"X-Men: Messiah Complex" (also known as "Messiah CompleX") is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

storyline published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

from October

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

to January

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, which ran through the various

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

books. The story is the climax of events that began with "

House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...

", which led to the decimation of mutants in the Marvel Universe, and the first chapter of a three-part saga, which continued in "

Messiah War "Messiah War" is a crossover storyline running through the issues of ''Cable'' and ''X-Force'' cover-dated May– July 2009 and a one-shot, ''X-Force/Cable: Messiah War'', published by Marvel Comics. Writer Craig Kyle described it as the follow-u ...

", released in 2009, and culminated in "

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...

", a crossover between all X-Men titles in early 2010.

Overview

The "Messiah Complex" storyline is the climax of events set into motion in "

" and defined the direction of the X-Men franchise for the next several years. The storyline's main plot involves the birth of the first child with the X-gene since Decimation, sparking a race between the

, the Marauders, the

Acolytes An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

, the Reavers, the Purifiers, and

Predator X ''Pliosaurus'' (meaning 'more lizard') is an extinct genus of thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages (Late Jurassic) of Europe and South America. Their diet would have included fish, cephalopods, and marine re ...

to see who will find the child first. The event also marked the return of X-Man

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

, who had been away from the X-Men teams for a while. "Messiah Complex" also involves

X-Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

and New X-Men, Sentinel Squad O*N*E*, and

Cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

Plot

A mutant activation is detected in Alaska and

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

and several

investigate, discovering bodies of Purifiers and Marauders. After discovering the source of the battle was for possession of a newborn baby, the group returns home and Cyclops seizes control of the X-Men from

Professor X Professor X (Charles Francis Xavier) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as the founder and sometimes leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writ ...

detects the newborn mutant, and devours the bodies of the dead Marauders present. Cyclops creates an "assault team" (consisting of

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

Colossus Colossus, Colossos, or the plural Colossi or Colossuses, may refer to: Statues * Any exceptionally large statue ** List of tallest statues ** :Colossal statues * ''Colossus of Barletta'', a bronze statue of an unidentified Roman emperor * ''Col ...

, and Nightcrawler) with the intent of locating the Marauders, who have a comatose Rogue captive. Cyclops sends X-Factor leader

Multiple Man James Arthur Madrox, also called the Multiple Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Len Wein, he first appeared in ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Giant-Size Fantastic F ...

and member

Layla Miller Layla Rose Miller, also known as Butterfly, is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. She first appeared in ''House of M'' #4 (Sept 2005), and was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel. Peter David has developed th ...

to visit

Forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

, and has member

Rictor Rapamycin-insensitive companion of mammalian target of rapamycin (RICTOR) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''RICTOR'' gene. RICTOR and mTOR are components of a protein complex that integrates nutrient- and growth factor-derived si ...

(who lost his powers on M-Day) pretend to join the Purifiers to see if they have the baby. Forge tells Madrox that

Scarlet Witch Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 1964) ...

's hex spell flatlined mutants across all possible futures until the baby's birth, which spawned two futures with mutants present. Madrox sends a duplicate to each timeline, and Layla Miller runs in the portal with the second dupe as Madrox falls comatose and Forge takes care of his body. Rictor joins the Purifiers and discovers they are working with

Lady Deathstrike Lady Deathstrike (Yuriko Oyama), occasionally spelled "Deathstryke", is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is a foe of the X-Men, especially Wolverine (character), Wolverine. Her father Lord Dark Win ...

and the Reavers, and that they do not have the baby, as a group of New X-Men attack the Purifiers base. In the fight, Hellion is wounded and in an escape,

Pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

accidentally scatter-teleports Rictor and her friends. The assault team track the Marauders to Alaska and attack them with Emma Frost's assistance, until Hellion's wounding leads to the assault team's defeat and Nightcrawler's injury. In New York, the

O*N*E* The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

Sentinels are infected by nano-Sentinels and turn on the X-Men, but they are defeated when Iceman returns with the scattered New X-Men. When the assault team returns and Wolverine tells Cyclops he learned

has the baby, Cyclops assumes his son used the nano-Sentinels to attack them for some reason, so he dispatches a new

X-Force X-Force is a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Conceived by writer/illustrator Rob Liefeld, the team first appeared in ''New Mutants#New Muta ...

