Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Uncanny Spider-Man #2With the Fall of X establishing a new status quo for the X-Men, few mutants have seen as seismic a shift in their lives as fan-favorite Nightcrawler. Taking to the streets as the Uncanny Spider-Man, Kurt Wagner is hellbent on recapturing the adventure inherent to his early superhero days. Unfortunately for Kurt, Orchis is set on capturing him – and they apparently have the technology necessary to do it.
Uncanny Spider-Man #2 – written by Si Spurrier, with art by Lee Garbett, Matt Milla, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – finds Kurt further settling into his role as the Big Apple’s protector, only to be confronted by another Marvel icon: Spider-Man’s fan-favorite frenemy, Silver Sable.
Employed by Orchis to capture this newest Spider-Man, Silver Sable’s troops corner Nightcrawler in Central Park using plasma field technology to nullify his teleportation via the Brimstone Dimension. Although Kurt ultimately escapes the nullfication field without using his signature abilities, this entire interaction proves that he’s more vulnerable than he – or X-Men fans – have realized.
Nightcrawler Prioritizes Freedom Above All Else
With his ability to BAMF outside the field locked down, Nightcrawler uses other means to escape, ultimately rescuing Silver Sable from a rampaging Rhino in the process, as he teleports himself and his would-be captor into an abandoned subway below. Despite his devilish appearance, Nightcrawler as a character has always been about freedom. Raised in a traveling circus, Kurt has almost always embraced his unique appearance, freeing himself to be who he really is. Even barring his teleportation ability, his unique acrobatic talents make him exceptionally hard to pin down, while speaking to his innate swashbuckling nature, as his depiction in Uncanny Spider-Man #2 highlights.
Now that Sable and Orchis have a uniquely targeted method of incapacitating Nightcrawler, Kurt’s freedom is more threatened than ever. On the one hand the fan-favorite X-Men member has gone up against countless power-and-X-Gene nullifying gadgets before, but this is a threat specifically designed to break him individually, rather than one targeted at all mutant powers in general. This plasma field weakness reflects the emotional cage in which Kurt already finds himself after the Fall of X – and if Nightcrawler has any hope of overcoming his technological and emotional demons, it’s going to require his signature quick thinking, along with his quick reflexes.
Uncanny Spider-Man Is In A Precarious Situation
Nightcrawler is one of Marvel’s most beloved mutants – and currently, he is one of Orchis’ high-profile targets, in their crusade to rid the Earth of the X-gene. Kurt Wagner loves his freedom, but these mutant-hunting fascists refuse to let him run wild any longer. With technology specifically designed to bring him in, Kurt will have to do everything he can –
beyond just teleporting – to stay out of Orchis’ clutches. If he hopes to overcome this newly discovered weakness, his version of Kryptonite, so to speak, then Nightcrawler of the X-Men has his work cut out for him as Marvel Comics’ Uncanny Spider-Man.
Uncanny Spider-Man #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.
