A major former enemy of the X-Men has officially been made a citizen of Krakoa, but not everyone on Krakoa will be happy about this mutant’s arrival.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Excalibur #20 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega & VC’s Ariana Maher, on sale now
The modern age of X-Men has seen the mutant heroes accept many of their former enemies and give them the chance to carve out a new life on Krakoa. And while some of them have taken to these changes with open arms, others are more resistant, and some are even more worrying to the ruling class of the island.
In Excalibur #20, Malice was just captured on Krakoa. And despite making an attempt on the life of a vital member of Krakoan Society, a trio of powerful telepaths decide it’s important to give her one more chance.
Since debuting in 1986’s Uncanny X-Men #210, by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr., Malice was always a dangerous psionic mutant, capable of possessing others and taking control of their bodies. She served as one of Mister Sinister’s Marauders and became a frequent enemy of the X-Men. After briefly possessing a number of different X-Men, Malice ended up in control of Polaris for an extended period of time, only to be forcibly expelled and seemingly destroyed before returning shortly before the creation of Krakoa. However, the psionic being lived on, even taking Captain Britain’s body during a time when Betsy Braddock was lost across the multiverse. Returning Betsy to her body resulted in Malice escaping once again, and she made it to Krakoa this time. Luckily, Excalibur is able to lure Malice into the open relatively quickly.
Alerting the Quiet Council to her return to the land of the living, Captain Britain remains behind after the meeting with the Krakoan leaders and discovers that Malice had possessed Emma Frost so she could attack Betsy. After her within a psychic blade thrown by the former assassin Psylocke, the mutants discuss what to do with Malice, with the presence of Xavier and Magneto, who also witnessed the attack, serving as an additional complication. Fearing Malice’s cruel intentions and the fallout they could cause, Xavier and Magneto are initially in favor of exiling Malice for the crime of targeting Emma and Betsy. Exile is perhaps the harshest punishment available on Krakoa, as it traps a mutant within the roots of Krakoa to serve out time for their crimes.
However, Betsy argues that as a mutant in pain, Malice deserves the chance to become better and asks that she has a new body made by the Five. Although Xavier and Magneto agree, they still defend their decision to punish her for her attack. Confronting Malice psychically, Captain Britain is able to learn more about Malice’s history as a teenage punk in Britain whose mother believed that she had killed herself when her powers activated and removed her from her body. Speaking with Emma Frost and Psylocke, Captain Britain is able to convince Xavier to show mercy to Malice and give her a new chance on Krakoa. However, Captain Britain makes it clear to the young woman that this is her one best shot at finding a place in the world, and that she better not mess it up.
Malice could potentially be an incredible asset for Krakoa, giving them another perfect psionic spy to travel the world undercover. She could even be a potential candidate for the Hellions, a team designed around giving angry and dangerous mutants an outlet for their darker impulses. But this could expose Malice to figures like Mister Sinister, someone she likely still harbors a lot of anger and frustration for. She could even turn against her fellow mutants, likely landing her in exile but doing potential damage to the island as a whole depending on who she possesses and what she does in their name. But as a Krakoan citizen, Malice could find her place within the new mutant future.
