Death is something that happens quite often in comics. Unless they’re Uncle Ben, Gwen Stacy, or Thomas & Martha Wayne, there’s always a chance for that character to come back somehow. This week’s releases manage to hit on both ends of the spectrum. While most comic book fans have been reeling over a death over on the DC side of things in ‘Batman Incorporated’ #8 this week, Marvel has decided to bring back one of their own characters from a comic book death. Well… Sort of.
Before we go any further, if you have not read ‘Uncanny Avengers’ #4, then there are MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. Proceed with caution and don’t say that I didn’t warn you.
Over in ‘Uncanny Avengers’, the flagship title for the Marvel NOW! initiative, Red Skull has managed to pull off one of his most despicable schemes to date. He dug up the recently buried body of Charles Xavier, who was murdered during the events of ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’, and he extracted the brain in order to fuse it with his own to acquire the powerful telepath’s mutant abilities. With the powers of Professor X, the long-time nemesis of Captain America manages to insight a hate-filled riot in New York City pitting humans against mutants. The villain even manages to control Thor and sends him to goes after his teammates Havok and Scarlet Witch. You can find more on that in my review of the book coming out later this week, so we’ll skip ahead to the important part.
At the end of the book, Red Skull and his S-Men escape from the Uncanny Avengers. Then, a time jump of three months occurs. Here’s where things get interesting. Bleeding Cool has a panel-by-panel breakdown of the final pages, but I’ll keep it short. In a future that looks a lot like the classic X-Men story ‘Days of Future Past’, a Sentinel-like robot is chasing the mutant members of the Uncanny Avengers. Many of the characters mentioned in dialogue on this page are from that story as well. Fun fact: When ‘Days of Future Past’ came out in 1981, it was set in 2013. Is Rick Remender bringing that story back and making it reality? If he is, there’s one huge difference.
On the very last page of the book, in an epic reveal, Charles Xavier stands tall confronting Havok and Scarlet Witch. However, his skull is cut wide open with no brain in sight and he’s standing in front of a Red Skull/Onslaught hybrid. Check out the final page below in all it’s gruesome glory:
For those of you who may have forgotten, Onslaught was created when the dark side of Professor X combined with the soul of Magneto. On his own, he was a force to be reckoned with. Add in the Red Skull and who knows how much more powerful he is. Well, apparently powerful enough to make a reanimated Xavier do his dirty work.
This isn’t exactly your run of the mill comic book death resurrection, but it appears that Charles is back in the Marvel Universe. He’s just not back in the way we’d like him to be.
What do you think of this ‘Days of Future Past’-esque twist to ‘Uncanny Avengers’? Do you think there’s any hope of the real Charles Xavier coming back after the events of this book? And with all this time travel going on in the Marvel Universe with this book, the upcoming ‘Age of Ultron’ series, and the rumored death of Wolverine, do you think they’re all connected? Moreover, do you think it’s all connected to the “New 52-style reboot” that so many people think are coming? Share your theories in the comments below!
