Warning! Spoilers ahead for Juggernaut #5
Cain Marko may be known as the unstoppable Juggernaut, but the name isn’t exactly accurate. Fans already know that D-Cel, Juggernaut's new sidekick, has the power to stop him, but Marvel just unveiled another, weirder way to take Marko down.
After going toe-to-toe with Arnim Zola in the last issue, Juggernaut learned that someone out there is capturing mutants and experimenting on them, similar to the program Weapon X that kept Wolverine prisoner. In issue #5, Juggernaut and D-Cel find the organization’s secret bunker, which houses a teleportation platform leading to the Dungeon, “a secret, hidden, for-profit superhuman prison.” Cain insists D-Cel stay behind before making his way through the portal and into the prison, where he is immediately met by a slew of guards. None of the men are a match for Juggernaut, but then the warden arrives with reinforcements of elite guards who have a special trick up their sleeves.
The Warden informs Juggernaut that his elite guards have been infused with the DNA of Swarm and Toad, which causes Cain to burst out laughing, and who can blame him? Toad and Swarm are two of Marvel's weirdest villains, and both far from fearsome - especially compared to the Juggernaut - but Cain’s laughter still doesn’t faze the Warden. “They all laugh at first,” he says, snapping his fingers. The guards immediately summon a swarm of bees, which are small enough to get inside Cain’s suit, but still strong enough to incapacitate him. The Warden explains that “the combination of genetic traits allows their stings to release a paralytic agent. Likely to stop you only for a matter of minutes, but still quite effective.” Insert Nicolas Cage’s "NOT THE BEES” meme here.
Fortunately for Cain, D-Cel shows up moments later to get the guards off him, so nothing was seriously damaged - other than his pride, that is. After all, the biggest, baddest guy around getting taken out by a swarm of insects can’t be good for Cain's reputation. Still, humor aside, this moment does expose an interesting weakness for Juggernaut. If a swarm of bees can manage to get inside his suit, so could heroes like Ant-Man and the Wasp, and then all they’d need is a similar kind of paralytic agent to bring him down. Practically speaking, Cain may want to consider wearing long sleeves going forward.
If worse comes to worst, Juggernaut could feasibly counter the insect swarm with a thunderclap, seeing as he already stole Hulk’s most iconic move once in this series. Regardless, one thing is for sure - Juggernaut won’t be scoffing at Swarm or Toad’s abilities again anytime soon.