Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men: Red #17In a stunning feat of mutant magic, the iconic X-Men hero Ororo Munroe proves why she is and always will be the Goddess Storm, creating life out of the barren Arakki Autumn Continent in X-Men: Red #17. While Storm has long been viewed as a conduit of godlike power, recent stories involving the beloved Omega-level mutant have re-established her powerful familial connection to the world of magic and Storm’s intrinsic magical abilities.
X-Men: Red #17 – from writer Al Ewing and artists Yildiray Cinar and Federico Blee – sees Storm and her revolutionaries continuing to lose their war against Genesis, with Ororo making the difficult decision to destroy the Uranos Trigger, saving countless lives from horrific slaughter.
Apocalypse, now called -:A:- or Revelation, has finally returned to the land of Arakko, determined not to battle Genesis directly, instead paving the path for Storm to transform the Autumn Continent into a living, breathing Kaiju named Kaorak.
Storm Is Finally Fully Accepting Her Status As A Magical Mutant
When Charles Xavier first convinced Ororo Munroe to leave the drought-stricken Serengeti – where she was worshiped as a rain goddess – to come fight alongside the X-Men, the pompous man convinced Storm that she was simply a mutant, not a goddess. The end of the Krakoan Age has seen Storm not only confronting Xavier for his insidious and closed-minded selfishness but also engaging more deeply with her magical lineage and powers. Storm is not only a revered goddess, but she also has the potential to be a powerful sorceress, descending from the sorceress Ashake who was empowered by the Vishanti.
In Scarlet Witch #2, writer Stephanie Williams had Wanda encourage Storm to tap into her hidden magic, with Ororo displaying incredible innate sorcery, inspiring Al Ewing to have Storm do some truly magnificent sorcery in Storm & the Brotherhood of Mutants. Now, Revelation returns to Storm and her Brotherhood at their base on the Autumn Continent of Arakko, which was destroyed and made barren by the vicious Vulcan. Using the combined elemental connections of Revelation (water), Vulcan (fire), his daemon (air), and Shiro (earth), Revelation is able to help Storm become a conduit for a mutant circuit of powerful magic, similar to how Scarlet Witch created the “Waiting Room.”
The Genesis War May Come Down To A Kaiju Battle
The magical circuit, relying on Storm as the heart of the spell, allows Ororo to breathe life into a large portion of the dead Autumn Continent. The spell transforms it into the living island Kaorak, a new sibling to Krakoa and Arakko, a fierce kaiju that resembles the infamous “evil” first iteration of Krakoa from Giant-Size X-Men (1975). Genesis’ first act upon declaring war on Storm and her Brotherhood was to resurrect the dead land of Arakko Prime after it was killed by Uranos during Judgment Day. Now Ororo is asking Genesis to take this effort one step further, transforming Arakko Prime into her own kaiju to fight against Storm and Kaorak.
While Genesis has not shown fear once during the Genesis War, her reaction to Kaorak’s might and its symbolism of Storm’s strength is clear… Genesis is afraid. To defeat Storm – and to prove she truly does have dominance over Arakko and its people – Genesis will need to transform her land or die trying. Ororo and Revelation’s mutant sorcery just changed the tides of the Genesis War, and while the X-Men’s Krakoa might be headed for a fall, the creation of Kaorak is a hopeful sign that the mutant planet Arakko is here to stay.
X-Men: Red #17 from Marvel Comics is available now in stores.
