WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Major X #0 from Rob Liefeld, Adelso Corona, Cory Hamscher, Romulo Fajarado Jr., and VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now.
When Rob Liefeld debuted Major X, one thing that immediately caught the attention of fans was the katana wielded by the title character. Apart from his arsenal of guns and grenades, Major X brandishes a sword that harks back to the likes of Psylocke and Deadpool, increasing the comic's 1990s vibe.
But its origin remained a mystery, leaving readers to assume the son of Cable and Storm from an alternate future had simply diversified his weapons stash. In Issue 0, however, we learn this katana, the aptly named "Sword of X," is actually tied to Wolverine, directly.
This issue reprints Wolverine #154-155 from 2000, with a couple of bonus scenes included for context but also to frame the sword as something of dire importance. From the minds of Liefeld and Eric Stephenson, those issues dealt with Wolverine running from the Administrator's bounty, which Deadpool and other mercenaries tried to collect. After a brutal battle, they brought in Logan, and the Administrator experimented on his healing factor in an attempt to replicate it. This project, codenamed Watchtower, quickly ran into speed bumps due to the intervention of Geronimo Crowe, Shooter, Cargo and Hardwire.
Those four rebels wanted to bring down Watchtower, with Crowe even calling Administrator "father." They eventually set Logan free, and while the Administrator escaped, Wolverine vowed vengeance, even if it took his entire life. That's because he didn't want to see his regenerative abilities sold off for nefarious ends. That's where Major X #0 picks up, with a new crew appearing to pick up the baton in the quest to take down Watchtower.
Known as the X-Command in Major X's future, the squad -- Commander, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant and General -- inducts Alexander Summers into the ranks. Commander welcomes Alex as Major, and reveals they're on a mission to stop whatever remains of Watchtower and to find the mysterious "catalyst" that led to the creation of the X-Istence, the alternate plane of existence. That could mean a time-travel trip to discover what caused their world to tear apart, but we know all this is set before the Major X miniseries. Clearly, Liefeld is opening the door for the adventures of this unit, but either way, Alex is grateful to be given the chance to wield this weapon in this flashback.
Commander reveals the origin of Sword of X is tied to their past, and we see the two Wolverine issues play out, ending with him and Crowe wanting the Administrator's head. Commander raises the curtain even more by confessing at a Watchtower base in the future that they found Wolverine's adamantium frame, which hints the program did capture and kill Logan. The freedom fighters melted down the skeleton and forged the blade as a symbol of justice and as a reminder to resist oppression, which is now being passed to Major X.
As for X-Command itself, hints have been dropped this could be Crowe and his allies, even recruiting others along the way. However, only time will tell who are beneath the helmets. Wolverine's fate is also left vague, setting up more Liefeld stories from this dystopian future. With the Sword of X in hand, we expect Major X to play a big role in X-Command's journey, especially as he too is searching for the catalyst with an older version of his father.