Jonathan Hickman's upcoming X-Men miniseries, X-Men: Inferno, could spell the doom of the mutant race. Marvel has been teasing a coming "Inferno" that would threaten to consume the mutant race since 2019, and now it is finally becoming a reality. In September 2021, Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti will team up on the first issue of the X-Men: Inferno miniseries, with the threats facing the world's mutants building.
The proximate cause of the coming Inferno seems to lie with Mystique, a shape-shifting mutant with good reason to bear a grudge against the rulers of Krakoa. Xavier and Magneto have made a pact with the secret third founder of Krakoa, Moira MacTaggert, not to resurrect any precogs - particularly Mystique's long-deceased wife, Destiny. They've been stringing Mystique along, using her for their own purposes and making promises they have no intention of keeping. They're unaware, however, that Destiny foresaw this years ago and gave Mystique a mission: burn Krakoa to the ground if Mystique couldn't bring her back. Mystique seems to be the greatest threat to Krakoa, even though she sits on the ruling Quiet Council.
Marvel has just released the cover and solicit for X-Men: Inferno #1, and it raises tantalizing possibilities - with the cover suggesting the real threat may be Moira MacTaggert.
- INFERNO #1 (OF 4)
- JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • VALERIO SCHITI (A) • Cover by Jerome Opeña
- VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
- VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
- STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY CARMEN CARNERO
- WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
- VARIANT COVER BY JEFF DEKAL
- VARIANT COVER BY OSCAR VEGA
- VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO
- HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY R.B. SILVA
- HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY GREG CAPULLO
- THE CULMINATION OF JONATHAN HICKMAN’S X-MEN BEGINS HERE!
- "There will be an island—not the first, but the last…" Promises were made and broken. The rulers of Krakoa have been playing a dangerous game with a dangerous woman, and they are about to see how badly that can burn them. Mastermind of the X-Men JONATHAN HICKMAN brings his plans to a head, joined by an incredible lineup of artists beginning with VALERIO SCHITI… as one woman follows through on her promise to burn the nation of Krakoa to the ground.
What Is Moira MacTaggert's Real Agenda?
Jonathan Hickman's X-Men relaunch began in 2019 with two six-issue miniseries, House of X and Powers of X. They revealed the classic X-Men ally Moira MacTaggert is actually a secret mutant, who possesses the power of reincarnation. Every time she dies, history is rewound to the moment of her birth, and she lives again with all the knowledge of her past lives. Moira has lived nine previous lives, and each time she has seen the mutant race rendered extinct. She is now working to prevent that, having given some of her knowledge to Xavier and Magneto in order to get them on-side. But there's no reason to suppose her agenda is the same as theirs.
Powers of X #6 contains excerpts from Moira's journal, revealing the extent to which Moira has manipulated the two. She clearly views Xavier and Magneto more as projects than as people, carefully managing Xavier in order to ensure he remains a usable tool; the issue suggests the conflict in Xavier's heart triggered by Moira was the real reason for the creation of Onslaught. Crucially, one entry confirms some of the steps Xavier and Magneto took - steps that led to the creation of Krakoa - were against Moira's advice. Whatever Moira's true agenda may be, Krakoa does not lie at the heart of it.
And this fits with the covers for both Powers of X #6 and X-Men: Inferno #1, which show Moira astride defeated X-Men. The first cover shows Moira standing over the fallen bodies of the heroes of Krakoa, while the latter shows the Quiet Council crushed. These covers do not treat Moira as an ally of the X-Men or a friend of Krakoa, but rather as an enemy. They foretell Moira MacTaggert, not Mystique, as the inferno that will destroy the island.
Destiny Was Working To Counter Moira
Moira MacTaggert encountered Destiny before, in one of her previous lives, and perceived her an absence - a hole in the fabric of existence where there shouldn't be one. "It's a defense mechanism of a sort," Destiny observed, "but not much good once you know what you're looking for." Destiny's ability to perceive the truth of Moira's existence troubled the reincarnating mutant, and left her deeply fearful of the precog in her future lives. She was careful to conceal herself from Destiny from that point on - but she underestimated her enemy.
X-Men #6 revealed the Destiny of this timeline foresaw the age of Krakoa. "Years from now," Destiny prophesied to Mystique long ago, "long after I'm gone... long after I've left a broken you and this broken world behind -- something is going to happen that will sound... too good to be true to your cynical ears. There will be an island -- not the first, but the last. This place will seem to be hope for our kind. They will invite you in, lift you up and then deny you the one thing you want." If the leaders of this land - the Quiet Council, Xavier and Magneto - were not willing to bring Destiny back, then the seer charged Mystique to perform a dark deed; to burn this last island to the ground.
Destiny Could Be Trying To Save The Mutant Race - Not Doom It
But what is Destiny's true purpose? Is she trying to doom the mutant race by having Krakoa destroyed - or is she trying to save them? If the covers of Powers of X #6 and X-Men: Inferno #1 are any indication, Moira is the snake in the X-Men's Garden of Eden, the one whose presence risks destroying everything. Significantly, flashbacks to Destiny's conversation with Mystique all those years ago seem to foresee Moira's reincarnation powers, which reset the universe when she dies. "I've seen more sunsets than you can imagine, Raven," she told her wife. "The collapse of all things and the end of days."
It's possible readers have been misunderstanding the goals of both Destiny and Moira MacTaggert. Everyone has been assuming Moira has simply been attempting to prevent the extinction of the mutant race, but what if her real goal is simply to find a way to end her life once and for all - to bring an end to her cycle of death and rebirth, and in doing so destroy all reality? In that scenario, everything she has encouraged Xavier and Magneto to do is to that end, and it is possible her real interest in Krakoa lies in finding a way to accomplish it. Thus Destiny has not charged Mystique to burn Krakoa down out of spite, but rather so Moira will be denied the prize she seeks.
If this is the case, then there's a sense in which it doesn't matter whose will is done in X-Men: Inferno, Moira's or Mystique's as the agent of Destiny. If Mystique triumphs, then Krakoa will burn down. If Moira MacTaggert does, and the destruction of Krakoa is averted, then the universe will move one step closer to "the collapse of all things and the end of days." The stakes are far higher than the X-Men believe.