WARNING: This article contains spoilers for X-Men Black: Magneto #1, specifically the backup storyline “Degeneration,” by Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Geraldo Borges, Rachelle Rosenberg and VC’s Cory Petit, out now.


The first issue of the five-part X-Men Black event arrived today, and like each issue to follow, this one-shot focuses in on a particular villain to the X-Men to establish their place in the world before the relaunch of Uncanny X-Men in November. This first issue focuses on perhaps the greatest enemy of the mutant superheroes, Magneto, but it's in the comic's backup story in which the biggest development if found -- shocking revelation about another prominent X-villain.

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Entitled “Degeneration,” this story (which will continue throughout subsequent issues of X-Men Black) centers around En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse, and his attempts at gaining immortality. You would think that a being who’s widely regarded as the "first mutant," a being born under the Pharaonic rule of Ancient Egypt, would already be immortal, but no. Through his narrative, Apocalypse tells us of his plans to create a body that will live forever, but in reaching for what some would consider impossible, En Sabah Nur succumbs to an accident that leaves him less than he formerly was.

First appearing in 1986’s X-Factor #5, Apocalypse fast became a deadly new villain for the X-Men, becoming the central focus of the universe-altering event Age of Apocalypse, which saw history rewritten when Professor X was killed in the past before he could form the X-Men, allowing Apocalypse to rule over the Earth. Born almost five thousand years ago, En Sabah Nur was rescued from death as a baby by a tribe of Sandstormers and raised to become the ruler of the Clan Akkaba and destined to take over the world.

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Despite having lived for so long, his body is not immortal. As Apocalypse tells us in X-Men Black, while his consciousness has survived for thousands of years, he has inhabited many bodies over this time, each one eventually succumbing to the ravages of age.

His original body was destroyed by gunshot to the head by a being called the Traveler, whose techno-organic blood mixed with that of the dead Apocalypse. It was this circumstance that allowed En Sabah Nur to be resurrected as an entirely new being, one capable of controlling the molecules throughout his body and living for a much longer period of time.

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This extended lifespan, mixed with his frequent coma-like hibernations, has allowed Apocalypse to live for thousands of years. One of the last times we saw En Sabah Nur was as a young clone named Evan Sabahnur, a version of Apocalypse who was briefly raised in the Jean Grey School and became a source of inspiration for those around him who believed in nurture over nature. The boy was prematurely aged thanks to events in the 2014 Axis event, and Evan (now looking a lot like Apocalypse) was last seen heading off to find his own destiny thanks to advice from Deadpool, of all people.

There are plenty of ways in which this Apocalypse could be returned to his former, evil self (there’s also a version of him from the future that was flung into a time vortex during Extraordinary X-Men), but what’s important now is that he’s back, and utilizing ancient Celestial technology to perfect a clone body that can see him through eternity. His efforts are not in vain, as he begins to impose his own consciousness onto a human test subject, lending it his own regenerative powers to withstand the assault.

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Something goes wrong in the process, however, and Apocalypse’s mind and body are effectively torn apart. At once, he finds his mind wandering to that of his birth before his being is fused, mixed and exploded along with this human form. After a bright, white, destructive light subsides, Apocalypse finds himself in a strange new land. Deciding that the explosion within the Celestial machine must have caused a dimensional rift that has thrown him into an unknown world, he also discovers that his own body has changed as well.

Not only does he discover that he can bleed, but after a fight against a resident of this twisted dimension, Apocalypse learns that his body is actively refusing physiological mutation. Needing to breathe air for the first time in centuries, he comes to a shocking truth: Apocalypse is no longer a mutant.

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This startling revelation concludes the first chapter of “Degeneration,” a storyline that will be picked up in the next issue of X-Men Black, but the implications if Apocalypse remains this way would be shocking. By attempting to gain the power of immortality, it would appear that En Sabah Nur has stepped farther away from it than ever before, becoming entirely mortal. How and if he recovers from this will be interesting indeed, and promises to lead into the opening arc of Uncanny X-Men this November.