There are certain things that remain true in comic books. The biggest could be that nobody truly stays dead. Once upon a time, Gwen Stacy and Bucky Barnes were the two people who were supposed to remain gone. Bucky returned as the Winter Soldier during Ed Brubaker’s run of Captain America, and Gwen Stacy returned in Gwenpool by Cavan Scott.
When someone important dies, the first thing you should look for is confirmation. During Invincible - both the TV show and the comic books it is based on - Mark Grayson learns this lesson the hard way. The X-Men are about to find this out, too, thanks to the return of one of the most vile and misguided mutants of the Krakoa era, because the Hank McCoy that killed and later controlled Wolverine is back in a big way.
X-Men No. 24 creative team
- Writer: Jed MacKay
- Penciller: Tony S. Daniel
- Inker: Mark Morales
- Colors: Fernando Sifuentes
After X-Men: Age of Revelation concluded, it was revealed that the Chairman of 3K was the mind that was sent with Cyclops into the future. As he returns to his body in the present, he says “Oh my stars and garters,” after realizing that he knows how to create the X-Virus Revelation made. The only person who uses that phrase is Beast. However, there are still two problems with Hank McCoy being 3K's leader.
The current Hank McCoy is working with the X-Men in Alaska, but he was offered an invitation to join 3K (this happens in issue No. 18 of Jed MacKay’s X-Men). And with time travel a big thing in comics, he could have accepted the offer and gone back to the past to organize his mutant group. But the logical answer is usually the right one. And, logically (as I pointed out in a previous article), it’s the Hank of Krakoa behind 3K.
The Beast of Krakoa was someone with plenty of foresight. It’s why he had a secret base with clones prepared in case of his death. It stands to reason that he would have survived the explosion at the final issue of Benjamin Percy’s X-Force. At the very least, another one of his clones was activated after he flatlined. Either way, he’s back with a new outlook on 3K’s mission to make everyone worldwide a mutant, and he'll use Revelation's X-Virus to make it happen.
If this truly is the return of this Hank McCoy, it is a brilliant move by writer Jed MacKay. Beast knows how Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, thinks and is likely aware that some of his former teammates may hesitate when they fight him (Kwannon isn't one of them). However, with Eve Ewing’s X-Men United bringing Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants together, 3K’s goal may not be seen. Either that, or a mutant world could be part of a future Marvel Comics crossover. Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to find out.
Thanks for reading. Keep up with Bam Smack Pow’s social media pages on Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter for more comic book, TV, and movie news, opinions, and rumors as they come out.