Warning: contains spoilers for Venom #14!A recent attack on the X-Men‘s New York base – the iconic Treehouse – has settled which mutant hero is truly the most powerful. The answer is one that will shock many fans, but which Marvel’s mutant comics have been steadily building up for years. Not only does Marvel honor this hero’s immense power, but they even get the perfect title to accompany their status: the Master of Mutation.
Currently, Marvel’s Dark Web event has Spider-Man and the X-Men confronting the combined forces of Madelyne Pryor and Chasm. The two clones (of Jean Grey and Peter Parker respectively) have teamed up to take revenge on the originals who they believe have always kept them down, recruiting the demonic residents of Limbo and a time-lost Venom to their cabal. Pryor, aka the Goblin Queen, is quickly emerging as the true mastermind, as her recent ascension to ruler of the Limbo dimension leaves her in control of a literal army.
Related: X-Men’s Best Hero Officially Named by Marvel Comics
In Venom #14 – from Al Ewing and Bryan Hitch – Venom attacks the X-Men’s Treehouse, creating a diversion so that the Goblin Queen’s other agents can affect a heist. While the team are out in New York battling possessed objects, they have left Synch – aka Everett Thomas – to guard their base and its teleportation gate back to the mutant nation of Krakoa. The Goblin Queen admits that while only one mutant is left behind, he is the X-Men’s “most powerful member” – thankfully, she doesn’t actually need Venom to win in order for her plans to succeed.
Synch Is Crowned X-Men’s Most Powerful Mutant
While Synch isn’t a household name like Wolverine or Magneto, he’s more than earned this title. Synch originally possessed the ability to tap into other mutants’ powers when they were in close proximity. This alone made him incredibly powerful, but ever since his resurrection on Krakoa, the hero’s potential has only grown. His resurrection triggered the ability for him to recall the powers of those he’s synched with in the past while also increasing the range within which he can copy new abilities. Synch was elected to the first and second X-Men teams of the Krakoan Age, and spent his time learning from his teammates how to best use their powers. Following this, Synch spent centuries locked in the Vault – a pocket dimension where time passes at an accelerated rate. Synch emerged with centuries of experience mastering his powers, understanding them on a level even their original wielders don’t. As Synch pointed out, he now has more experience with Wolverine’s powers than even the long-lived original.
X-Men Spent Years Building Its Ultimate Mutant
Synch is now at a point where he can copy the abilities of any superhuman – mutant or not – and call on a deep well of the most effective mutant abilities, many of which he’s been tutored on by their wielders and then had centuries to study and perfect in an incredibly hostile environment. In this context, it makes perfect sense that Pryor labels him “the Master of Mutation,” as he truly embodies the X-Men’s new creed of working together to discover new frontiers of their potential.
Sadly, Synch’s abilities do have one drawback – accessing his memorized powers is causing him to age at an accelerated rate – but at this moment in time, Everett Thomas is easily the X-Men’s most powerful member, not just possessing each of their individual powers, but also able to utilize them better than the original heroes. There was a time not long ago when Synch was an all but forgotten hero from a bygone ’90s team, but over several years, Marvel has steadily built up his abilities to the point where he’s now X-Men‘s most powerful hero.
Next: Avengers Confirms Which Four MCU Characters Could Kill X-Men’s Phoenix
Venom #14 is available now from Marvel Comics.
