Warning: contains spoilers for Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers #1!
The Juggernaut has long been a near unstoppable force with a thirst for destruction fueled by the god of the Crimson Cosmos, Cyttorak. The Demon Lord infused Cain Marko with his power after Cain discovered his Crimson Gem in a hidden temple. The gem made Juggernaut the avatar of Cyttorak on Earth and bestowed upon him the powers of strength, speed, invulnerability, and magic momentum in exchange for causing destruction in the god’s name.
That is, until Juggernaut rejected serving Cyttorak in 2019’s five-issue Juggernaut series, from Fabian Nicieza and Ron Garney. After being banished to Limbo, Juggernaut found his way back to Earth by sacrificing the Juggernaut armor, leaving his powers behind. Once back on Earth, Juggernaut sought out a new armored harness that was forged from mystic Bands of Cyttorak previously bound to the earthly plane. His prior connection to Cyttorak gave Juggernaut the ability to utilize the new armor and gain back the immense power he had lost escaping Limbo.
This new armor is a huge improvement over the previous iteration, primarily because it restores Cain’s powers while breaking Cyttorak’s hold over him. Cyttorak constantly sways his avatars towards destructive acts, but Cain was finally able to break free, ending a cycle that has seen him attempt to become a hero many times, only to fall back under Cyttorak’s sway. It’s a good job that Juggernaut got his new armor when he did, as Death of Doctor Strange: Avengers #1 reveals that Cyttorak has now fled the Crimson Cosmos. Prior to his rejection of Cyttorak, this would have meant the end of Juggernaut’s powers as he knows them. He’d be depowered, and because he’s not a mutant like his frequent frenemies the X-Men, he’d be a completely powerless human.
While the new armor forged from the Bands of Cyttorak don’t give Juggernaut radically different powers, it does free him from Cyttorak’s influence, allowing him to keep his abilities in an era when the Demon Lord has been dethroned. Cain made the cut-off by the skin of his teeth, and is now free to be the conflicted hero he’s always wanted to be, safe in the knowledge that his former master is out of the picture. Another advantage is that the armor seems to give him consistent strengths and limits – not the constantly vacillating power level that came along with Cyttorak’s patronage.
With Doctor Strange dead, the magical barrier protecting Earth has fallen, and threats are pouring in – chief among them the Child, whose evil Three Mothers are the terrors who managed to unseat Cyttorak. Thankfully, Juggernaut’s new armor gives him the power to fight back where his original abilities would have just failed – that’s if he chooses to help out, of course. As the Juggernaut recently said, “I’m done serving mad men and gods. Every choice from now on, for good or bad… is going to be mine!”
