The X-Men's Havok has just turned traitor and betrayed the Hellions. Alex Summers has never been the most stable of superheroes, and in fact, ever since his debut, he's found himself vulnerable to mental manipulation of some kind or another. As a result, he's been everything from a brainwashed Genoshan Magistrate to the leader of one incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
It's gradually becoming clear Havok is once again turning into a monster. Back in 2014, Havok was one of the mutants affected by the "AXIS" event, in which a magic spell went wrong and turned heroes into villains, and vice versa. Havok was one of the few out of range of the counter-spell, and ever since his mind has been fragmented. In Hellions #1, a clash with anti-mutant zealots caused Havok to suffer a schizoid episode, and his brutality left the X-Men horrified. He was assigned to the team known as the Hellions, a group of mutants being monitored by Mr. Sinister in the hopes they can be stabilized and redeemed.
Unfortunately, this week's Hellions #2 sees Havok cross paths with an old, evil flame - Madelyne Pryor, aka the Goblin Queen. Madelyne corrupted Havok once before, transforming him into her Goblin Queen and taking him as her lover; it was a sick plot twist, partly done to spite Havok's older brother Cyclops, Madelyne's husband. It seems Madelyne still has a hold over Alex Summers, and soon the two are walking off while the X-Men battle Madelyne's latest pawns, a group of clones.
Readers had been curious about which version of the Goblin Queen this was; one resurrected during Brian Wood's X-Men era in 2013, or a Multiversal version who's been seen since then. Havok's conversation confirms it is the former, the mainstream 616 version, resurrected by dark magic and advanced science. She briefly attempted to form her own Sisterhood to oppose the X-Men, but subsequently vanished into the shadows. There's an amusingly meta scene in which Havok asks Madelyne when she came back, and she gives a succinct reply; "Years ago, Alex," she responds. "And no one cared." Wood's X-Men run was sidetracked by 2013's "Battle of the Atom" event, and Wood never managed to catch his second wind; as a result, all those plot twists were indeed forgotten by writers, including Madelyne's resurrection. Until now, it seems.
Marvel has been heavily signposting Havok's descent into madness, but it's unclear whether he will ultimately be a traitor or a savior. The cover of Hellions #4 is a homage to Uncanny X-Men #270, a key issue in which Havok led a strike force against the X-Men, so that bodes ill for the younger Summers brother. It's going to be exciting to see what happens next - and whether Alex Summers wreaks Havok on the X-Men.