A '90s X-Men villain returns in this week's Hellions #7 from writer Zeb Wells and artists Steven Segovia and David Curiel, which sets Mr. Sinister's team on a mission to protect one of their own from a dire fate, following the team's deaths in 'X of Swords.'
Spoilers ahead for Hellions #7
Hellions #7 opens with the resurrection of most of the Hellions, who were killed during 'X of Swords,' with Wild Child, Nanny, and Orphan Maker having died in the Otherworld, and Havok, Greycrow, Psylocke, and Empath having died at Mister Sinister's hands-on Krakoa, to conceal his dire experiments with Arakko mutant DNA.
Nanny, Orphan-Maker, and Wild Child suffer the same fate as other mutants who have been resurrected after dying in Otherworld, returning to life with their personalities altered. Unlike Rockslide, who died in Otherworld and was resurrected with no memories or personality, Wild Child and Nanny’s minds are described as “honed,” meaning some of the detrimental aspects of their personalities were stripped away, while other were redefined. Wild Child, for instance, is no longer given to animal rage and sees his purpose as finding a pack and a mate.
Only Orphan-Maker remains in stasis after resurrection, as his still unrevealed powers are described as too monstrous to leave unchecked – even Xavier describes Orphan-Maker's mutation, which is said to be awful enough to literally end the world, as a curse.
Unfortunately, Orphan-Maker's containment suit was destroyed, meaning Nanny must rebuild it in order to keep Orphan-Maker (and by extension everyone else) safe – but her ship has been captured by The Right, an anti-mutant terrorist group formerly led by Cameron Hodge, a long-dead '90s X-Men villain who once merged with the techno-organic alien Phalanx – and who not only once killed Warlock of the New Mutants but also brainwashed Havok into serving him as an anti-mutant operative.
To rebuild Orphan-Maker's suit, the team must recover the ship – though their reluctance to trust Mr. Sinister adds tension to the mission. Havok tries to question Sinister, before Psylocke steps in and orders the mission to continue. Before they leave, Sinister reveals that he has found Psylocke's daughter, and is holding her in stasis – hence her loyalty to Sinister.
On the way to the mission, the team confronts Psylocke about her loyalty to Sinister. Though she responds stoically, she decides to send Sinister a message by using his private jet to break into the Right's compound, crashing it through their defenses while the Hellions bailout.
As they fight through the Right's robot guards, Cameron Hodge himself emerges, apparently resurrected.
The last time Hodge was seen, he and his agents had been resurrected as partial Sentinels by Bastion – but they were killed by Warlock, who absorbed their lifeforce into his techno-organic form.
Weirdly, Warlock is now bonded with Doug Ramsey, who wielded Warlock as a weapon in 'X of Swords.' Given Hodge's connection to Doug Ramsey and Warlock, and his previous manipulation of Havok, who has had psychological issues in the pages of Hellions, Hodge's return could spell big trouble for Krakoa.
Hellions #8 is due out January 6.
The current X-Men creative team is headed up by Jonathan Hickman, one of the greatest X-Men creators of all time.
