Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2022

[sunofdarkchild]

Nice, finally they are turning Illyana into a weird imp. The character development we were waiting for?

In the context of the issues it's probably fine. It's the fact that this is the only image from inside the issues we have that's the problem. The marketing calls the story a 'classic hero's journey,' says Illyana will be 'shattered,' the title is direct reference to an ancient Greek myth, the covers are badass, epic, and keep the theme of 'shattering.' This picture does not convey any of that. This is the moment when the marketing should be be starting to kick into high gear, and the number of people who are more likely to pick up the story because they saw this image is 0. In fact it may turn prospective readers off. From a marketing standpoint this was such a horrible choice. Since we don't have any context or any other images it's impossible to say if it was the worst choice, but it's hard to picture any images being worse to show off in that video.

[sunofdarkchild]

The screenrant love for Magik continues.

X-Men's Most Underrated Powerhouse Keeps Making Avengers Look Pathetic


Given the comments about Screenrant I looked at who the authors of these articles are and there have been 4 different authors who have written either articles about Illyana or lists which feature her so far this year. This is the second by Thomas Bacon.

[sunofdarkchild]

Could Magik Take On the Avengers?

Articles like this can be problematic because they aren't well researched. The focus on Thor is weird since Illyana has fought him multiple times and he's not the most powerful Avenger. It would be Wanda or Doctor Strange who would be the problematic opponents for Illyana. The words 'demon' and 'darkchild' are not mentioned once, though there is a possible reference to the fact that she has a stronger form. And the part about her not pulling her punches is flat out wring since she actively holds back 99.9% of the time.

[Fokken]

Could Magik Take On the Avengers?

Articles like this can be problematic because they aren't well researched. The focus on Thor is weird since Illyana has fought him multiple times and he's not the most powerful Avenger. It would be Wanda or Doctor Strange who would be the problematic opponents for Illyana. The words 'demon' and 'darkchild' are not mentioned once, though there is a possible reference to the fact that she has a stronger form. And the part about her not pulling her punches is flat out wring since she actively holds back 99.9% of the time.

Ha ha ha ha ha. "Without Thor, yes she probably could..." Ha ha ha ha ha [wipes tear]

[sunofdarkchild]

Ha ha ha ha ha. "Without Thor, yes she probably could..." Ha ha ha ha ha [wipes tear]

Like I said, that would make more sense if it was 'without Wanda, yes she probably could.'

[Fokken]

Like I said, that would make more sense if it was 'without Wanda, yes she probably could.'

Truly. Wanda is the powerhouse of that tribe.

[sunofdarkchild]

On that note, in the event Illyana goes full Darkchild and threatens to destroy the world, how do you stop her? What would be your strategy for dealing with a worst-case scenario in which the Darkchild leads the armies of Limbo against Earth?

[Fokken]

On that note, in the event Illyana goes full Darkchild and threatens to destroy the world, how do you stop her? What would be your strategy for dealing with a worst-case scenario in which the Darkchild leads the armies of Limbo against Earth?

I guess somebody assembles all the heavy reality warpers?

Legion, Franklin, Mad Jim, Monarch, Wiccan and I imagine Wanda

[WallStreeter]

I guess somebody assembles all the heavy reality warpers?

Legion, Franklin, Mad Jim, Monarch, Wiccan and I imagine Wanda

Thor is an All Father who could destroy Limbo’s demons if they invaded earth. Wanda had the power of Chthon/Darkholde and could destroy all the demons herself. Clea is the sorceress supreme of the Dark dimension and of Earth.

Limbo’s demons are not a serious threat.

[Fokken]

Okay. Or that.

[sunofdarkchild]

Marvel really has too many reality warpers and overpowered people on the 'good guys' side. These days the Beyonder wouldn't be anything special but part of large club. Why was King in Black or Man-Thing or Arrako ever a threat? Let's say Thor and Dr. Strange are the most powerful people the good guys have at their disposal. No reality warpers or Phoenix Force. No pulling a Legion from the Zeb Wells run.

Limbo as a threat has always been more than just the demons. In Inferno and Quest for Magik the villains attempted to merge Limbo and earth. That's why mail boxes began eating people, why the X-Men's personalities changed in Inferno to be nastier and more bloodthirsty, why the statue of liberty grew much taller. That's a very different kind of threat than a simple army of mindless demons.

[Fokken]

Marvel really has too many reality warpers and overpowered people on the 'good guys' side. These days the Beyonder wouldn't be anything special but part of large club. Why was King in Black or Man-Thing or Arrako ever a threat? Let's say Thor and Dr. Strange are the most powerful people the good guys have at their disposal. No reality warpers or Phoenix Force. No pulling a Legion from the Zeb Wells run.

Limbo as a threat has always been more than just the demons. In Inferno and Quest for Magik the villains attempted to merge Limbo and earth. That's why mail boxes began eating people, why the X-Men's personalities changed in Inferno to be nastier and more bloodthirsty, why the statue of liberty grew much taller. That's a very different kind of threat than a simple army of mindless demons.

