Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Wolverine #50! James McAvoy famously played Charles Xavier in the prequel X-Men films, debuting in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. In that movie, Xavier gave a speech about mutant evolution, portions of which he converted into talking points when chatting-up people at the local bars, which included one particular point that was just brought into Marvel Comics. However, this talking point in question became decidedly darker in the X-Men comics than it was in the films, as it came with a horrific reveal about Sentinels and their mutant-hunting sensors.

In Wolverine #50 by Benjamin Percy, Victor LaValle, Geoff Shaw, and Cory Smith, Wolverine and the X-Men are victorious in the Sabretooth War after Logan brutally murders Victor Creed himself. While the fact that this bloody saga came to a satisfying ending is exciting, that wasn’t the only part of this issue that’s noteworthy. In fact, that wasn’t even the only story in this comic at all, as this oversized issue also included a story called “Mutants on the Edge of Town” by Larry Hama and Daniel Picciotto.

In “Mutants on the Edge of Town”, Logan and Jubilee go to town where they learn that one of the locals has an attraction of some sort kept in his barn. Curious, Logan and Jubilee check it out, only to learn that this guy is charging people to see a seemingly non-operational Sentinel. However, the Sentinel was very much operational. As the Sentinel attacked them, the local also found himself in danger, and when he asked why, Wolverine replied, “Bub, you’ve got one blue eye, and one brown… Sentinel sensors are set for a wide net!”.

Charles Xavier’s Playful Pick-Up Line Gets a Horrifically Dark Spin in X-Men Comics

The Sentinels’ Sensitive Sensors Also Pays Off a Major Mutant Reveal

“Heterochromia”, that’s what it’s called when one person has one eye that’s a different color than the other, and it’s also how Charles Xavier began his pick-up line when he approached a woman with heterochromia in order to flex his knowledge of mutant evolution, referring to her ‘mutation’ as “groovy”. This scene in X-Men: First Class is one of the most lighthearted in the X-Men’s entire film catalog, yet in the comics, it’s twisted into something utterly horrific.

It seems the Sentinels agree with Xavier that having heterochromia makes one a mutant, though it’s fair to say the Sentinels don’t think it’s “groovy”. Instead, it gives them the right to kill those with two different colored eyes on the spot in the name of protecting humanity, just as swiftly as they’d come down upon the X-Men themselves.

This story also seems to confirm something that was originally touched on in 2022’s Hellfire Gala, when Doctor Doom pondered the question, ‘is David Bowie a mutant?’. While Bowie didn’t have heterochromia, he did have anisocoria, which means one pupil is bigger than the other. With his real-life anisocoria plus the idea that he might be a mutant planted in fans’ heads by Doctor Doom, is it possible Bowie was actually a mutant in X-Men canon? While fans can never know for sure, “Mutants on the Edge of Town” seems to confirm that Sentinels would certainly think so.

The Sentinel’s ‘Wide-Net’ Sensors Explain Armageddon Scenarios like Days of Future Past

“Mutants on the Edge of Town” gives readers a perfect example of how most humans in the X-Men franchise have some form of mutation that Sentinels can sense, which justifies killing them. Indeed, in storylines like Days of Future Past, Sentinels even gain the technology to read the DNA of any given human, and if there are any traces of the x-gene, those humans are immediately imprisoned or killed. Sentinels are a threat to everyone in the Marvel Universe, not just mutants, and the fact that this one attacked someone with heterochromia is perfect evidence to support that claim.

This X-Men storyline speaks to the wider threat-level of Sentinels that others have touched on, but never in such a personal way, making it a standout tale when compared to other Sentinel-centric storylines. But more than that, it also twists an otherwise lighthearted scene in X-Men: First Class into something horrifying, making it impossible for X-Men fans to watch James McAvoy’s iconic Charles Xavier portrayal the same way again.

Wolverine #50 by Marvel Comics is available now.