Warning: Contains spoilers for Legion of X #7Warren Worthington III debuted as the winged mutant hero Angel, one of the five original members of the X-Men, and although he has been through several brutal transformations over his long publication history, the recent Legion of X #7 has introduced his most horrifying, bestial form yet.
First introduced in 1963's The X-Men #1 - created by legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby - Warren Worthington III is the handsome heir to the vast Worthington fortune, and has operated as a core member of the X-Men or one of their offshoot groups since his debut. While Angel is typically viewed as an immensely heroic character, after the then-villain Apocalypse got his hands on him in 1987 and turned him into his Horseman of Death, Warren was transformed into the murderous, blue-skinned "Archangel." This monstrous identity has returned several times and plagued Warren since his initial transformation, no doubt making his most recent demonic change all the harder to handle.
Legion of X #7 - from Si Spurrier, Netho Diaz, Federico Blee, and Clayton Cowles - follows Nightcrawler and his Legionnaires as they recover from the tumultuous, universe-changing Judgment Day event, regaining control of Legion's Astral Plane and beginning to take on missions again. Simultaneously, Kurt has discovered that somehow his mutation is shifting, causing him to grow devil-horns from his head, exacerbating the already insecure Catholic's anxieties about his looks. After Mister Sinister is absolutely zero help in diagnosing or treating Nightcrawler's demonic "morphic changes" to his DNA, the mutant scientist Doctor Nemesis is able to get a "morphic signature" match to Nightcrawler's own shifted DNA. Although Nemesis does not yet have any idea what is causing this transformation, he expects that it will begin impacting more and more mutants. Nightcrawler, Doctor Nemesis, and Pixie use Megan's teleportation magic to bring them to the location of the morphic signature match, discovering that the match is actually coming from inside X-Corps Los Angeles office, where Warren Worthington III works. There they stumble upon the Black Knight, whose mantle is currently worn by former Black Knight Dane Whitman's daughter, Jacks Chopra. Jacks warns the X-Men that a terrible beast has attacked Angel, before Nightcrawler realizes... the beast IS Angel.
Warren Worthington III Has Never Been Less Of An Angel
Of course, this is far from Warren's only nonconsensual transformation or evolution of his base mutant abilities, with Angel infamously becoming one of Apocalypse's Horseman after En Sabah Nur saved Warren from dying with his Celestial technology. After Apocalypse's genetic meddling, Warren assumed the new identity of Archangel, now sporting blue skin, vicious metal wings, and a murderous mind warped by the influence of Apocalypse. Warren has spent years working through his relationship with Archangel, an alternate personality and power that still resides within Angel and occasionally is let loose, similar to his X-Corps partner Monet and her Penance form. Just like Nightcrawler's shame around his standard devilish form, Warren's time as Archangel left him with deep shame and trauma, not only because of how he treated his friends and loved ones but because of the many lives he took. It would not be a huge leap to assume that Warren's new bestial avian form is going to be incredibly hard for him to deal with, if it hasn't already warped his mind. While Warren has already experienced a secondary mutation, giving his blood the ability to bring people back to life, it seems like Angel and Nightcrawler's morphic transformations are not due to natural mutant evolution, but an external manipulating force.
Warren Worthington III has been through more trauma than most could stand during his long history as Angel of the X-Men, and his most recent transformation into a monstrous bird-creature may be the final shove that pushes the hero back to a period of villainy.
Legion of X #7 is available now in stores.