X-Men's Storm Fights Her Toughest Opponent Ever - Herself
A mysterious preview for X-Men Red #1 reveals Storm may be about to face her greatest opponent - herself. The X-Men's Ororo Munroe has a long and colorful history behind her. Storm began as a street thief in Cairo, which was where she first encountered Professor X - when she picked his pocket. This street urchin eventually became Queen of Wakanda, and for a time seemed to settle into a sort of "High Priestess" role on the mutant nation of Krakoa.
The mutant race has expanded into the stars, and Storm has been raised to even greater heights. Mutants have claimed the planet Mars as their home, terraforming it and placing Krakoa's twin living island Arakko there. With Mars now serving as the most important planet in the Solar System, Storm has been declared its regent. She is now the most important superhero of all, her every decision shaping the galaxy's understanding of humanity and mutantkind. But that doesn't mean she's unchallenged.
In April, writer Al Ewing and artist Stefano Caselli are launching a new X-Men Red book that will explore life on Arakko - with Storm as the major character. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Ewing reflected on Storm's past and how her secret opponent Abigail Brand - a traitor to the X-Men - will need to restrict her, to box her in. "I think it's worth remembering that while Storm has been a queen," Ewing reflected, "that's only part of what she can be. It's a card she knows how to play, but people who assume it's the full deck... are doing her a great disservice. I'd go as far as to say that 'queen' is actually a pretty small box to put somebody like Storm in – a street fighter with the power of a goddess, who's operated at every strata of society in communities all over the globe and off it – and Brand knows that if she can limit Storm to that role, she's won at least half of any battle between them." Curiously, Ewing's interview was accompanied by unlettered preview pages that suggested Brand will try to undermine Storm's self-confidence by facing her with her greatest opponent - her past self.
The preview is unlettered, keeping its secret, but it's reasonable to assume Storm is actually facing some sort of Arakki mutant who's taken on her past likeness and even mimicked her powerset. Recently liberated from another dimension, Arakko is home to millions of mutants who Storm has never encountered, some of whom could prove to be useful allies to Abigail Brand in her secret attempt to undermine the X-Men. Many of the Arakki are Omega level mutants, like Storm herself, possessing power on an incalculable level. And Marvel has already hinted the Omegas will be going to war on one another in X-Men Red.
The preview showcases two other Omegas who will be important to this story; Magneto and Vulcan. Magneto is leaving Krakoa's ruling Quiet Council, parting ways with Professor X, and heading to Arakko to pursue his own agenda. Meanwhile, Vulcan - the youngest brother of Cyclops, part of the complex and convoluted Summers family - is another rogue, under the influence of powerful extradimensional creatures. Fortunately, the X-Men Red solicit also hints Storm will have allies; Vulcan's brawling is interrupted by members of the Starjammers, the group of space pirates led by his father. There are clearly a lot of intriguing characters in this particular series.
Source: ComicBook.com