(consisting of Wolverine, Hepzibah,

Warpath Warpath may refer to: *Great Indian Warpath, a network of trails in eastern North America used by Native Americans Games * ''Warpath'' (video game), a 2006 FPS video game by Digital Extremes for the PC and Xbox *'' Warpath: Jurassic Park'', a 199 ...

Caliban Caliban ( ), son of the witch Sycorax, is an important character in William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. His character is one of the few Shakespearean figures to take on a life of its own "outside" Shakespeare's own work: as Russell ...

X-23 Laura Kinney (born X-23; codename Wolverine) is a fictional superhero appearing in media published by Marvel Entertainment, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character was created by writer Craig Kyle for the '' X-Men: Evolution' ...

, and Wolfsbane) to locate him. Cable wanders Alaska with the baby while Predator X continues killing mutants, making his way to the X-Mansion when it loses the baby's scent. In the future, Layla and Madrox discover there are mutant concentration camps, a result of mutant activity, and they get themselves locked in one and permanently marked with "M" DNA face tattoos. In present day, X-Force finds Cable, who is battling Deathstrike and the Reavers. X-23 defeats Deathstrike at the cost of Caliban's life, and Cable steals X-Force's Blackbird, making a path for Texas, where he goes to Forge's headquarters to use a time traveling device. Cable is hit from behind by X-Man

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, who in the future, Madrox and Layla discover would kill the mutant "messiah" since she killed a million people and lead to the camps' creation. Bishop is ambushed by the Marauders, who take the baby to Muir Island under

Gambit A gambit (from Italian , the act of tripping someone with the leg to make them fall) is a chess opening in which a player sacrifices with the aim of achieving a subsequent advantage. The word ''gambit'' is also sometimes used to describe simi ...

's leadership. Once on

Muir Island The comic book stories published by Marvel Comics since the 1940s have featured several noteworthy concepts besides its fictional characters, such as unique places and artifacts. There follows a list of those features. Places Certain places fe ...

, it is revealed that

Mister Sinister Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont, the character was first mentioned as the employer behind the team of assassins known as the Maraud ...

, who has the baby, is actually Mystique and that Mister Sinister is dead by her forcing him to touch Rogue. Cerebro is repaired and used to track Gambit as Cyclops rescues X-Force, Bishop and Madrox. Bishop says Cable knocked Forge out and ran away after both him and Cable lost the baby. Cyclops sends Bishop and X-Force ahead to Muir Island in a faster O*N*E* ship. After they leave, Madrox reawakens after Layla uses a stolen grenade to kill his duplicate and send future Madrox's memories to Madrox Prime, now with the duplicate's M scar. He tells the group about Bishop. Predator X arrives at the

X-Mansion The X-Mansion or Xavier Institute is the common name for a mansion and research institute appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The mansion is depicted as the private estate of Charles Francis Xavier, a character in X-Me ...

and fights the New X-Men until Pixie teleports them to Muir Island, and Cable uses his stolen Blackbird to get Xavier to help him, explaining that in his future, the baby was a Messiah who united all of man and mutantkind. Mystique explains to Gambit that

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

, her former lover, had told her about the baby and that it would heal Rogue. She holds the baby to Rogue's lips, and Gambit removes her hand, saying Rogue would not want an innocent to die for her, as the Marauders and

battle X-Force and the newly arrived X-Men. Professor X interrupts Gambit, coming in with Cable, and when Cable gets the baby again, Bishop walks in along with Predator X, and the mutant killer bites Bishop's arm off, and is killed by Wolverine. Rogue awakens and disowns Mystique as punishment for risking a baby's life, then touches her before realizing that the baby wiped her memories away. She leaves Gambit, along with her and Mystique's memories. Cyclops demands that Cable hand over the child, and Professor X, in a sudden change, tells Cable to do it, so that Scott can see what everyone has been fighting for. Cyclops remembers what it was like to lose Nathan, and tells Cable to take the baby and give it the chance Cyclops never gave his own son. An infuriated Bishop takes Scalphunter's gun and shoots as Cable timeslides to the future, missing him and hitting Professor X. In retaliation, Cyclops takes out Bishop with a powerful optic blast. After Professor X is shot, his body is teleported away as Cyclops declares there are no X-Men. Afterwards, Cable appears in the future, with the baby in his arms. The story ends as Cable thinks to himself, "here comes the hard part".

