Warning! Spoilers for S.W.O.R.D. #4 below.
Cable proves to be the King in Black’s deadliest soldier in the latest S.W.O.R.D. preview. Previously, the mutants of Krakoa learned that Knull has the capability of using the Krakoan Gates if the Lord of the Abyss possesses a mutant. A Knullified Cable stepped through a portal onto the mutant island, shocking the mutants who bore witness to the event, but as fans now realize after this preview, his surprising entry was merely a distraction.
In the preview for S.W.O.R.D. #4 by Al Ewing with art by Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia, Cable, while under Knull’s control, explains his evil plan for the nation of Krakoa to the mutants he has just ambushed. Symbiote Cable reveals that his entering the island through a Krakoan Gate was all for show. Cable orchestrated the breach as a way to distract the X-Men from the real symbiotic threat looming on their land.
The Grendel that came to Krakoa before Cable’s arrival had perished in its fight with the X-Men, but Cable reveals that was all part of the plan. After Cable’s distraction, the raw symbiote material within the dead dragon seeped into Krakoa, making the entire island and nearly every mutant on it under the control of the King in Black. With the near entirety of mutant-kind at his disposal, it doesn’t take long before Cable starts his scheme. Wrapped in a Giger-esque mixture of Krakoan plant life and symbiote, Sunfire and Cortez are trapped in the clutches of the King in Black. The two aren’t the only ones captured seemingly without hope, but they are the unfortunate mutants Cable decides to make an example of.
In S.W.O.R.D. #2, Cortez along with other S.W.O.R.D. members arrive on Krakoa to lend a hand in the current invasion. Sunfire was in the process of battling the then-living Grendel before getting injured. Cortez used his powers to heal Sunfire, calling him Krakoa’s sun amid the symbiotic darkness, and Sunfire used that energy burst to kill the dragon seemingly once and for all, of course, fans know that was not the case. As it seems, Knull did not take too kindly to the previous comment, saying. “I don’t like suns," as Cable used the dark power of the symbiotes to suck the life out of both Cortez and Sunfire. “Now,” Knullified Cable said, shifting his attention to a mutant who unwittingly stumbled into this Lovecraftian horror show, “what do we do with you?”
Eden Fesi was late to the party, and now he stands face-to-face with the King in Black’s perfect warrior. Cable proves to be the deadliest of Knull’s puppets after he used his tactical mind to misdirect the mutant’s attention towards himself and away from the true menace of the symbiote dragon to nearly completely eradicate any potential mutant threat. Successfully overtaking Krakoa single-handedly while mercilessly killing any mutant standing in his way proves that Cable is the King in Black’s deadliest soldier.