Warning: spoilers for Hellions #8!
The X-Men are making it clear that they are not fond of artificial intelligence, which could put some popular characters like Vision in jeopardy. Ever since Jonathan Hickman’s House of X and Powers of X storylines in 2019, Charles Xavier and Magneto have believed the rise of AI lifeforms to be their species’ greatest threat. This is mainly due to the first-hand experiences of Moira MacTaggert, whose mutant powers have allowed her to live through several timelines. Through direct experience, she has seen AIs cause the extinction of mutantkind, a fate which the X-Men have been striving to avoid for decades.
Vision is one of Marvel’s most famous AI characters and is a longtime Avenger. First appearing in Roy Thomas and John Buscema’s Avengers #57 in 1968, the synthezoid was created by Ultron to act as a weapon against the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. This plan backfired, however, as Vision gained consciousness and chose a path of heroism. Vision has an impressive variety of powers, with flight, intangibility, and energy blasts being some of his most well known. The hero has also proven himself capable of self-replication in Tom King’s Vision series and, thanks to his computer brain, he’s even managed to take control of worldwide weapon systems, and could live indefinitely unless damaged. Of course Vision is a hero, but a recent reveal of a secret Krakoan protocol reveals he may be forced to fight the X-Men for his life at some point in the future.
Xavier and Magneto’s paranoia toward AI life is on full display in Hellions #8 by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia, and David Curiel. During a confrontation with Cameron Hodge, an anti-mutant extremist, the Hellions have to trade blows with the villain’s army of advanced Smiley-Face robots. Thanks to some smart thinking by Empath, the robots end up turning on their master, shooting down Hodge once and for all. Free of the evildoer’s sway, the robots begin thinking for themselves, with one of them even befriending Havok. Unfortunately, the issue does not end on such a happy note.
Krakoa’s Hesiod Protocol calls for the destruction of any anti-mutant AI, and just after the Hellions’ victory, Psylocke receives a final objective from Magneto to destroy the rest of Hodge’s robots. Even though the Hesiod Protocol is only officially against anti-mutant AIs, Xavier and Magneto’s fears push them to go further, with Psylocke paraphrasing that, “No A.I. may flourish under our watch.” Therefore, despite the Smiley-Faces now believing mutants to be their allies, they are still seen as a threat because they are free-thinking and on the verge of discovering how to self-replicate. The Krakoa-approved team wipe out the remaining Smiley-Faces with a virus, traumatizing Havok, who had just been declared the robots’ first friend.
While this instance is an opportunity to kill off a potential problem before it forms, it does imply the X-Men and Vision are on a collision course. Charles and Magneto are working to a specific timetable, attempting to avert the future Moira experienced, and Vision is immortal until acted upon by an outside force. Whether out of fear that the synthezoid hero will be hacked by rising villain Nimrod, or simply as a result of the true nature of the Hesiod Protocols, the X-Men will have to deal with Vision eventually, and may be pushed to immediate action if he decides to resume building other, similar AI and helping them flourish.
Having already mind-wiped Reed Richards due to his potential to undercut Krakoa with inconvenient inventions, the X-Men have shown they don’t consider Marvel’s heroes untouchable allies. And while if the X-Men do decide to make any moves against Vision, they are sure to come into conflict with the Avengers, it wouldn’t be the first time the two teams have faced off. Unless the X-Men change their stance, it’s only a matter of time before the Hesido Protocol demands they address Vision.
