One of Marvel’s most powerful X-Men is set for a major return in Reign of X., and his return could shape the future of Marvel’s mutant nation.
With X of Swords finished and Krakoa — as well as the whole of the Marvel Universe — safe from the armies of Amenth and Annihilation, it’s time to look to the future and “Reign of X.” However, the teaser for the upcoming era of X-Men reveals that one of Marvel’s most powerful Omega-level mutants is going to be making his return, and his timing couldn’t be better.
The “Reign of X” teaser suggests that Legion will be returning to prominence in some form in the near future, which could bode both well or poorly for the X-Men.
Created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz during their iconic New Mutants run, Legion is one of the most potentially powerful mutants in existence, but also a relatively obscure one within the Marvel Universe. The son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Heller, his existence was initially kept away from his father. Classified as an Omega Level Mutant, Legion has the ability to essentially create new powers and gain quick control of them. However, he has Dissociative Identity Disorder and ends up creating new personalities and personas to go with each power. While this all gives him an incredible amount of potential, it also makes him highly volatile and generally unpredictable. Legion has been both a hero and a villain in the past: he was responsible for jumpstarting the Age of Apocalypse by trying to change the past and once attacked the minds of numerous New Mutants.
But he’s also been shown to want to become a hero, working with the X-Men, starring in X-Men Legacy in the aftermath of his father’s death during Avengers vs. X-Men, and even briefly having a romance with Blindfold before sacrificing his existence to save his loved ones. Shortly before the Krakoa era began, Legion tried to warn the X-Men of the machinations of X-Man and his Horsemen of Salvation but failed to keep both himself and the X-Men from being dragged into a manufactured reality by Nate Grey. Dubbed the “Age of X-Man,” Legion was held within the Danger Room Prison Complex, but thanks to his powers he retained some of his memories of the real world. He was eventually released and sent back to reality and was recently listed as being an active member of the X-Men on Krakoa in the X of Swords Handbook, although he has remained largely quiet since returning to the Marvel Universe.
Outside of the odd crowd scene, Legion hasn’t been seen much in the new mutant nation, and notably Mister Sinister doesn’t even have any DNA samples from Legion. This is confirmed in the short X-Men sequence from Incoming! — where it’s revealed Mister Sinister only lacks the DNA samples of a handful of mutants. This includes Legion, as Sinister reveals that he doesn’t “know where to find it.” This raises some interesting questions about Legion and his full potential, as well as how often he’s been erased from reality only to be restored. This suggests that that Sinister’s store of DNA from Legion might be lost every time he’s been effectively erased. But it also raises the question of why, if Legion is just on Krakoa, why hasn’t Mister Sinister been able to procure DNA from Legion.