Warning: spoilers for X-Force #14 and Kingsman: The Secret Service!
Marvel’s X of Swords storyline sees the X-Men competing in a number of strange challenges, one of which looks like a scene straight out of Kingsman: The Secret Service, though with a much darker ending. Krakoa’s mutants are fighting to protect their home in a tournament against the swordbearers of Arakko. While some of the matches throughout the tournament have been epic sword fights, others have been a bit more… obscure. From a spelling bee, to a dance off, to a marriage between two opponents, the tournament has been all over the map. Luckily, the broad array of competitions has left some room for laughs along the way.
2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service, directed by Matthew Vaughn, tells the story of a young man called “Eggsy” (played by Taron Egerton) who is recruited into a British spy organization’s training program. The action comedy is filled with memorable moments that fans can easily recall after just one viewing. The infamous church scene takes the cake as the film’s most iconic moment (for good reason), but another one that viewers are sure to remember is the moment when Eggsy is kicked out of the program. For the protagonist’s final test, he is given a gun and told to shoot the dog that he was given early in his training. Eggsy points the weapon at his canine friend, JB, but is unable to pull the trigger. His desire to join the Kinsman is strong, but not strong enough to kill his own dog.
X-Force #14 by Benjamin Percy, Gerry Duggan, and Joshua Cassara contains a similar challenge during the X of Swords tournament. As the book goes on, more strange contests take place and the points continue to fall in Arakko’s favor. One such contest pits Brian Braddock, aka Captain Avalon, against War. As the opponents stand side-by-side, a small, black kitten sits in front of them. War asks what they are supposed to do to win the match and a bearded man in a hooded cloak simply instructs them to “kill the kitten.” Shocked by the man’s words, Captain Avalon turns to War and utters, “You wouldn’t…” but is immediately interrupted as War lunges toward the helpless creature. The final panel of the match shows Braddock desperately trying to hold his rival back, but readers can draw a fairly clear conclusion about what happens next, as the scoreboard shows Arakko gaining another point.
Eggsy and Captain Avalon’s hesitation in these situations provides a bit of insight into who they are as people. Eggsy is determined to join the Kingsman, but he is not willing to take the innocent life of his dog to accomplish this goal. Similarly, Captain Avalon is trying his best to help his teammates defeat Arakko’s champions, but taking the life of an innocent kitten is a line he refuses to cross. Ultimately, the two share an appreciation for the sanctity of innocent creatures’ lives and each of them would sooner look for an alternate way of accomplishing their goals than resort to killing a defenseless animal.
Sadly, while Kingsmen has a hilarious payoff in revealing Eggsy's gun was never loaded and he quit the organization for nothing, X of Swords suggests a darker resolution to this challenge. Despite that, fans of Brian Braddock, the former Captain Britain, will be happy to see the curmudgeonly hero stick to this firm moral line, showing his recent loss of status hasn't changed the core of who he is, even with the X-Men playing for the fate of the world. Who knows, maybe British heroes just have a secret oath about not killing housepets?