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Apocalypse allowed the original X-Men of X-Factor to face Celestials, hoping that their power can buy the Earth time to save it from destruction.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Men Legends #4, by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, John Workman and Laura Martin, on sale now.
X-Men Legends continues to tell stories from the merry mutants’ classic era, keeping a foot in yesteryear as their current status quo broadens the franchise’s horizons. One such story involves the first major expansion of the X-Men’s team, X-Factor. Featuring the classic team of First Class X-Men, the Legends story is even written by one of the team’s foundational writers.
X-Men Legends #4 has Apocalypse vexing the team again, but his ambitions are actually nobler than they initially seem. Apocalypse allows X-Factor to face the Celestials, hoping that their power can buy the Earth time to save it from its destruction at their hands. Here’s how Apocalypse’s obsession with the survival of the fittest may actually be for the benefit of mutantkind.
Survival of the Fittest
The issue ends with Apocalypse and his minion Caliban recounting X-Factor’s most recent escape with Apocalypse’s ship. What seems like a defeat is actually all part of Apocalypse’s plans, however, as he reveals ambitions involving a cadre of cosmic Marvel villains.
Apocalypse notes that the ship now in X-Factor’s possession once belonged to the Celestials and that it’s now being called home. He recounts the Celestials’ aims of judging worlds before potentially destroying them if they are deemed unworthy of survival. Apocalypse hopes that, in meeting the powerful and resourceful X-Factor, the Celestials will see the power inherent in Earth’s mutants and dare not venture into such a world.
He had initially wanted to keep any collision with the Celestials centuries away, as he desired to first cull the mutants into the strongest species possible to guarantee their and Earth’s survival. As this issue’s story takes place before X-Factor #43, these events all lead into the “Judgment War” story arc. The issue also reveals, however, that Apocalypse’s actions in the past were actually far nobler than it originally appeared.
X-Factor: Judgment War
Taking place in X-Factor #43-50, “Judgment War” showed the X-Factor team on an alien world where they were all split into different classes based solely on physical appearance. These were the Chosens, Rejects, Beginagains and Dualers, with the Rejects being considered expendable and lowly due to their monstrous forms. Beast is thus placed into this caste, with the other mutants were in much higher groups. They were all eventually forced to combat each other in order to determine the fate of the world, as it was being judged for potential destruction by the Celestials. The classic story arc had X-Factor and the planet’s native inhabitants coming together to send the Celestials away, proving the world’s worthiness to exist.
This shows how, ultimately, Apocalypse was right to have X-Factor be taken by the ship to subsequently defend that alien world. Likewise, he’s not in the wrong to want the same thing for mutants and life on Earth, as the threat of the Celestials is definitely real. As misguided as his ambitions may sometimes be, Apocalypse’s survival of the fittest mentality would be the best defense against their cosmic power. By allowing Cameron Hodge to continue to antagonize mutants, they ultimately became a stronger, more steadfast species that could combat and conquer any threat sent their way.
Ironically, in recent years, Apocalypse has continued this role on the side of Professor Xavier. He trains and hones the mutants of Krakoa into their best selves, forcing them to become as strong as possible in the event that their nation is threatened. Standing side by side with Xavier and Magneto may be a change of pace for Apocalypse, but his mentality is the same as ever.
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