A massive X-Men and Eternals retcon is being hinted at in the pages of Marvel Comics. The Marvel Universe has changed shape over the last few years. In 2019, superstar comic book writer Jonathan Hickman relaunched the X-Men franchise, with the entire mutant race gathering on the living island of Krakoa. The X-Men have even conquered death, restoring the millions of mutants who were killed over the decades, and they’ve gone on to settle Mars and convert it into a mutant world.
But the X-Men aren’t the only heroes who are being relaunched right now. Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribic have been placed in charge of the Eternals, and they’re positioning these ancient beings for a future conflict with the Avengers. The Avengers are currently based in the husk of a Celestial, an act the Eternals consider to be sacrilege. But Marvel has teased the coming conflict between the superheroes will escalate, with the X-Men also drawn into the chaos.
A teaser published on Marvel’s social media suggests that the publisher is about to institute a major retcon. It contains a quote ascribed to the Eternal Druig, in which he suggests Marvel is revealing the mutant race to be an offshoot of Deviants. “For a million years, Earth has been protected from the Deviants,” Druig reflects. “But we made a mistake. We missed some… The mutants.“
The mutants have long been loosely tied to the Celestials, who were responsible for introducing the X-gene in humanity that created them. But this finally hints at a direct mechanism of some kind; presumably ancient Deviants mated with human beings, introducing a Deviant gene – the X-gene – into humanity’s genetic code. This changes the entire history of the mutant race. What’s more, if mutants are indeed an offshoot of Deviants, then it means the Eternals are their sworn enemies under a religious vow to wipe them out. Such a discovery would mean the beginning of a war between the Eternals and the X-Men.
But here’s the catch: the Eternals and the X-Men have become twisted mirror images of one another. Both have their own means of conquering death, meaning there can be no true end to this war. If this teaser is accurate, then the fate of both races is to be caught up in an unending war, with each race striving to wipe the other out. But the title of this upcoming event, “Judgment Day,” suggests that isn’t the end of it; the Celestials will surely be returning to judge the Earth, and they will assess the balance of Eternals and Deviants when making their choice. Given the number of mutants now living on Krakoa, the X-Men‘s Resurrection Protocols signify the dominance of the Deviants – and the failure of the Eternals.
