WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Marauders #19 by Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Edgar Delgado and Cory Petit, on sale now.

At the start of the Krakoa era, the decision to bring Pyro back to life and include him as part of the Marauders was somewhat surprising. After all, for most of his career Pyro served alongside the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and tried to use violent means to end the oppression of mutants.

However, his time working in Kate Pryde's lineup of the Marauders has brought about a more positive change in the Australian mutant, which he himself admitted while helping in their latest adventure in Marauders #19. And it isn't the first time Pyro has broken good, beneath that gruff exterior there is someone who enjoys doing good work.

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Pyro was one of the first mutants brought back when the X-Men began experimenting with resurrection technology on Krakoa. Because of this, Pyro only recently commented on the fact that the X-Men were his enemies for so many years. With the Brotherhood now a part of the X-Men and nowhere else to go, Pyro decided to join Kate Pryde's reformed Marauders, helping mutants who were unable to get to Krakoa due to living in hostile territories. And over time, Pyro's more heroic attributes began to take precedence.

His most recent outing with the Marauders wasn't even to help mutants. The Marauders had been drawn into conflict with an anti-mutant organization that was attempting to demolish Madripoor's Lowtown to build high-rises. The Marauders were legally unable to do anything, but they came up with a plan to help anyway. Pyro and Iceman provided a distraction so Kate could bring in the help they needed. During the mission, Pyro mentioned that his time on the team was bringing out the best in him as a kind of restitution for his old ways.

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This is an interesting admission from him. Pyro's powers are incredibly destructive, but he always took pride in them. So while he may not be ashamed of his status as a mutant, he might be feeling regret for the way he used his gifts in the past. But if his time on the Marauders thus far is any indication, he's ready to make amends for his past crimes.

His first outing with the Marauders involved him helping to fend off Russian soldiers who were holding multiple mutants captive in the hopes of reconditioning to serve the Russian government. Pyro joined them not because there was any promise of a reward, but because it was the right thing to do. Although, getting to launch a fistful of Lockheed's dragon fire at armed soldiers was probably a motivator too.

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X-Men Pyro death Senator Kelly

But evidence of Pyro's heroism existed long before his resurrection. Prior to his death, Pyro had contracted the Legacy Virus, which would kill him over time. This knowledge at first drove Pyro to commit all kinds of criminal acts. First, he tried to go out in a blaze of glory by picking a fight with Daredevil that nearly got him killed. The next time he robbed a bank to fund a cure for his illness, but that endeavor failed as well.

In 2001's  Cable #87 by Robert Weinberg and Michael Ryan, when his former allies from the Brotherhood attempted to kill presidential candidate Robert Kelly, Pyro warned the X-Men of the attempt, knowing that Kelly was beginning to change for the better. He believed that if Kelly could change, then maybe there was hope for a better tomorrow. But this was not enough, and in the resulting conflict, Pyro sacrificed his life to protect Kelly. His sacrifice convinced Kelly to change his stance on mutants, meaning that Pyro's change of heart also lead directly to Kelly's.

Pyro's death and resurrection are living proof that things can change. Enemies can become friends and people who once harbored hate can become a positive force in the world. Pyro may feel that he still needs to atone for all the things he's done, but he was already a hero before he came back.

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