Warning: contains previews and spoilers for Legion of X #7The beloved X-Men hero Nightcrawler is best known for his iconic blue fur and devil-like appearance, but a preview for Legion of X #7 shows that Kurt Wagner has gone through some sort of secondary mutation, making him look more demonic than ever.
Nightcrawler is perhaps Marvel’s most famous Catholic hero – besides the consistently guilt-stricken Daredevil – and while much of Way of X and Legion of X have been about Kurt constructing a new mutant faith, he is still incredibly sensitive around his demonic appearance due to his Catholic upbringing and faith. Introduced way back in 1975s Giant-Size X-Men #1, Nightcrawler was one of the very first visibly mutated mutants at Marvel Comics who was unable to hide his true appearance – a consistent plot point and source of struggle for the powerful hero.
Legion of X #7 – from Si Spurrier, Netho Diaz, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles – is the first issue of Legion to occur after the world-changing events of the recent Judgment Day event, a crisis that Nightcrawler played a wildly important role in, working with the Avengers and Eternals to save the entire planet. Now that the crisis is over, Kurt is back to working as the head of his Legionnaires, a group of self-policing mutants that work out of Legion’s Altar – a space in-between realities, helping to solve mutant crimes and crises. The preview pages for Legion of X #7 reveal that while Nightcrawler is acting like everything is back to normal on Krakoa after the Progenitor reset the world, things are certainly not normal, as Kurt has undergone some sort of secondary mutation or evolutionary growth, with the already demonic hero now sporting some intense devil horns. Secondary mutations are often biological or scientific in origin, like Beast developing his classic blue fur and animal appearance after experimenting on himself, or happen after a traumatic event, like Emma Frost developing diamond skin during the genocide of Genosha, so it is a huge mystery as to what has caused Nightcrawler to develop these horns.
Nightcrawler’s Horns Turn Him into a Devil
The nation of Krakoa is filled with mutants who do not look like standard humans, and even though Nightcrawler has lived with his appearance for years and done a lot of work to accept himself as desirable and worthy of love, it is clear from the preview that the growth of his horns is still causing shame and dismay to the hero. It appears as though Nightcrawler is worried about his peer’s perception of him, now that he looks even more “monstrous” in his opinion, but the truth is that many Krakoan mutants do look different, and his shame and fear is almost certainly all coming from an internal sense of insecurity.
The synopsis for Legion of X #7 reveals that Kurt will not be the only mutant in the issue to apparently have newly developed “monstrous” traits, but it is yet to be revealed if the development of these new mutant “monsters” will lead to changed power sets or personalities. Nightcrawler’s history is filled with strange and unnecessary retcons to his story, establishing that his time as an ordained Catholic priest was all smoke and mirrors, and at one point retconning that his father is Azazel, meaning Nightcrawler is literally a demon, and not just a demon-looking mutant.
Regardless of his history, it makes a lot of sense that a lot of the insecurity, doubt, and religious hypocrisy Nightcrawler has experienced around his appearance throughout his time with the X-Men would be triggered by the growth of these devil horns, another reminder of how different he looks to the humans who hate and fear him.
Legion of X #7 from Marvel Comics debuts in stores on November 9, 2022.
