Warning: Spoilers for A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2 ahead!
A new preview for A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2 shows that Captain America, leader of the Avengers, has finally chosen a side in the brutal war between the Eternals and the X-Men. No matter how Steve Rogers feels about the X-Men’s immortality, Earth’s Sentinel of Liberty will never stand with a genocidal regime, making his decision to side with the X-Men a surprisingly easy one.
The architect of the Judgment Day event, Kieron Gillen, has previously said that the war between the Eternals and the X-Men is only “Phase 1” of the event, and yet the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are already being forced to get heavily involved in the fight between the two powerful groups. As Tony Stark partners with Ajak and Makkari of the “heroic” Eternals in an attempt to play God and resurrect the Celestial Progenitor, it appears that Steve is formally declaring his support for the X-Men.
Now, CBR has revealed an exclusive preview for A.X.E: Judgment Day #2 – written by Kieron Gillen with art by Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia. This preview not only firmly shows Captain America siding with the X-Men, but also gives more details about Earth’s “Most Important People,” first seen in promotional images for Judgment Day. While it is has not been confirmed who these humans are or their importance, there is a theory that they will be integral to the “Judgment” done by the resurrected Progenitor, so this preview showing their potential allegiances to the mutants or Eternals is fascinating. In the war, the Eternal’s Kaiju “Death Machines,” as Druig described them, are violently assaulting Krakoa, with Jean Grey, Exodus, Cyclops and others fighting back against the massive beasts as best they can. While Exodus is able to remove one of the Hex, Syne the Memotaur, from the island, the fight is not going well for the X-Men. Check out the preview pages below:
Referencing his own “Godzilla Protocols,” Cylcops wishes he had planned an even more detailed fight plan against behemoths, before stating that the X-Men really need a hand… which is followed by Captain America’s shield bashing one of the Hex. Near the end of A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1, after all of Earth hears Druig’s dire message about their attack on the X-Men and the reveal of the Hex, Captain America is clearly not happy, yelling the classic “Avengers Assemble!” to his teammates in Avenger’s Mountain. But this preview is the first time readers have seen solid evidence that the Avengers are siding against Druig’s Eternals. While Captain America’s shield can obviously be seen in the final panel of the preview pages, it looks like it is not just Steve Rogers providing back up for the X-Men, with a lightning attack possible coming from Thor and an energy blast potentially from Echo, current host of the Phoenix Force. Hopefully this means that the Avengers, who currently have one of the largest rosters in modern Avengers history, are all siding with the X-Men and will be able to help the Krakoans overpower the Hex while Magneto fights back against Uranos’ continued assault on Arakko.
It is no surprise that Steve Rogers, a hero known for vehemently opposing the Nazi regime, would side against the Eternals in their war on the X-Men, and hopefully Captain American and the Avengers‘ intervention in the Krakoan battle with the Hex will turn the tide in the X-Men‘s favor.
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2 from Marvel Comics debuts on August 10th.
