Spoiler warning for X-Force #10!
The end of the world just keeps coming for the X-Men. Whether that takes the form of a dystopian future ruled by machines, an invasion from hell itself, or the world being remade by a ruthless god, the apocalypse is a close companion of Marvel's mutant heroes in more ways than one. But the planetary threat in the pages of the new issue X-Force #10 is different in two crucial ways: first, it involves a new enemy that will be very familiar to fans of video game series The Last of Us; second, it was unleashed by Beast, the leader of the X-Men's most shadowy team.
Since the team was first conceived in 1991, X-Force has represented a darker, more violent side of the X-Men franchise, a black-ops team willing to do perform deadly missions. Since the 2019 Dawn of X reboot gave mutantkind their own island nation on Krakoa, the X-Force has served as a sort of mutant CIA, led by director Hank McCoy, aka Beast. Since he first gave himself his monstrous appearance by trying to cure his initial mutation, Beast has gained a reputation as one of the most dangerous X-Men of all, thanks to his habit of making devastating mistakes in the course of experimentation.
In earlier issues of the new X-Force, Beast discovered that the country of Terra Verde possessed "telefloronics", a sort of fungus-and-plant-based nanotechnology and that the programmable fungal infection represented an existential threat to the bio machinery of Krakoa. In a bold strategy, he attempted to hijack the substance and use it to kill its hosts, except for the president of Terra Verde's son, whom he put in a coma to serve as an example. This backfired when the lobotomy simply allowed the telefloronic contagion to gain more control, spread faster, and take over the entirety of Terra Verde.
X-Force #10 shows us the aftermath: the Terra Verdean people have become fungal zombies, covered in dark green sludge, with mushrooms growing from their body. The effect parallels the 'clickers' from The Last of Us, humans who have been infected and taken over by a mutated form of the mind-controlling Cordyceps fungus. The fungus even consumes the members of X-Force. While Wolverine's healing factor keeps the contagion at bay, telepath Quentin Quire isn't as lucky: he becomes a "telefloronic spore", gushing floral and fungal growths from every orifice.
It takes a backup team to save the day. Jean Grey's telepathy, Sage's technological powers, and Black Tom Cassidy's control over earth and plants merge into one entity to reprogram every element of the infection and free the infected. But if their efforts had failed, an entire country would be dead and the blood would be on Beast's hands. Before Jean mounts the rescue, she makes sure to confront Hank as he monitors his dying team. She psychically forces him to feel the suffering he has caused, to fully comprehend the weight of the genocide he has set in motion against both the people of Terra Verde and the mutants of Krakoa. After the mission, Jean quits the team, deciding that the work would crush her outlook on the future of mutant-kind. Will Beast learn from watching a grisly apocalyptic scenario from a horror game play out in his life? Since he's losing his red-haired moral compass, the Marvel Universe can only hope he does.
Marvel's X-Force #10, written by Benjamin Percy with art from Joshua Cassara and color by Guru e-FX, is available now.