Warning: SPOILERS for X-Men #10
Marvel Comics brings back its own version of Alien‘s Xenomorphs, the deadly X-Men villains known as the Brood. This species of parasitic aliens travels through space looking for hosts to infest with their spawn, and they have been a recurring foe of the X-Men for decades, and it seems they have now accomplished their most horrible deed: killing Cyclops’ father.
The Brood originated in another universe and specialized to be predators that consume all available resources in order to reproduce. After their arrival in the Marvel Universe, they were captured and experimented upon by the Kree, who turned them into the biological weapons they are now, unleashing them in the Shi’ar Galaxy. Since then, the Brood expanded like a pestilence, establishing nests on hundreds of worlds across the universe, ruled by the Brood Queens, while the Empress Brood is the supreme leader of the entire species. The Brood first met the X-Men when the alien parasites allied with the renegade Shi’ar Deathbird to depose Empress Lilandra. Since then, they have been a recurring foe of the mutant heroes, adding a tinge of horror to many memorable X-Men stories.
X-Men #10, by Gerry Duggan, C. F. Villa, and Matt Milla, mostly deals with the return of the original Laura Kinney, after she is rescued by the Vault by her fellow X-Men. However, the last few pages of the issue suddenly move the perspective to deep space, where the starship Starjammer is drifting. The only surviving member of the crew is Christopher Summers, aka Corsair, Cyclops and Havok’s father (who happens to be a space pirate). Everyone else has been slaughtered by the Brood, and Corsair himself is infested and about to hatch an alien spawn from his body. With his last words, he warns his sons that the Brood is coming to Earth.
The Brood’s Return Brings Alien Horror Back To X-Men Stories
This is a welcomed return for a classic X-Men foe that has not played a major role in Marvel stories for a while. The last time they crossed paths with the X-Men was when the Brood invaded Krakoa to retrieve the King Egg, a control device created by the Kree when they first encountered the species. The King Egg was eaten by Broo, a mutant of the brood race and a friend of Krakoa, who then became the supreme ruler of the Brood. It’s unknown what happened since, but it’s clear that the Brood pose once again a threat to Earth. Unless he somehow survives an alien parasite hatching through his belly, Corsair is the first eminent victim of this invasion, and Cyclops will certainly not take well the demise of his father.
Legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont was clearly inspired by Alien‘s Xenomorphs when he created the Brood. However, since then they have evolved into an important part of Marvel’s space lore and of the X-Men franchise. The final page of X-Men #10 teases the beginning of a new storyline called “Lord of the Brood“, which will be a crossover with Captain Marvel and a callback to the Brood‘s debut story, and it will be interesting to see what Marvel has in store for its most terrifying species of aliens.
X-Men #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.
