Marvel retconned Nightcrawler and Mystique in a shocking way

Marvel Comics X-Men Blue: Origins retconned the origins of two mutants and made one of them more powerful. 

Despite Orchis’ best efforts, some of the X-Men made it off Krakoa alive (read the Hellfire Gala for that story). A lot of them had training to block Charles Xavier’s telepathic suggestions. Mystique wasn’t one of them. However, she didn’t follow his orders. Instead, Xavier’s “push” drove her mad. She jumps out of a window to remain safe. A fall like that on top of the psychic attack would kill most people. Raven isn’t most people. Instead, the combination messes with her memories.

Mystique arrives in New York talking like a mad person. While there, she keeps asking about her baby. At first, it seemed like she had no recollection of her son, Nightcrawler. In actuality, she was having conflicting memories about how Nightcrawler was conceived.

Nightcrawler’s new origin

Originally, Azazel was Nightcrawler’s father. Considering Kurt’s appearance and ability to teleport, it made sense. Apparently, that was a false memory. Kurt’s parents are Mystique and Destiny. As amazing as that is, readers discover that Raven didn’t abandon Kurt. He was taken while Raven tried to draw people away from them. Years later, Mystique and Destiny have Xavier erase their memories of being Kurt’s biological parents.

When you think about what Mystique does, it makes sense that she’d be able to produce the necessary means to impregnate Destiny. For example, during Mystique by Brian K. Vaughn, she creates three different heads and limbs that all function. That’s more than just shape-shifting. If that’s not enough, X-Men Blue: Origins breaks it down further.

While talking to Nightcrawler, Raven scoffs at her son’s base knowledge of her abilities. Raven says she doesn’t change her skin like a “clever blue squid.” Instead, she has command over her things like her hormones and ribosomes. On the next page, Doctor Nemesis confirms this with a note. He says that Mystique is rewriting her genetic instructions on a cellular level. It’s why she can change everything from her looks to speech patterns on a whim.

This also explains how Nightcrawler gets away in Uncanny Spider-Man. Orchis thinks they matched Nightcrawler’s DNA. Mystique clearly changed her’s to match Kurt’s. Yet another example of the X-Men being uncanny (pun intended).

Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to find out what’s next for Nightcrawler, Mystique, and the rest of the X-Men.