The X-Men return to Marvel’s new Ultimate continuity in March 2024 – and previews so far have promised a horrifying new body-horror take on at least one character. Ultimate Universe #1 left readers with big questions about how mutants would fit into this world. The end of the issue gave fans a sneak peek at what writer/artist Peach Momoko has planned, and it ain’t pretty.
Momoko’s radical new take on X-Men will be a reinvention of mutantkind, and Momoko’s disturbing artwork for the character Armor, released as a tease for the upcoming series, proves she’s bringing the full force of her signature aesthetic to the table, with Marvel’s full blessing.
If this is what she has planned for young hero Armor, readers can only hold their collective breath in anticipation, assuming Momoko has even darker plans in mind for the adult X-Men in the Ultimate universe. Having become one of Marvel’s signature artistic stars in the past few years, Peach Momoko is an absolutely perfect choice to helm the new Ultimate X-Men.
Ultimate Armor’s Mutatation Proves Peach Momoko Is Ready To Push Boundaries
The 2-page Ultimate X-Men prelude in Ultimate Universe #1 begins with Hisako Ichiki, known to X-Men fans as Armor, washing her hands at school in Japan. She notices a stray hair on her forehead, but when she plucks it, the root holds fast. As she pulls, her forehead opens gruesomely to birth a small red doll with an X on its chest. Luckily, it was all a dream, but as her friend wakes her up, she tells Hisako that she dropped something – the red doll from the dream, with a smaller doll inside. Fans know this looks like an image of Armor when using her powers, but for now Hisako is confused.
The X-Men franchise is not unfamiliar with body horror: Chris Claremont created the Morlocks as an offshoot group of mutants whose appearances were so off-putting that they lived underground. However to kick off the peek at this new series with something so sick and twisted is a bold introduction for the X-Men of Earth-6160, especially given that Hisako is a child. Peach Momoko has said that Armor will feature heavily in her series, and that it will revolve around Japanese urban legends coming to life and causing trouble. This could be the visionary creator’s way of showing that nothing is off the table for her Ultimate X-Men.
Marvel Keeps Dropping Hints About An All-New Armor
Armor, when using her powers, often appears as a young woman in the middle of a larger, translucent body. The armor body follows her actions – she punches, it punches; she crosses her arms, it does the same. However, the armor seen in this character design doc seems to be moving independently of Hisako, suggesting this version of Armor has a mind of its own. The cover image also shows Armor surrounded by items from Japanese history and folklore that could be hints to Hisako’s struggle. There’s a doll inside a stick of bamboo, possibly referencing the Princess Kaguya folktale about a couple who find a baby inside the bamboo and raise it.
The paper dolls are shikigami, conjured beings trapped inside humanoid-shaped papers and sent to do the bidding of the onmyoji who summoned them. The common theme is a person inside something else unexpected – perhaps this reflects a new version of Armor where Hisako isn’t in control. This definitely echoes her dream where the armor doll forcefully broke out of her head. X-Men fans new and old alike will definitely be waiting on the edge of their seats, excited at the prospect of what dynamic creator Peach Momoko has in store for the other mutants of the rebooted Ultimate Universe.
Ultimate X-Men (Vol. 2) #1 will be released by Marvel Comics in March 2024.
