Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Dead X-Men #1! The Juggernaut recently found redemption in Marvel Comics canon, something that was solidified by his official inclusion on the X-Men. However, Juggernaut getting voted on the X-Men wasn’t the perfect ending the he deserved, as his destiny was to end up on an entirely different team of heroes, one that better represented the completion of his broader character arc.
In Dead X-Men #1 by Steve Foxe, Jonas Scharf, Bernard Chang, and Vincenzo Carratú, the core X-Men members that were slaughtered during the Hellfire Gala 2023 have been resurrected and sent on a mission across the fractured timeline. Mister Sinister built the Moira Engine and used her mutation to create countless realities for his own nefarious purposes in the Sins of Sinister crossover event, and now the X-Men are using it to find a version of Moira that they can use for their own gain. In one of these universes, the Juggernaut joins the Starjammers.
It’s interesting that this particular X-Men lineup is the one to find the Juggernaut in this new position, as this was the very team the Juggernaut was voted onto during Hellfire Gala 2023 – and the team he lost while fighting Orchis. Now – in a more meta sense – that same team helped introduce the Juggernaut in a new light once again, this time by being the vehicle through which readers discover that the Juggernaut has become a member of the Starjammers. Which, truth be told, is a much better fit than Marko joining the X-Men ever was.
2023 Officially Made Juggernaut a Hero, as He Beat Thanos & Was Voted onto the X-Men
The Juggernaut’s 2023 was chock-full of extreme highs and lows, especially when he killed Thanos and joined the X-Men, both of which had heavy costs.
The Juggernaut Has Always Been a Cosmic Character, Making the Starjammers a Perfect Fit
The Juggernaut has a long history of traveling through the cosmos, now he can do so as a Starjammer!
How Juggernaut Has Been Portrayed as a Cosmic Character | Marvel Comics Issue |
Juggernaut conquered an entire planet after Thor exiled him from Earth. | Thor #429 |
Juggernaut was possessed by Trion, gaining the power to punch holes through dimensions. | X-Men #88 |
Juggernaut learned to wield magic while trapped in an alternate dimension, and he became strong enough to command an entire universe as a god. | Doctor Strange #182 |
It might be easy to chock the Juggernaut up to little more than a prominent X-Men villain, but a closer look at his Marvel Comics history proves that’s far from the case. The Juggernaut may have been introduced as an X-Men villain, and undeniably has the closest ties with them, but his influence stretches far beyond the X-Men alone. Juggernaut has taken on the likes of Thor and Doctor Strange, just to name a few, and during those encounters he’s proven himself to be a legitimate threat on a cosmic scale.
The Juggernaut conquered a planet after Thor exiled him from Earth, he gained the power to punch holes through the very fabric of reality as Trion, and he even learned to wield magic so well that Nightmare himself complimented him on his power, saying Juggernaut is strong enough to command an entire universe. Not only that, but the very source of Juggernaut’s power is cosmic in nature, as it originally came from the interdimensional being, Cyttorak. The Juggernaut has always been a cosmic character way more than a mere earthbound one, which makes his inclusion on the Starjammers absolutely perfect.
The Juggernaut’s New Ending Fixes His Previous Sins of Sinister Fate
Sins of Sinister #1 (2023)
It’s fitting that Juggernaut’s ‘perfect ending’ of joining the Starjammers is a direct result of the Sins of Sinister event, as that’s exactly when Marko met another space-themed end – albeit one that was infinitely more tragic. In Sins of Sinister #1, the Juggernaut is used as a living bullet that was shot through Thanos’ head. The momentum was enough to kill the Mad Titan, but it also doomed Juggernaut to fly through space, cursed to starve, thirst, and suffocate forever without ever actually dying. Now, Juggernaut’s ending can reflect his cosmic nature in a much less painful way.
Not only does Juggernaut’s inclusion on the Starjammers more adequately complete his arc by addressing the fact that he’s always been a cosmic character (indeed, he’s never been very popular on Earth anyway), it’s also just a better fit. The Starjammers are space pirates with hearts of gold, more antiheroes than the unquestionably heroic X-Men, which is much better suited for a reformed villain like the Juggernaut. No matter how one looks at it, there’s no question that the Juggernaut being on the Starjammers is the perfect end to his redemption arc.
Dead X-Men #1 by Marvel Comics is available now.
