The following contains spoilers for Immortal X-Men #10, now on sale from Marvel Comics.

The X-Men have within their ranks the power to make or break entire worlds. Omega-Level Mutants are capable of terraforming entire planets or shattering the common perception of reality as a whole, and even less powered mutants can bring down some of the Marvel Universe's most powerful forces. One of them has even been using their abilities to more or less protect the world from nuclear armageddon for years, and they've been doing so with just a thought.

The X-Men's founder Charles Xavier has quietly been using his powers in a wild way, as revealed in Immortal X-Men #10 (by Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck, David Curiel, and VC's Clayton Cowles). It turns out Xavier has used his impressive psychic powers to influence all the world's leaders, single-handily preventing any of them from ever activating nukes and setting off a potentially ruinous nuclear war. While it runs counter to many of Xavier's personally held ethics, this pragmatic use of his powers may have been secretly saving the world for decades.

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Professor X Has Been Quietly Saving The World for Decades

Immortal X-Men 10 Xavier Sinister 2

Charles Xavier is one of Marvel's most powerful telepaths, with plenty of additional elements to his abilities. The founder of the X-Men remains a fundamental part of the mutant nation as a major leader, but his true potential has always needed to be kept in check. Otherwise, his sheer potential -- bolstered by the amplifying effects of Cerebro -- could allow him to change the world with relative ease. Throughout Immortal X-Men #10, Xavier reflects on the nature of his power and the X-Men's potential as a whole, noting that the entire concept of the X-Men was in part designed to contain powerful and potentially dangerous mutants. This extends to himself, as his abilities could easily allow him to slip a psychic trigger into the minds of untold peoples and simply kill the enemies of the mutant population if he so wished.

Luckily, Xavier's idealism keeps him from lashing out in such a vicious way. But it turns out there are still some major ways Xavier has affected the world at large -- and one in particular that may breach some serious ethical lines but may have been quietly saving the entire planet multiple times over the years. It turns out that as a precaution to protect mutants and humanity alike, Xavier started using his powers to place a psychic trigger in the minds of every world leader. Every person who could eventually gain access to any nation's nuclear arsenal have been targeted, and given a single unnoticed mental trigger. If they ever go to activate nukes and unleash them onto the world -- they can't. Their minds won't allow them to finish the process, and they would be incapable of completing this task.

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Professor X's Latest Ethical Breach Has Saved Countless Lives

Mister Sinister being dragged into the pit in Immortal X-Men

Xavier has effectively turned himself into a single-person nuclear deterrent, keeping any global conflict in the Marvel Universe from escalating into a nuclear one. It's a fascinating discovery, especially in light of Xavier's own spotty past with using his powers and position for the greater good of the mutant population -- albeit at the cost of his own morality and ethics. Given the number of massive threats that have always erupted across the Marvel Universe, it's honestly surprising nuclear weapons aren't considered a more common tactic against the various alien, supernatural, or technological threats have emerged over the years. But thanks to Xavier's influence, the world's leaders have been quietly prevented from ever engaging that strategy as a real plan -- likely keeping the planet from erupting into a conflict that could wipe out all life on the planet.

Without Xavier's help, the Earth of the core-Marvel Universe may have died years ago. But it doesn't make it any less intrusive and frightening that Xavier can simply do that -- and if anything, it makes the discovery at the end of Immortal X-Men #10 of his Mister Sinister-style corruption all the more worrisome. But from a pragmatic perspective, it's ultimately a good use of Xavier's power, applied in a relatively minor but very specific way. Instead of taking command of humanity, Xavier's idealism still shines through -- he doesn't control the world leaders completely or even influence their decisions. But like with the X-Men team being a natural deterrent and cage to contain and confront mutants, Xavier's decision serves as a silent protection against the true destructive potential of the world around him, and the latest example of his controlling nature overtaking his more noble intentions.