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Marvel 1602 could offer some insight on how the conflict between mutant-kind and Merlyn could play out.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Excalibur #24, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Through the founding of the Krakoa nation, the X-Men have ushered in a golden age for all of mutant-kind. As citizens of an independent and influential nation, many mutants are enjoying a sense of pride, community, and personal freedom that had previously been denied to them their entire lives. Free from the restrictions it had been kept under for so long, mutant-kind has stepped out of the shadow of humanity and established itself as a major force within the Marvel universe by establishing diplomatic ties with other worlds and realms.
Unfortunately, Krakoa’s sudden surge in power has only increased the terror and hatred that many already felt towards mutants, and nowhere has that fact been more apparent than in Otherworld, the fantastical realm that serves as the nexus of the entire multiverse. Preying off of the tensions that have been slowly building up between Krakoa and Otherworld throughout the recent issues of Tini Howard’s Excalibur series, the ancient wizard Merlyn has united several of the realm’s most powerful kingdoms and declared war against all of mutant-kind, whom he has branded as “witchbreed”. This derogatory moniker first appeared in Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 limited series, and it’s not the only similarity between the current Excalibur storyline and this little-known series.
Otherworld’s relationship with Krakoa began after Apocalypse used Krakoa’s unique Gateway Flowers to create a portal to Otherworld, earning the ire of the witch Morgan Le Fey and setting off a series of events that led to the Braddock Family becoming the rulers of Avalon, one of the many kingdoms that exist within Otherworld. Soon after this, the X of Swords crossover event saw many of the X-Men venturing into Otherworld to reunite the island of Krakoa with its “sibling” Arrako and thwart a demonic invasion led by Apocalypse’s long-lost wife and children. While the X-Men were able to win the favor of the Captain Britain Corps, their sudden appearance frightened many of Otherworld’s citizens, most of whom had never seen mutants before.
The arrival of beings powerful enough to conquer one of its proudest kingdoms disturbed many of Otherworld’s established rulers and institutions, and it did not take long for fear of the “witchbreed,” as mutants are known as in Otherworld, to spread across the realm. Merlyn, the ruler of the Holy Republic of Fae and the founder of the Captain Britain Corps, formed a particularly strong dislike for mutants and worked to turn the people of Otherworld against them by manipulating events to make the mutants look like war-mongers. Once he’d rallied enough support, Merlyn led an army to the gates of Avalon in Excalibur #24 (by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and VC’s Ariana Maher) and engaged Excalibur and the extended Braddock family that ultimately ends with Merlyn and his allies destroying the Krakoan gateway and vowing to end the mutant menace once and for all.
The fall of Avalon puts mutant-kind in an extremely dangerous situation that is eerily similar to the events that played out in Marvel 1602, a limited series authored by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Andy Kubert with colors by Richard Isanove. Set in an alternate version of the Elizabethan era populated by antiquated versions of iconic Marvel heroes and villains, Marvel 1602 showed what could happen to mutants living in a time and place haunted by superstition and bigotry. Under the command of the xenophobic King James the 1st, mutants were hunted down and burned at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition. To escape this brutal persecution the College for the Sons of Gentlefolk, Marvel 1602‘s version of the X-Men, fled to the American colonies to create a safe haven for all of mutant-kind. And if the similarities between these events weren’t clear enough, Marvel 1602 also refers to the mutants of its universe as witchbreed.
Through its similarities to the current events in Otherworld, Marvel 1602 could offer some insight on how the conflict between mutant-kind and Merlyn could play out. Previews of the upcoming Knights of X event heavily imply that Merlyn will hunt down Otherworld’s remaining mutants like the witchhunts presented in Marvel 1602. Unfortunately, while the mutants of Marvel 1602 were able to escape their fate by fleeing to a place their enemies couldn’t;t follow, Otherworld’s proximity to Krakoa makes it both possible and likely that Merlyn’s genocidal campaign will eventually make its way to Krakoa, meaning that the mutant nation will have to face a new version of one of humanity’s oldest evils.
Despite their recent successes, mutants have always been defined by their conflict with those who would oppress them. With the forces of Merlyn rallying at Krakoa’s borders, mutant-kind may be forced to once again fight for its right to exist in a world that fears it.
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