Warning: SPOILERS for The Original X-Men #1
Throughout their publication history, the X-Men have battled some of the most powerful and terrifying villains in the multiverse. From Celestial-enhanced entities like Apocalypse to homegrown threats like their current fight against Orchis, the team has faced it all. But now, one of the Merry Mutant’s original members has succumbed to a familiarly malevolent force bent on multiversal domination – and they’re more dangerous than ever before.
The Original X-Men #1 by Christos Gage, Greg Land, Jay Lesiten, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Clayton Cowles finds the titular founding mutants contacted by a Phoenix from across the multiverse. Recruited by the adult version of Jean Grey from another world, they’re sent to Earth-696. There they confront another rogue Jean Grey as this universe’s Phoenix threatens to consume every reality. Unfortunately for the time-displaced teens, their foe is not at all what they expect, as the true entity behind Jean’s corruption is revealed not to be the Phoenix, but the psychic monstrosity known as Onslaught.
And while Onslaught’s schemes are seemingly slowed in this issue, it’s clear their campaign is only just beginning – with the entire multiverse hanging in the balance.
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Onslaught’s Power Is No Joking Matter
On Earth-616, the Onslaught entity is the psychic manifestation of the dark impulses of both Magneto and Professor X, released after Charles essentially lobotomized his old friend, Erik. In the reality of Earth-696, it has a somewhat similar origin as the creature is born after this world’s Jean killed Magneto as retribution for his murder of Professor X. As a hybrid of Professor X and Magneto, Onslaught ravaged the Marvel Universe and was only brought down by the combined forces of the X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and even Doctor Doom. In that case, it’s no wonder that Jean Grey’s version of Onslaught would be a threat to the entire multiverse.
Clearly, the Charles iteration of Onsalught held staggering power, but at the end of the day, Jean Grey’s psychic potential is on par with, if not greater than, Charles Xavier’s even without the Phoenix Force. That sort of raw, dangerous, untapped power in the hands of an entity like Onslaught makes this version of Jean Grey into a multiversal threat. And considering this corrupted version of Jean Grey already had access to terrifying technology like Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod despite her lack of connection to the Phoenix, there’s no telling how much havoc Onslaught will wreak if it’s not stopped.
Jean Grey Has Put The Multiverse At Risk
Jean Grey is no stranger to corruption by powerful psychic forces, but the Onslaught entity is a particularly dangerous breed. While the Phoenix is ultimately a force for life that simply fell prey to the wrong path, Onslaught is pure evil and cannot be reasoned with. And with this new version of Onslaught on the loose, Marvel’s multiverse is truly in grave danger from one of the X-Men’s founding members.
