X-Men: Fabian Nicieza Returns With New Juggernaut Miniseries This May
Phillip Pratt
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Marvel Comics’ line of X-Men books is even more unstoppable than the Juggernaut – as they’ve proved with the recent announcement of a new five-issue miniseries from famed comic X-author, Fabian Nicieza. This May, he and series artist, Ron Garney, will be stomping back into the X-Men franchise with Juggernaut #1!
Although he’s classically portrayed as one of the franchise’s villains, the last time we saw Cain Marko he was an X-Man. However, he hasn’t been seen since being banished to Limbo by Darkchyld – Magik’s pure demon-side which was unleashed when her human-mutant side was eradicated.
All this went down in the penultimate issue of 2019’s snuff filmy Uncanny X-Men, written by Matthew Rosenberg. How Cain Marko has become the Juggernaut again – much less survived Limbo – is part of the mystery. You see, before he was dragged to a venerable version of hell, Darkchyld ripped the Gem of Cyttorak from his body and destroyed it leaving him powerless. Presumably.
Soon, he’ll be back, repowered, and probably a little confused as to how the mutant race went from barely making a blip on the radar, to thriving in ways not seen since Genosha – or perhaps ever. As I said before, he was an X-Man – but due to not being mutant, he’s most likely going to be even less welcome on Krakoa than Kitty Pryde!
Nicieza explained to IGN:
“That basically instigates the entire story. Having been X and lost, what does Cain become now? After years of back and forth and madness and sadness, he had become a member in good standing of the X-Men, and then while he’s away dancing in Limbo, mutantkind gets everything they could have ever hoped for… and Cain can’t be a part of that.”
He added:
“How he reacts to that rejection becomes the exploration of who he is going to become without the one thing that — for good and bad — has defined him for most of his life.”
If you’re not really aware as to what Mr. Nicieza is referring to – 2019’s Uncanny X-Men wasn’t the first time Juggernaut has walked alongside angels. In the early ‘00s, he joined the X-Men and became fast friends with a young mutant named Sammy – a reluctant student of the Xavier Institute.
Long story short, in X-Men #163, Cain’s former partner in crime, Black Tom, viciously murdered the boy in front of Cain’s eyes. This will undoubtedly create problems in the future. Black Tom is now an important part of Krakoa’s security, and thanks to the Resurrection Protocols, Sammy is probably back among the living. So, a little awkwardness incoming?
Par the course with Marvel these days, Cain won’t be going through his journey of rediscovery alone. Nicieza will be giving him a new understudy in a teenaged character named D-Cel. A youngster that has the power to decelerate objects – including ‘unstoppable’ ones like, let’s say, the Juggernaut.
“She’ll adamantly tell you she’s not a mutant, and her personal life is a mystery because she wants it to be. She’s a fifteen-year-old kid living with other homeless squatters in Manhattan buildings that were abandoned after the War of the Realms.”
The War of the Realms was a recent company-wide crossover written by Jason Aaron and Russel Dauterman. I skipped this particular story because… well, it looked stupid. But I got the gist of it from what I did read in the Uncanny X-Men one-shots that mistakenly ended up on my pull list.
Basically, Malekith – the dark elf and main antagonist from Thor: The Dark World feature film – tried to plunge all of the realms into darkness, again. His forces had conquered most of them and left Earth for last. Perhaps, this new “not a mutant” character originates from another realm?
“After she meets Cain in issue #1, she becomes the catalyst towards helping him see a purpose to his new life, and if it gets her more views on her RoxTube channel, that’s just a bonus. I wanted a bit of an ‘Arya and the Hound’ dynamic to their relationship, and she appears at his side for the whole series.”
Other than the obvious ‘meh’ implications of having a kid bolted to Juggernaut’s side – this is Fabian Nicieza we’re talking here. If there is any X-Men writer I trust, it’s more than likely him. What do you think about it?
Juggernaut #1 charges into stores in May 2020.
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