Publication

October 2007 * Chapter 1: ''X-Men: Messiah Complex'' one-shot. November 2007 * Chapter 2: ''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X ...

'' #492 * Chapter 3: ''

'' #25 * Chapter 4: '' New X-Men'' #44 * Chapter 5: ''

'' #205 December 2007 * Chapter 6: ''Uncanny X-Men'' #493 * Chapter 7: ''X-Factor'' #26 * Chapter 8: ''New X-Men'' #45 * Chapter 9: ''X-Men'' #206 January 2008 * Chapter 10: ''Uncanny X-Men'' #494 * Chapter 11: ''X-Factor'' #27 * Chapter 12: ''New X-Men'' #46 * Chapter 13: ''X-Men'' #207

Additional books

* X-Men: Messiah Complex - Mutant Files #1

Collected editions

The storyline has been collected into a single

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

: * ''X-Men: Messiah Complex'' (collects "X-Men: Messiah CompleX", ''Uncanny X-Men'' #492-494, ''X-Men'' #205-207, ''New X-Men'' #44-46, ''X-Factor'' #25-27, and "X-Men: Messiah CompleX - Mutant Files", 352 pages, Marvel Comics, hardcover, April 2008, , softcover, November 2008, )

Aftermath and consequences

Since Mystique risked the baby's life by touching it to Rogue, Rogue disowned her foster mother, but only after touching her before realizing the baby's touch cleansed her of her gained memories from a lifetime of touching. Rogue left, wanting time alone. Divided We Stand: The " Divided We Stand" event followed on from the end of ''Messiah Complex'', with the X-Men no longer being a team, and encompassed the ''Uncanny X-Men'', ''X-Factor'', ''X-Force'', ''Young X-Men'', ''X-Men: Legacy'', ''Wolverine'', and ''

'' ongoing series."Marvel Comics Solicitations for April, 2008 - UPDATED!"
Comic Book Resources. January 23, 2008 Uncanny X-Men: A separate ''Divided We Stand'' storyline ran in ''Uncanny X-Men'' from #495 to 500 and ended with the X-Men reforming in San Francisco and pursuing "Cyclops’ vision of what the X-Men should do". Cable: At the Baltimore Comic-Con on September 10, 2007, Marvel Comics announced that a new solo ''

'' ongoing series (replacing ''

Cable & Deadpool ''Cable & Deadpool'' was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics beginning in 2004. The title characters, Cable and Deadpool, shared the focus of the book. The series was launched following the cancellation of the characters' previous ong ...

''), with

Duane Swierczynski Duane Louis Swierczynski (born February 22, 1972) is an American crime writer known for his work in non-fiction books, novels and comic books. Early life Duane Swierczynski was born and raised in Frankford, a neighborhood in lower Northeast Phi ...

as the writer and

Ariel Olivetti Ariel Olivetti (born November 15, 1967) is an Argentina, Argentine comic book penciller best known for his work on United States, American comic book titles such as ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'', ''X-Man'', ''Space Ghost'' and ' ...

as the artist, would be launched after the conclusion of ''Messiah Complex'' in March 2008. This series followed the attempts of Cable to protect the Messiah child from the recovered Bishop's time traveling wrath. X-Men (vol. 2): ''X-Men'' (vol. 2) was renamed ''X-Men: Legacy'' as of issue #208 in February

. Mike Carey remained as writer with various artists contributing to the art, including CompleX artist

Billy Tan Billy Tan Mung Khoy, commonly known as Billy Tan, is a Malaysian comic book artist. Early life Billy Tan was born in Malaysia and moved to the United States when he was 18, in 1989 to study business at the University of Kentucky. He began workin ...

and

Scot Eaton Scot Eaton is a comic book artist, best known for his work on '' Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'', ''Thor'', '' X-Men: Endangered Species'', and '' X-Men: Messiah Complex''. Career In the early 1990s Eaton started penciling ''Doctor Fate'' an ...

