A new cover for A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4 from the mega-talented Mark Brooks depicts the previously deceased Celestial Progenitor revived and set to pass judgment on various Marvel Comics characters including the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals. While details about the Judgment Day event are still being kept tightly under wraps by Marvel, it looks like the Progenitor will be judging infamous past storylines of classic Earth-616 characters to assess if they are worthy of having a future.
The underlying "purpose" of the Celestial Host, which revisits planets previously seeded with life, is murky at best. What fans do know is that it involves the energy a Celestial can gain from the evolutionary progress of sentient species on a planet, which can then be transferred to one side of an everlasting war between the "good" Fulcrum and the "evil" Horde, although not many details are known about how this process works. The people of Earth have survived judgment by Arishem, the leader of the Celestials, many times, but with the Progenitor having such a personal connection to Earth, its judgment may look entirely different.
A.X.E.: Judgment Day - written by Kieron Gillen with gorgeous art by Valerio Schiti - follows a massive war between the Eternals, Avengers, and X-Men after the Eternals seemingly turn on the mutants, determining that the mutants' immortality and expansion to Arakko is a form of "excess deviation" that must be stamped out. The Progenitor is the first Celestial to ever come to Earth, dying from an infection of the Horde and sequestering itself under the Arctic Ocean, with its cosmic matter giving rise to the superheroes of the world. The Progenitor was uncovered recently and turned into the Avengers' Mountain base, much to the chagrin of the Eternals who view the Celestials as their Gods, and its infection was apparently healed by Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk. Recently Ajak, one of the leaders of the Eternals, forced the Progenitor's spirit to wake up for the first time in millennia, and it seems like this action may cause the Celestial to fully revive, although Mark Brooks' art, shared by Marvel Comics, suggests it may still exist in a 'zombie' state.
Marvel's solicit for A.X.E.: Judgment Day #3 & #4 reveals that "...the Celestial known as the Progenitor will rise to usher in the second act of the event where various heroes and villains stand for judgment. Defending their past actions and mistakes in fascinating ways..." Various Judgment Day tie-ins include the Hellfire Gala, and issues of Avengers, X-Force, X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man, and Marauders, as the heroes and villains across titles are judged by the Progenitor - something made especially interesting because of Krakoa's policy around accepting "former" villains into their ranks, meaning the X-Men could be forced to fiercely defend past enemies such as Sebastian Shaw, Magneto and Cassandra Nova.
Additionally, it has been revealed that in the pages of the Judgment Day tie-in Death to the Mutants, the Eternals will be judged by the Celestials on whether they have "failed" their Celestial mission of stamping out excess deviation. Mark Brooks' stunning art, showing the truly terrifying and zombie-like Progenitor, is a frightening vision of what is to come for Marvel's heroes and villains, setting the tone for the entire Judgment Day event in a way no one is prepared for. With its thumb hovering, it's clear that even at this point in the event, doom could still come to Earth's heroes.
The Celestials have messed around with the various peoples of Earth for far too long, and hopefully Judgment Day will see the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Eternals pass the Progenitor's judgment and find a way to permanently end the Celestials reign of terror over Earth.
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4 from Marvel Comics is set to debut in late August.
Source: Marvel