As Marvel kicks off a new arm of the X-Men’s operations with X-Corp, two surprising mutants take on key leadership roles.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Corp #1 by Tini Howard, Alberto Foche, Sunny Gho & VC’s Clayton Cowles, and X-Factor #9 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, Israel Silva, and VC’s Joe Caramagna,
X-Corp is the newest venture from Krakoa, and the business enterprise provides a way for mutants to truly take a place at the table of international power controlled by corporations and the wealthy. So far, Angel and Monet St. Croix’s Penance have been working as the chief executives for the company, which, among other things, handles the legal implications of the life-saving mutant drugs that the Hellfire Trading Company sends around the globe. While this is a big part of what has set up Krakoa as one of the chief new power players on a global scale, those two old-money mutants will need some new partners to help steer the X-Men’s financial future.
This is why M has already been planning to expand the Board of Directors in control of the company from two mutants to five, earning the telepathic approval of Xavier and catching Angel off-guard. While Angel tries to soothe things out with a financial rival, M instead quickly recruits some of her new partners, leading to some major promotions for some surprising mutants
M’s first stop is to find Trinary, a relatively young mutant who was introduced in Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar’s X-Men: Red. Trinary is capable of technopathy, allowing her to effectively control any and all forms of technology. After stealing funds from the richest citizens in her home nation of India, she was liberated by the X-Men and recruited to their fight. She’s seemingly returned to this ideology as of late, as M finds her in Mumbai. M quickly offers Trinary a spot among the Board of Directors, effectively becoming their tech expert. She quickly accepts the position and gets to work connecting with the interface at the heart of X-Corp, their new floating headquarters, which can showcase all the technological upgrades that Krakoa is capable of bringing to the world.
M’s next candidate for X-Corp’s leadership is a closer former associate and pa: Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man. The pair had formerly worked together in X-Factor Investigations, where they even enjoyed a brief fling before that group fell apart. Now, Madrox works at the Savage Land Flower Processing Facility as the chief cultivator and researcher on the Krakoa plants at the heart of their medical outreach to the world. M clearly still values their friendship however, as she explains to him when she comes to recruit him to X-Corp. M needs people she can trust. Plus, Madrox’s ability to create duplicates — with plenty of different experiences and skills at their disposal — makes him ideal for almost any situation.
The fifth member of the board isn’t revealed in the issue, nor are they teased. But X-Corp #1 does reveal a bit more about another recent X-Men promotion: that of Wind-Dancer, the former Academy X veteran who until recently had been held in the Mojoverse until she convinced Adam-X to kill her as part of his live-stream. Wind-Dancer was revived on Krakoa, and she also seems to be on her way to becoming Krakoa’s chief media producer, as she’s shown working heavily with M and Angel to devise a press push celebrating the establishment of X-Corp. While she may not become a board member, it’s clear Wind-Dancer might be very useful to the company.
The new group gets to quickly showcase their potential when they save Angel from a crisis brewing in South America, revealing one of the most powerful elements of their operation: that their base can seemingly transport through Krakoa Gates, and then rise up into the planet’s atmosphere with ease. It’s an impressive showing for the newest branch of Krakoa, and one that could only become more powerful as time goes on, especially depending on their mystery final board member.
