SPOILER WARNING!!
“I am the mind. I am the conscience.”
If you haven’t been keeping up with the Dawn of X era of X-Men books that followed Powers of X and House of X, you might not understand how things work. Similar to the approach that Fox was taking with the X-Men line of movies towards the end – each book has a different feel – or perhaps, genre. While they all move to the tune of Jonathan Hickman, they each address a different piece of the X-Men’s new world.
Marauders is a Kitty Pryde centric book and revolves around the economic situation of the nation. Fallen Angels stars Kwannon (Psylocke) and delves into the criminal underworld. Excalibur is a magical-based title. New Mutants tells the story of the younger batch of Krakoans, and X-Men is the flagship title that just sort of goes where it needs to be. Finally, X-Force is the island black ops and counter-intelligence suite.
Related: X-Men: Marvel Comics’ Dawn of X Titles Ranked
Of the six books currently on the shelves, X-Force is one of the largest – second only to New Mutants. The title includes heavy-hitters Professor-X, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast, and Forge as well as Quinton Quire, Domino, Sage, and Black Tom Cassidy. A lot of experience and ego to reign in for sure. Funny enough, the conductor of this orchestra of destruction is arguably it’s softest touch. Beast.
The book is narrated by him as he directs X-Force over comms while dealing with their newest threat. Something that he fears can become as deadly as anything else they’ve faced in the past. A biological plant-based weapon system not unlike what Forge has created using Krakoa as a base. Acting very much like nano-tech, the biomass attacks and assimilates its hosts turning them into what Beast describes as “the organic equivalent of an Omega Sentinel.”
If you weren’t around in the late 1990s or paid much attention to Karima Shapandar – then the term probably doesn’t mean much to you. Omega Sentinels were humans infected with nano-tech that both brainwashed and physically transformed them into living mutant detecting, sleeper, murder-cyborgs.
In Powers of X, it’s revealed that they are a key factor in the creation of a Nimrod and the Mutant-Machine Supremacy that eventually drive mutants out of the entire solar system.
Without having to say, the idea of something similar occurring on an organic level is terrifying and may happen at a much more rapid pace. If left unchecked, it’d spread like a disease – possibly even turn the entire planet against mutantkind.
Since the beginning of the series, X-Force has hoped to put off and stop forces that would threaten Krakoa – but they’ve been faced with new ones almost every turn.
What’s also interesting is Beast’s level of arrogance. For all intents and purposes, the X-Men have beat the world at their own game. They’ve taken over a large chunk of the world’s economic apparatus and are out-pacing just about every super-power in the field of technology. Beast has been no small part of this success. From the sound of his diatribe, it may have gone to his head.
What did you think of X-Force #6? Are you pumped for more Omega Sentinels? Let us know in the comments.