This article contains spoilers for King In Black #2.
The X-Men‘s greatest mistake threatens to destroy Krakoa in Marvel’s King In Black event. One of the most powerful beings in all creation, Knull, is the God of the Symbiotes, and he is dedicated to wiping out all life and light in the universe. In King In Black, he has come to Earth – and in his first strike, he has successfully taken down most of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
The mutants of Krakoa sent a small strike-force of X-Men to support the Avengers in the first battle against Knull, but they were easily defeated. In the aftermath of that defeat, Krakoa’s leaders refused to risk any more of their number. As seen in King In Black #2, Charles Xavier and Magneto were agreed that no more mutants would come to the Avengers’ assistance. As a furious Magneto put it, joining them would “lead an army of infinite army of darkness into our lands.” The X-Men put their own self-interest ahead of Earth’s.
Marvel’s March solicitations reveal the scale of the X-Men’s mistake. They have failed to understand that Knull opposes all light and all life and that he seeks to eradicate every living thing in creation. He does not care whether a being is a man or a mutant; he simply wants them to either become his pawn or to die. The solicit for SWORD #4 confirms that Krakoa will be brought to the brink of destruction by the God of the Symbiotes.
- SWORD #4
- Al Ewing (writer)
- Valerio Schiti (artist/colorist)
- Variant cover by TBA
- KRAKOA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
- The mutants are dying. Their island is dying. Earth itself is dying. All hope for humanity as a species lies in Protocol V. Protocol V isn’t going to work.
Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men relaunch has essentially seen the mutants come to consider themselves a separate race to humanity, and as such, they do not take much interest in human concerns. They have forgotten they share the planet with humanity, and consequently that some affairs transcend the boundaries between their races. It looks as though this will prove to be the X-Men’s biggest mistake because their separatism means they have missed on the possibility of combining power with the Avengers, and consequently, they are being forced to put their faith in a protocol that – according to the solicit – will not work.
No doubt Abigail Brand, commander of SWORD, will be furious at the X-Men’s short-sightedness. This is precisely the mistake she warned the X-Men about in SWORD #1 when she cautioned them that cosmic matters required you to act in the best interests of Earth as a whole, rather than to focus on yourselves. The X-Men did not learn – and they may well pay the price as a result.
