The X-Men are entering the next phase of their Marvel Comics reboot, in which the mutant world's heroes and villains have banded together to forge the nation of Krakoa - a new world power designed to offer safety and stability to anyone with the X-gene. Some of the X-Men's worst villains have fallen into line to make the project work, but a dark enemy familiar to fans of TV adaptation Legion is being teased as their next major threat.
Both David Haller - aka Legion, the mutant son of Charles Xavier - and Amahl Farouk, aka the Shadow King, were missing from the mutant nation when it was founded in Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia's blockbuster House of X. First appearing in 1979's Uncanny X-Men #117, Farouk is a powerful psychic and a dangerous enemy of Professor X who merged with the multiversal entity known as the Shadow King, taking its name as his own. Farouk was last seen in the background of Empyre: X-Men #2, confirming him as a member of Krakoa, and while it might be assumed that Farouk has turned his back on evil to fall in line behind the new nation, a recent teaser image from Marvel suggests the Shadow King will be a threat once again in December's Reign of X.
Having just concluded X of Swords and resurrected the X-Men as a heroic force independent of Krakoa's leadership, Marvel released a teaser image for Reign of X - the new chapter in mutantkind's bid for independence. While the image is packed with secrets and reveals - including the return of the missing squad sent to investigate the Vault, an attack by psychotic killer Arcade, and the return of reality-bending villain Mad Jim Jaspers - one of the most notable inclusions is that of Legion (far mid-left) and the Shadow King (top right). Longtime readers of the comic know the Shadow King as one of the most insidious threats the X-Men have ever faced, and yet they might also have assumed Professor X had Farouk under control.
While the Shadow King is a deadly and despicable enemy, the same could be said for mutants like Apocalypse and Empath, who have tortured and twisted the X-Men on multiple occasions. Despite this, the X-Men have been able to embrace these former enemies as allies - 2020's X-Men #3 confirms that even mutants who feed on the energy of other mutants are welcome, fed by a donation system that prevents them harming their fellow Krakoan citizens. Similarly, more mercenary allies like Sebastian Shaw and Mystique have been won over by the promise of wealth or the priority resurrection of their loved ones. With the knowledge and resources to mollify all their former villains, how will the X-Men's safeguards for the Shadow King fail, and could it have something to do with the return of Legion?
Marvel's Incoming #1, from a huge stable of writers and artists, saw the villainous Mister Sinister explaining which mutant genomes he still had to collect, acknowledging Legion by saying, "No one has it because they don't know where to find it." If this is true, it's staggering that in searching out almost every Marvel mutant, Xavier wasn't able to find his own son. Played by Dan Stevens in Legion, Haller is a mutant who can manifest a vast range of powers depending on the persona he adopts, making him the perfect stooge for the Shadow King to utilize in any action against Krakoa. Readers will know soon what the return of Legion and the Shadow King means for the X-Men, but each is among the most powerful mutants on Earth - both Omega-level threats - and the company alongside which they're pictured seems to suggest they'll be entering the X-titles as antagonists of the highest caliber.