, among others, with David Finch as the cover artist. The book turned to a focus on Professor Xavier, Rogue and Gambit, and featured plans regarding Magneto, as well as a female character from the ''New X-Men'' title. X-Force: A new ''

'' series was launched in February

with

Craig Kyle Craig Paul Kyle (born November 3, 1971) is an American writer for Marvel Comics. He is best known for his creation of the character X-23. He has also produced several of Marvel's direct-to-DVD animated films and worked on several aspects of the ...

and

Christopher Yost Christopher Lee Yost (born February 21, 1973) is an American film, television, animation, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe with '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) and '' Thor: Ragnarok'' ( ...

as the writers and

Clayton Crain Clayton Crain is an American comic book artist known for his digital painted work on Marvel Comics books such as ''Ghost Rider'', ''X-Force'', and '' Carnage'', and also on the Valiant Comics series ''Rai''. Crain is also known for his work with ...

as the artist. The team consists of the X-Force team introduced in "CompleX", minus the ones that died and the ones that suffered injuries. X-Factor saw

remain trapped in the future. Additionally, two of Madrox's duplicates were sent into future alternate realities. One duplicate traveled into the future with Miller and found himself in Bishop's future. The other duplicate returned as an X-Factor character with the ability to possess others using techno-organic abilities named

Cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

. New X-Men (formerly New X-Men: Academy X): A new series, titled ''

Young X-Men ''Young X-Men'' was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It lasted for 12 issues, from April 2008 through March 2009. The series was written by Marc Guggenheim. Plot summary Final Genesis (Issues 1–5) Blindfold has a vision of a t ...

'', debuted in April

with

Marc Guggenheim Marc Guggenheim (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), ''Arrow'' (2012– 2020), and ''Lege ...

as the writer and

Yanick Paquette Yanick Paquette is a Canadian comic book artist. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps Comics, Topps, Marvel Comics, Marvel, and DC Comics and since 1994. Career In 1996 Paquette drew two miniseries adapted from the TV series ''Space: Above ...

as the artist and will replace the '' New X-Men'' series, which was cancelled with issue #46 in January 2008. The team consisted of

Dust Dust is made of fine particles of solid matter. On Earth, it generally consists of particles in the atmosphere that come from various sources such as soil lifted by wind (an aeolian process), volcanic eruptions, and pollution. Dust in homes ...

Rockslide A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through compacted rock and material collapses ''en masse'' and not in individual blocks. Note that a rockslide is similar to an avalanc ...

Blindfold A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the human eye, eyes to disable the wearer's visual perception, sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a ...

, Wolf Cub, and

Anole Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles () and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfami ...

(from the cancelled ''New X-Men'' series), as well as new members

Ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

and

Graymalkin Graymalkin is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a member of the Young X-Men and is named after the address of the Xavier Institute. His super-human strength varies on how much light he is ...

Sequels

", a seven-issue crossover between ''Cable'' (vol. 2) and ''

'' (vol. 3) which writer

describes as being the follow-up to Messiah Complex and "the middle chapter of what I think will be a major three-part saga, which will continue to define and redefine the X-Universe moving forward".Richards, Dave (December 12, 2008)
"Kyle/Yost/Choi Talk 'Messiah War'"
. Comic Book Resources. " X-Men: Second Coming", was the final part of the trilogy that began with "Messiah Complex" and "Messiah War", intended as a conclusion to Cable's efforts to save Hope from Bishop, who has hunted the so-called Mutant Messiah since her birth.

References

External links

* *Furey, Emmett (September 26, 2007)
"X-Writers talk 'Messiah CompleX'
Comic Book Resources. *Tramountanas, George A. (October 4, 2007)
"X-POSITION Week 19: Mike Carey"
Comic Book Resources. {{Ed Brubaker Comics by Mike Carey (writer) Comics by Ed Brubaker