It’s been said that some of the greatest battles are those waged in our minds, and Marvel seems to have proved that very literally in the latest issue of A.X.E. Judgment Day, where the newly crowned ultimate telepath may have borrowed a move from a Twilight character.
Fans of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire romance may recall how its cinematic adaptation took some liberties with the ending. In The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, the Cullens and their allies make a stand against the Volturi. The battle rages for some time, claiming lives on both sides. But ultimately the Cullens win, tearing the Volturi leader Aro limb from limb and burning him alive. As the camera dips into his eyes it is revealed that the entire incident was a vision induced by Alice Cullen. Seeing that the battle would end particularly poorly for them, the Volturi retreat. This is far from the first “and then I woke up” kind of ending in storytelling, but it showed that a cliché can still be effective if the writer uses it well–which Kieron Gillen has definitely just done.
In A.X.E. Judgment Day #3, by Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti, the world’s super teams are in a veritable tizzy trying to contain the reawakened Celestial known as the Progenitor after it issues a substantial edict: in 24 hours it will individually judge everyone on Earth, and if the amount lacking exceeds the amount found worthy, all will die together. The Progenitor proves it means business immediately by judging Captain America a failure, which demoralizes some other heroes. The real danger comes, however, when Mister Sinister opens a path to the Celestial’s central node. Destroying this gem would trigger an explosion that wipes out millions, but could potentially save billions more by killing the Progenitor before it can deliver its final ruling. By doing this, Sinister makes an enemy of the Eternals, who are biogenetically hardwired to protect their makers. In a mad rush, the X-Men and Deviants take on the Eternals while the Avengers try to mitigate collateral. Jean Grey cuts through the chaos and makes it to the node. She cracks the jewel and within seconds the Progenitor erupts, sending a cosmic shockwave across the globe. Heroes and civilians alike are incinerated. The devastation is untold…and unreal. A bewildered Jean Grey is on the ground with everyone else, staring up at the Progenitor, and realizing: “We were all inside its mind, this whole time. I should have known.“
Even this ancient Celestial acknowledges Jean’s considerable psychic power, but it still isn’t enough to see through the illusion, let alone counteract it. This vision washes over the Earth and all its inhabitants, inducing “a smattering” of fatal cardiac events, and while this is an incredible demonstration of effortless power, it only happens because the Progenitor wants to prove a point. It shows the Earth that its so-called defenders have once again created a problem that presents an impossible ultimatum, forcing them to play calculus with human life. Had the heroes actually succeeded in cracking the Progenitor’s node, all those millions of people would have died without even knowing why it happened. This goes a long way in undergirding the Progenitor’s purpose, and likely won’t bode well for the ultimate judgment.
What’s perhaps the most damning is that the heroes don’t know for certain that the Progenitor will actually find the Earth lacking. Their presumption leads them to jump the gun in ways that could self-fulfill the very outcome they want to avoid. By now it should be clear this isn’t a threat they can approach like any other end of the world scenario. Marvel‘s heroes may have caught a break this time, but they need to wise up soon—and count themselves lucky the Progenitor is such a big Twilight fan.
