Warning: Spoilers for Demon Days: Mariko #1 ahead!
Nightcrawler may be the most sinister looking member in the history of Marvel’s X-Men. but he’s not a villain, or at least he wasn’t until Peach Momoko reimagined him for the second installment of her Demon Days saga. In Demon Days: Mariko #1, the Kurt Wagner fans know has been transformed into a mercenary Ao Bōzu, or Blue Priest, by the name of Kuya, and his intentions aren’t all that holy.
The Demon Days saga takes Japanese folklore and fuses it with Marvel mythos to create what Momoko herself has deemed her very own “Momoko-verse.” She has brought readers versions of popular characters that are similar enough to the originals to be recognized, but are different enough to provide a whole new world of possibilities for their backstories, relationships, characterizations, and powers. From Logan as a literal wolf, to Psylocke as a sword for hire, and now Nightcrawler as a false priest; Momoko has brought readers into her imagination and given them a Japanese folklore history lesson.
At the end of Demon Days: Mariko #1, Momoko explains that the Ao Bōzu is another yokai, or spirit. Like the Oni it falls under a similar umbrella of folklore, but its history is much more mysterious. Some think it could be a spirit of novice priesthood, some think it could be one of falsity and corruption. There is a lot of ambiguity around its exact nature, leaving much up to interpretation, and making it the perfect vessel for an alternate Nightcrawler. That, and its tendency to appear at night, mixed with its blue nature makes it a pretty easy tie in for the teleporting mutant. Unfortunately, in this iteration his cause is not as just and his faith not as pure. In this case he’s a mercenary under the direction of an evil Oni who is seemingly out for Mariko’s blood.
His name in this world is Kuya, which means expanding sky in Japanese — a rather fitting for an alternate version of Nightcrawler. He can also still teleport (signature “bamf” sound effect and all), which is good for him but not so good for his enemies. In a way, this version of Nightcrawler feels adjacent to what fans could have seen from him had he followed after his biological parent’s footsteps: taking part in the more nefarious causes and all. This is especially plausible considering that a preview for Demon Days: Cursed Web #1 shows that this universe’s version of Mystique is also working for the evil Ogin.
Hopefully Kuya won’t taint the fan-favorite mutant’s name too much. Although, it’s not looking great for him so far since he’s already kidnapped the Momoko-verse’s version of Black Widow after she betrayed their evil cause. At least mainstream Nightcrawler is still a good guy. But only time will tell how he and other popular, reimagined characters will play out in the rest of the Demon Days saga. There’s no doubting that Peach Momoko‘s imagination is vast and her ability to blend genres is masterful and incredibly stunning, so it’ll be exciting to see what’s yet to come.
