Warning: contains spoilers for Immortal X-Men #9After months of mysterious, conniving manipulations, the genetic machinations of the X-Men’s villainous Mister Sinister are coming to a head, as Immortal X-Men #9 begins the rabid descent into Marvel’s Sins of Sinister event.
Mister Sinister is, and always has been, an enemy of the X-Men and life on Earth in general, viewing himself as supreme being worthy of controlling all existence, and Nathaniel Essex has been working on this goal since he began his genetic experimentation of the mutant genome in the mid-1800s. However, it seems like Sinister’s plans might reach a roadblock, as the self-centered egomaniac must contend with three other Sinister clones, as well as the powerful precognitive mutant Destiny, who has been by Essex’s side since the Edwardian Age.
The preview for Immortal X-Men #9 – written by Judgment Day curator Kieron Gillen with stunning art by Lucas Werneck – shows the aftermath of the tumultuous Judgment Day, which saw many Marvel heroes and villains judged by the Celestial Progenitor, before the world was saved by a ragtag group of heroes. The preview hilariously opens with Mister Sinister lamenting the fact that he was never judged by the Progenitor, to which Destiny reassures Sinister that she will always be judging him, before asking him if he thought Doctor Stasis – one of the other Sinister clones – was judged, clearly playing into his insecurities that he is not the one, true Sinister. However, the real crux of the preview revolves around Sinister’s use of his “Moira Engine,” the clone farm he has built using the DNA of the mutant traitor Moira X. Using Moira’s mutant power – resetting the timeline after death, with the user’s memories staying intact – Sinister is able to create “save-points” throughout the timeline, allowing him to go back and do things again, and he finally admits that his real endgame is the murder of Krakoa’s Quiet Council.
Mister Sinister Only Has Ten Resets Left
The preview for Immortal X-Men #9 reveals a lot about Sinister and his plans – while still leaving what will eventually cause the Sins of Sinister event a huge mystery – such as the fact that creating the “Moira Engine” and getting Hope Summers a seat on the Quiet Council was the first stage of his grand scheme, and that killing the Quiet Council is Stage Two. Sinister also reveals that Moira X’s mutant ability grows more and more unstable as he clones her DNA, meaning that – just like the original Moira X – Sinister now only has ten more attempts to kill the Quiet Council and move onto the next stage of his eventual takeover of the universe.
Mister Sinister is a fan-favorite villain, but one who has been treated inconsistently over his lifetime, as different creative teams have pulled him in different directions. Not only has the most recent X-Men revamp explained this by retroactively introducing multiple versions of Sinister, but the villain’s endgame plan is drawing together the many threads of his past appearances in one ultimate gambit to become the sole life form in the universe. While the events that kickstart the X-Men’s upcoming Sins of Sinister have yet to be revealed, the 1000-year spanning event will begin after Immortal X-Men #10, meaning whatever steps Mister Sinister takes this issue will assuredly set the stage for his most successful reboot of the timeline.
Immortal X-Men #9 from Marvel Comics debuts on December 7, 2023.
