that there is a stark difference in quality and focus between many of the writers Marvel keeps chosing. Meaning there is a too high chance the writer who would be responcible for introducing or developing the chimeras could sink that concept into the ground quickly, via simply focusing on the wrong aspects and being unable to progress things quickly enough (in my opinion Dawn of X suffered from too many writers who seemingly felt they had all the time in the world to handle their longterm goals and failing to deliver in short term story telling)

Even if they would be introduced as villains or antagonist, who could frequently come back in storylines alongside the main characters and get character development in the backround that way*, there simply is not enough stability in the X-office and the current comic market in general (as far as Marvel is using it), to ensure these stories and developments could occur over the time that would be necessary to feel like it's a natural development.

*Something interesting to consider is that by making so many of the old mutant villains join hands with the X-men on Krakoa, they are technicaly robbed of their chance to appear alongside the heros and get their own moments to shine, now being doomed to mostly sit around in the backround doing nothing instead.

So again you make a valid argument in favor of why the chimeras could be a cool concept to introduce to the main continuity, but as much as my mind was imaging those details you described, i don't think it would work so well in the current climate.

[dkrook]

Looks like Darwin.

With his power set, it's very doable. Personally I just don't give the X-office the stones enough to pull the trigger on Darwin as a standalone hero.

[JB]

1st cameo appearance was x-men #1 2021

Interesting...

[Vishop]

Larraz is carrying this book. The solicits and concept are so dull.

How many times we have imposter superheroes turned out to be villain? It's is overused trope in comic books. I have liked it couple of times but it becomes dull at times when you find out that some imposter Superman turning out to be Bizzaro or Cyborg Superman eh.....

[Rift]

Not only do we have far too many characters in the current status quo which are viable to be used for a main cast, including c-listers and "reformed" villains who's fans are eagerly hoping for them to get one of the rare spots which aren't allready taken by the same characters as have been used for 40 years (not that many of them are getting some good usage or development either), but there is also the issue of constant relaunches and writer changes.

Not to forget that there is a stark difference in quality and focus between many of the writers Marvel keeps chosing. Meaning there is a too high chance the writer who would be responcible for introducing or developing the chimeras could sink that concept into the ground quickly, via simply focusing on the wrong aspects and being unable to progress things quickly enough (in my opinion Dawn of X suffered from too many writers who seemingly felt they had all the time in the world to handle their longterm goals and failing to deliver in short term story telling)

*Something interesting to consider is that by making so many of the old mutant villains join hands with the X-men on Krakoa, they are technicaly robbed of their chance to appear alongside the heros and get their own moments to shine, now being doomed to mostly sit around in the backround doing nothing instead.

So again you make a valid argument in favor of why the chimeras could be a cool concept to introduce to the main continuity, but as much as my mind was imaging those details you described, i don't think it would work so well in the current climate.

You make a good point about page-time. We already have more than enough characters vying for even a cameo. A lot of writers can and would botch the concept (Looking at you, Vita. I'm sorry, you're a good writer. But original characters are not your strong suit,) And things are pretty volatile. But I still think the concept can work if executed right. Like, keep the chimeras as a background thing and keep them in small doses. A good 5-issue chimera arc in Hellions 2(?) would be enough to explore a lot of these themes. Chimeras don't need to be major players, and could be used to flesh out characters who need more stories and development.