The X-Men event Age of Revelation was three months for readers, but ten years for the characters in the Marvel Comics Universe. Within that decade, the United States was turned into ruins thanks to Doug Ramsey (a.k.a. Revelation) and his X-Virus. Doug said the virus was supposed to turn everyone into mutants so that people could get along better. Unfortunately, it killed humans and mutants. After that, he spent the next ten years being one of the worst villains in history. It eventually leads to him becoming Revelation, the Living Planet.
Humans and mutant enemies weren’t the only ones Revelation ruined by either having their ability to communicate removed (he called it Babeling) or with death. No, not even his former teammates weren’t exempt from his tyranny. That’s why Cyclops and Beast came up with a plan similar to what Kitty Pryde and Wolverine did in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Scott and Hank sent their minds into their past selves to kill Doug before he could destroy the world and create the Age of Revelation. Unfortunately, X-Men No. 23 shows that the past isn't what Scott remembers, and he may have made things worse.
X-Men No. 23 creative team
- Writer: Jed Mackay
- Penciller: Tony Daniel
- Inker: Mark Morales
- Colorist: Fer Sifuentes
The first thing that Cyclops does is enact his plan to kill Doug Ramsey with Magik’s Soul Sword. Sadly, the plan involved the Beast from the future, but his mind didn’t make it to the past. Because of that, Scott was defeated and imprisoned.
After escaping the X-Men’s brig, Cyclops goes to Magneto to ask him to kill Doug with his powers. Magneto is offended and confused because he can’t control his mutant abilities or leave the chair he uses to get around. A bewildered Scott says that this is different from what he remembers and he understandably believes that something has changed. Before he could figure it out, Psylocke took him out and sent him back to the brig.
While confined, Scott has a conversation with Doug. He tells Revelation that the only way to stop him is to kill him, and the X-Men won’t do that. He hits the point home, saying: “You need to be lucky every time. I only need to get lucky once.” After hearing that, Doug, his wife (Bei the Blood Moon), and his best friend Warlock leave. While they’re walking through the snow, Doug says it’s his job to change the world whether the world wants to or not.
What now?
Time travel is one of the most unreliable methods used to fix something in comics. No matter how much a character knows about the past, one moment can change everything you thought you knew. Considering Scott has a time-traveling son (Cable) and a daughter from an alternate future (Rachel Summers), you’d assume he would remember that. Sadly, he was too blinded by rage to think about that. Now Age of Revelation's Cyclops may have set things in motion for Doug to become a villain.
The next era for the X-Men is called Shadows of Tomorrow. It’s named that because the mutants are now “armed with knowledge to prevent one of the darkest futures in Marvel Comics history.” Because of what they've learned, the mutants will reopen a school of sorts called Graymatter Lane to prepare future mutants for the dangers they will face. However, the lessons will take place in the mind space.
The stories of Greymatter Lane will primarily take place in X-Men United by writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Tiago Palma. Together, they will show the future of Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants. But, like always, not every character is expected to survive the experience.
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