Yes. 100%
Additionally, who is this "THOR" people keep mentioning?


edit: This is joke. Don't @ me.

[chisob]

Could Magik Take On the Avengers?

Articles like this can be problematic because they aren't well researched. The focus on Thor is weird since Illyana has fought him multiple times and he's not the most powerful Avenger. It would be Wanda or Doctor Strange who would be the problematic opponents for Illyana. The words 'demon' and 'darkchild' are not mentioned once, though there is a possible reference to the fact that she has a stronger form. And the part about her not pulling her punches is flat out wring since she actively holds back 99.9% of the time.

I've always wondered by Thor would be considered a top threat vs Illyana. Thor relies on brute strength and ranged attacks and his hammer. Illyana has counters for that like cloaking, teleporting herself or using portals to teleport hammer attacks out of the way, not to mention an endless supply of demon hordes to at least distract Thor. What's stopping her from teleporting his head off? I agree someone like Doc Strange would be a bigger threat.

I've always wondered how big a threat an unleashed Magik would be? During Inferno Kang stated Limbo demons were destroying entire timelines and killed all the avengers in different timelines. Her demons have copied powers of other Heroes. Ex. they copied the Avengers powers in Excalibur or during AvX when Limbo demons were copying Carol's rouges gallery. Her demons even turned Phoenix Rachel into a statue. Limbo was stated to be able to warp the universe and it was also tearing up Dormammu's dark dimension which if I'm not mistaken houses several universes or dimensions? Just merging Limbo with Earth should turn her into a reality warper on Earth.

[sunofdarkchild]

I've always wondered by Thor would be considered a top threat vs Illyana. Thor relies on brute strength and ranged attacks and his hammer. Illyana has counters for that like cloaking, teleporting herself or using portals to teleport hammer attacks out of the way, not to mention an endless supply of demon hordes to at least distract Thor. What's stopping her from teleporting his head off? I agree someone like Doc Strange would be a bigger threat.

I've always wondered how big a threat an unleashed Magik would be? During Inferno Kang stated Limbo demons were destroying entire timelines and killed all the avengers in different timelines. Her demons have copied powers of other Heroes. Ex. they copied the Avengers powers in Excalibur or during AvX when Limbo demons were copying Carol's rouges gallery. Her demons even turned Phoenix Rachel into a statue. Limbo was stated to be able to warp the universe and it was also tearing up Dormammu's dark dimension which if I'm not mistaken houses several universes or dimensions? Just merging Limbo with Earth should turn her into a reality warper on Earth.

The 2015 Inferno series pretty much showed her threat level. Even with The X-Men, the Goblin Queen, and Mister Sinister all teaming up Darkchild beat them all and made it look easy. It wasn't just her power but her cunning. The only reason she was defeated at the end was because she deliberately let Colossus have her soul sword and kept giving him chances to kill her with it. I head-canon is she actually wanted to to be killed and that's why she toyed with Colossus so much and gave him the means to do it.

There have been many alternate timelines where Illyana going bad makes her an unstoppable force. The Excalibur cross-time caper had her be invincible to everything but the full power of the Phoenix Force. In X-Men Forever no one even touched her during the fight and rather than losing she just left instead of killing everyone. In Marvel Zombies she killed Captain Marvel with ease and when she became infected the zombies suddenly became a multiversal threat. While she didn't go bad in What If Magik, in that story Dr. Strange took her to a dying dimension to vent her power because in his own words destroying that dimension would have only been a mercy.

In terms of overpowered characters like Superman, Thor, or Captain Marvel, Illyana stands out because 1. she isn't at her full power most of the time but has to transform into another form to tap into the full extent of her powers, and 2. unlike so many other overpowered characters, she earned her power. She isn't an alien who gets her power from the sun, a human who was exposed to gamma radiation or had her DNA merged with alien DNA or merged with a cosmic force. The only power she was born with is her mutant power of teleportation. Her magical power she earned through years of training under multiple masters and tremendous sacrifice.

[G0RM]

The part about "the only power she was born with is her mutant power of teleportation" is a slight understatement IMHO.

Given that a cross-time version of Illyana ended the Age of Apocalypse through time manipulation, and given that Belasco sought her out in the first place, her place is much more like the Scarlet Witch, chosen of Cthon.

Those two mutants were specifically picked by elder gods as conduits, so there is no call to count Magik as being weaker than Wanda, although she is far, far more subtle, up in the Wilson Fisk & Dr. Doom level of manipulation and willpower.

The ability to appear small and insignificant is something I place as one of her highest talents; only Scott Summers calling everyone together for the detention, Belasco himself, plus the Conceptual Beings in the What If series ever seemed to have an inkling. (Also recall that a cross-time version of her was the first of God Doom's White Swans.)