The following contains spoilers for X-Force #34, now on sale from Marvel Comics
The act of nation-building has been implicitly at the core of the Krakoa Era of X-Men comics, with the superhero team facing all sorts of challenges as they try to navigate the world of politics. But one of their oldest members might have just made things far harder for the heroes going forward.
As revealed in X-Force #34 (by Benjamin Percy, Chris Allen, GURU-eFX, and VC's Joe Caramgna), the increasingly dark Beast has subtly developed a secret off-planet prison/lab. This could quickly cause a lot of problems for the mutant nations if -- or more likely when -- the rest of the Marvel Universe finds out about it.
Beast Has Created The Ultimate X-Men Prison
One of the most radical series of changes to the classic X-Men team in the Krakoa Era has been the evolution of Beast from a friendly and heroic member of the team to a pragmatic figure. As commander of X-Force, Hank McCoy has embraced a more ruthless approach to protecting the mutant nation-building to his recent decision to deprive Wolverine of his humanity and use him as a weapon against potential enemies of Krakoa. X-Force #34 reveals that he's gone even further, taking a great number of financial resources away from the nation and redirecting them toward a secret secondary base.
While the Pit on Krakoa is reserved for mutants, Beast has constructed something known as the Prison Moon. Using discretionary funds to hide the base from the prying eyes of the Quiet Council, Beast has constructed it to serve as his secondary base of operations. Utilizing Maverick and his mercs as the staff for the base, the artificial moon serves Beast in two distinct ways. It primarily operates as a site for X-Force to hold enemies in Krakoa for undisclosed amounts of time. The prisoners can be human and aliens alike, allowing Beast to contain enemies of the mutants for extended periods. The secondary purpose is to serve as a lab for Beast's increasingly dark experimentation, which he overtly acknowledges the rest of Krakoa would likely decry.
How The X-Men's Prison Moon Could Doom The Mutant Nation
The Pit has already been established as a pretty frightening mutant prison, devised to contain the mutants who break the cardinal laws of Krakoa. But the Prison Moon might be far worse, as the Pit came with a certain amount of accountability -- and the exposure of that prison severely damaged Xavier's standing within the mutant nation's populace. By contrast, the Prison Moon doesn't come with the approval of the mutant government, but rather at the command of the island's most controversial member. Beast's recent actions have bristled against his teammates on X-Force and his nominal allies in the Quiet Council, but this new development might be a step too far, even for them.
The Prison Moon might be the easiest way to turn the entire Marvel Universe against the X-Men and the mutant nation at large. It would be the kind of development that would likely justify a lot of hatred and fear from the general populace. Other heroes would likely call out the X-Men over some justifiable concerns about their actions. The site would be likely viewed as a major diplomatic breach by the world governments. The alien races who the mutants have worked alongside might turn against them if they discover a host of lifeforms trapped by the mutants. It could even be the kind of development that splinters the mutant nation's alliances internally, leading to further strife in Krakoa. Beast's latest development is perhaps his most dangerous to the future -- and it might already be on the way to being exposed, as Solem's prison break could draw a lot of attention to the secret location, leading to a full-scale intergalactic incident.