WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Excalibur #1 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, VC's Cory Petit and Tom Muller, on sale now.
Marvel's new X-Men era has brought with it a lot of change not only for its mutants, but for the larger Marvel Universe. The X-Men have their own sovereign nation, they've joined the pharmaceutical business, and even developed their own mutant language. Things are looking up, and promise only to continue as the Dawn of X publishing initiative continues.
However, perhaps the biggest status-quo shift to come out of the House of X and Powers of X miniseries is the ability to resurrect dead mutants. Cyclops led a team of X-Men to the Orchis space station to destroy a Mother Mold robot in House of X #4, with disastrous results -- every member of the team was killed in the heat of battle. While fans are accustomed to seeing their favorite heroes killed and miraculously brought back to life down the line, it was still an emotional moment, in large part due to the artistic talents of Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia.
House of X #5 revealed all those tears were a bit premature with the introduction of The Five: Goldballs, Proteus, Elixir, Tempus and Hope Summers. These five X-Men can combine their powers to resurrect any deceased mutant, thereby making the X-Men essentially immortal. One of the most important players in the mutant resurrection machine is Fabio Medina, aka Goldballs. He's a recent addition to the X-Men, having debuted 2013, in Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo's Uncanny X-Men #1. Fabio has the mutant ability to produce golden balls from his body, which is about as useful as Jubilee's fireworks show.
To his credit, reboot architect Jonathan Hickman saw something in Goldballs and turned his mutant powers into an asset, retconning his "gold balls" into golden eggs that serve as the shell for the revived X-Men. After seeing the ceremony that was thrown on Krakoa once Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine and the rest of the previously-dead X-Men were reintroduced, and how The Five are treated as god-like figures, it's safe to say Goldballs' popularity is at an all-time high.
Now, Excalibur #1 takes this increased profile and raises the stakes even more by giving Goldballs a fitting new codename.
After packing up her belongings and moving to Krakoa, Betsy Braddock -- formerly Psylocke, but now the new Captain Britain -- catches up with Jubilee and her son Shogo for some drinks. However, before they can fill their glasses, Fabio taps Betsy on the shoulder to let her know she's needed at the Hatchery, which is where dead mutants are resurrected. Fabio reveals he now goes by Egg instead of Goldballs, which shows he's embracing his new role in the X-Men hierarchy and has come to terms with the truth regarding his powers.
The reason Egg needs Betsy at the Hatchery is because the newest mutant brought back to life is her Omega-level brother, Jamie Braddock. The scheming Braddock has made somewhat of a mess in the Hatchery, and Egg needs Betsy's help removing him from the area. Of course, Jamie would rather flaunt his mutant power to warp reality around him. Egg has to ultimately step between the siblings when Betsy gives Jamie a quick mental jab, with the reason being psychic interference can affect the fragile eggs used for resurrection.
Egg and The Five should play a major role in the X-Men's Dawn of X titles moving forward, and may even be candidates to star in a future team book. A comic or story arc can put a brighter spotlight on the characters, though Fabio used to have a supporting role in Miles Morales' Spider-Man series. But back then he was the X-Man with the goofy superhero name -- now he's Egg, the egg-producing mutant who is a key member of The Five.