A classic X-Men villain will join the cast of Marauders for the team's next voyage.
In March, Marvel Comics will relaunch Marauders with a new creative team, welcoming aboard writer Steve Orlando and artist Eleonora Carlini. The series will see Kate Pryde and her team set sail for uncharted waters as the X-Men enter the "Destiny of X" status quo. Now, Marvel has revealed that the fate of the Hellfire Trading Co. lies in the hands of longtime X-Men antagonist Cassandra Nova as the Marauders search for answers about a mystery two billion years in the making.
MARAUDERS #1
- Written by STEVE ORLANDO
- Art by ELEONORA CARLINI
- Variant Cover and teaser by ELEONORA CARLINI
- On Sale 3/30
Cassandra Nova first appeared in New X-Men #114 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Tim Townsend, Brian Haberlin and Comicraft. Like her brother, Charles Xavier, Nova was born with tremendous telepathic abilities. However, after Charles tried to kill her in the womb, Nova developed sociopathic tendencies and became one of the X-Men's greatest foes. Her most notorious crime came when she killed 16 million mutants on the island nation of Genosha. She was last defeated by Jean Grey, who reprogrammed a Sentinite inside Nova's mind to allow her to feel empathy.
Still, fans shouldn't expect the lifelong villain to shed her murderous ways. Orlando says Nova may be just as malicious as ever when she appears in Marauders. "How much has she changed since her last run-in with the X-Men? Pryde and the Marauders have no choice but to find out, since Cassandra's the only one who can lead them to mutantkind's earliest ancestors -- a mystery two billion years old. She's little bit Xavier, a little bit Catherine Trammel, and the Marauders' only hope for success."
Nova isn't the only new member of the Marauders crew. When Red Queen Kate Pryde and Red Bishop next leave Hellfire Bay, Aurora, Psylocke, Daken, Somnus and X-Men fan vote loser Tempo will be joining them. Together, the team will seek out endangered mutants and bring them back to the shores of Krakoa. Their first mission will play out in January's Marauders Annual #1, which sees them cross paths with X-Men 2099's Brimstone Love, whose arrival raises questions about the scale of the team's mission.
Marauders is just one of many titles experiencing a shakeup during "Destiny of X." The branding follows in the wake of X Lives of Wolverine/X Deaths of Wolverine and sees Marvel's mutants enter the Second Krakoan Age of X-Men, creating an ideal jumping-on point for new readers. In total, there will be nine titles featured in the lineup of books, including Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck and X-Force by Benjamin Percy and Robert Gill.
Source: Marvel