One of the most legendary love stories in all of Marvel Comics was kept hidden for decades, but X-Men‘s Krakoan Era has finally allowed Mystique and Destiny to be open and proud about their iconic marriage, which has been honored in a gorgeous new piece of fan art from artist Tesslyn (@artbytesslyn) just in time for Pride Month. Mystique and Destiny’s epic love has been hinted at since their debut, but it wasn’t until 2019 that their romantic relationship was made official canon in the pages of Marvel comics.
Destiny, or Irene Adler, is a vastly powerful precognitive who was recently resurrected on Krakoa after dying 30 years ago at the hands of Legion during the “Muir Island Saga,” but only after her wife turned mutant society upside down to do it. Mystique, the shapeshifter also known as Raven Darkholme, is a longtime villain of the X-Men and a recent ally. Now, her destined relationship with Irene is finally at the forefront of the Krakoan Age due to the latest “Destiny of X” Era.
Both Mystique and Destiny were born before 1900, and first fell in love in the early 1900s when Mystique was posing as a detective who teamed up with Destiny. Destiny is often seen wearing a unique golden mask concealing her face, which was often used to hide her true age in earlier comics. However, when she was resurrected by the Five during Inferno, she was brought back at the same age she was when she first met Raven, and since Raven does not age, they can now live together forever, as long as mutant immortality sticks around. Tesslyn, who also updates her Webtoon “Facing the Sun” weekly, released a truly gorgeous portrait on Twitter depicting Irene and Raven in a loving embrace. Captioned as “Wives wives wives wives,” highlighting the canonical legitimacy brought to this iconic lesbian couple with Mystique screaming “I want my wife back!” in 2019’s X-Men #6, Tesslyn also used the hashtag “#immortalxmen” emphasizing the impact this series has had on the couple’s future trajectory.
Immortal X-Men is a new series from Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck and Michele Bandini that is diving into the past, present and future of different Quiet Council members, and has already given readers more backstory on Mystique and Destiny’s love story than ever before. What makes Irene and Raven’s relationship so perfect for Pride Month is because it is so representational of how media has treated queer relationships for decades, constantly pushing them into the shadows and making them subtextual – a fate which Mystique and Destiny’s relationship has survived and overcome.
The “Destiny of X” era is re-centering Destiny as an incredibly important part of mutant culture and their future, and it is also reemphasizing their mutant “family” – Raven’s biological son Nightcrawler and the two women’s adopted daughter Rogue. Tesslyn’s beautiful portrait is an amazing way to honor the intense love that Mystique and Destiny have for each other, a love that has lasted generations, past death and destruction, until they found their way back to each other. Irene and Raven’s fan art portrait from @artbytesslyn proves that Mystique and Destiny are one of X-Men‘s most iconic couples of all time, embodying a legendary queer romance that has survived longer than a century.
