Marauders’ New Crew Includes Charles Xavier’s Evil Twin Sister
Xavier’s evil twin sister Cassandra Nova will be joining Kate Pryde’s Marauders team to help them solve a mutant mystery… but can she be trusted?
The X-Men’s most murderous villain of all time, Professor X’s twin sister Cassandra Nova, is joining the nation of Krakoa as a member of Kate Pryde’s Marauders team. Pryde’s team of swashbuckling mutant-saving Marauders has been supporting the nation of Krakoa since its inception, but with the recent X-Men event Inferno shaking up the entire mutant world, the Marauders team is going to experience a huge change during the Destiny of X relaunch, including the reintroduction of the truly terrifying Cassandra Nova in Marauders #1 out in March 2022.
It was recently announced by Marvel that Kate Pryde will be reforming her Marauders team with new members in the upcoming Marauders Annual #1, with the core team now being made up of Pryde, Bishop, Aurora, Tempo, Daken, Pyslocke, and one of the newest X-Men, Somnus. The new direction for the popular series is being orchestrated by writer Steve Orlando (taking over from Gerry Duggan) and artist Eleonara Carlini and the latest reveal about Nova’s inclusion in the series was only just announced by Marvel Comics. Cassandra Nova is known for being the psychic-energy twin sister of Charles Xavier whom he tried to kill in the womb, sensing the evil darkness within her. After gestating in a sewer drain, Nova grew up with sociopathic tendencies and an intense hatred for Xavier.
It is pretty shocking to imagine Cassandra Nova entering into Krakoan society seeing as she is most famous for being the mastermind behind the single greatest tragedy in mutant history, making an army of Sentinels destroy the mutant haven island of Genosha, slaughtering 16.5 million mutants in one fell genocidal swoop. Of course with Krakoa being “open to all mutants,” and the Quiet Council housing several major X-Men villains, it isn’t too surprising to see Nova’s return. Marvel‘s press release about the new direction for the Marauders states that, “Now the Marauders need her help to untangle a mystery rooted in the earliest days of mutantkind. Do they dare trust her?” That must be the question on everyone’s minds, seeing as Nova is single handedly the most manipulative and self-centered character in all of the X-Men.
The architect of Kate Pryde’s new Marauders team Steve Orlando had this to say about Nova’s reintroduction to the main Earth-616 continuity:
“Cassandra Nova Xavier is back, with the same malicious mind and murderous hands as ever!” Orlando said. “But 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 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.”
Orlando’s comparison of Cassandra to Catherine Trammel from the classic thriller Basic Instinct is interesting seeing as Catherine is an incredibly charismatic and devious serial killer in the film, acting as the main antagonist. This is likely an allusion to Nova’s role as a shady and enigmatic villain. Additionally while no more details have been revealed about this “two billion old mutant mystery,” one has to wonder if it will involve the mutant Apocalypse, a recently reformed villain who is often claimed to be the world’s “first mutant,” and who recently sacrificed himself for the future of Krakoa.
Orlando’s bold relaunch of Kate Pryde and her Marauders team will be built out of the end of Inferno and X-Deaths/X-Lives of Wolverine, leading into Destiny of X the Second Age of Krakoa. In the new team’s first adventure taking place in Marauders Annual #1 the team has to save Wolverine’s son Daken from the clutches of the Marvel 2099 villain Brimstone Love, before Cassandra Nova apparently joins their crew as the “last member” of the Marauders. In a teaser on the last page of Marauders‘ last issue Nova is quoted as saying, “I’m here to ruthlessly defend our kind. I’ve grown so bored of bloodless hands,” which is an incredibly haunting and scary premonition all on its own.
Cassandra is a truly brutal and powerful character, almost always proving that her telepathy surpasses that of her twin brother Charles, so the fact that she is entering into Krakoan society as a “teammate” will surely make for some vicious confrontations and intense manipulation. Make sure to check out the X-Men’s new Marauders team in Marauders Annual #1 (on sale January 13th, 2022) and see Cassandra Nova join the mutant buccaneers in Marauders #1 out March 30th 2022.
Source: Marvel
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