Warning: Spoilers for The Invincible Iron Man #10!
Orchis leader Feilong, the mastermind behind the X-Men’s and mutantkind’s greatest downfall, has just been exposed for his true mutant lineage. Orchis is the anti-mutant hate group that orchestrated the Mutant Massacre at this year’s Hellfire Gala. In addition, Feilong has run Iron Man out of Stark Unlimited, overtaking the company for himself, using his tech to create mutant-hunting Stark Sentinels, which played a part in the massacre.
The Invincible Iron Man #10 – by Gerry Duggan, Juan Frigeri, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – features newlyweds Emma Frost and Tony Stark plotting their vengeance against Feilong.
When the villain crashes their wedding, he gets more than he bargained or, as Frost and Stark incapacitate him and travel inside his mind – where they make some major, unexpected discoveries.
Marvel’s Omega-Level Power Couple Uncover Feilong’s Deepest Secret
Knowing that Feilong can’t resist crashing Tony’s wedding to his assistant Hazel Kendal ((Frost’s human alter ego), the X-couple plans for his arrival, even as they go through with their nuptials in Invincible Iron Man #10. Once their enemy is there, Emma removes the inhibitor ring she uses to cloak her powers, puts Feilong to sleep, and allowing Emma and Tony to enter his mind. Their goal is to find the schematics for the recently produced Stark Sentinels, but what they find puts an unexpected twist on Feilong’s crusade against mutantkind. As Frost and Stark search through Feilong’s memories, they discover the shocking truth: Feilong’s parents were mutants.
Feilong Hates Mutants Because He Wishes He Was Born One
Feilong himself is not a mutant; despite both parents being mutants, the X-gene skipped him, leaving him without powers. As a result, Feilong grew to hate both his parents, and mutantkind as a whole, out of bitter jealousy. In spite of Feilong publicly saying his parents abandoned him, his parents actually loved him unconditionally. “They loved him for who he was – and he hated them for what he was not,” Tony and Emma conclude together. This is a fascinating development for several reasons, one of which is because it adds layers to the villain, who has become far more complicated than how he was originally introduced.
Invincible Iron Man #9 featured Tony Stark refusing to give the “honor” of being Iron Man’s nemesis to Feilong. Now, issue #10 has made the villain one of Stark’s most complex rivals. Feilong’s unexpected origin story adds a new context to his status as Orchis leader and his role in the Mutant Massacre. This tragic dimension to Feilong’s role in Orchis puts a new twist on how anti-mutant biases have traditionally been explored in the Marvel Universe, throughout the history of the X-Men franchise. Meanwhile, it’s also fascinating to see what Emma Frost will plan to do with this information.
By the end of Invincible Iron Man #10, Tony Stark tells Emma that she can do what she wants with Feilong; she opts to keep him alive, despite her anger toward him. “The world needs to know the truth,” she says, despite knowing that exposing him will only get him killed. Frost, furious at what took place on Krakoa, wants Feilong to suffer. How she uses this information to force Feilong’s suffering remains to be seen. In any case, one thing is certain: Feilong’s hatred for the X-Men stems for his desire to be a mutant eligible for the X-Men.
Invincible Iron Man #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.
