After years of being on the defensive from all manner of threats, whether they’ve been human, inhuman, or other mutants, the X-Men are finally taking the initiative in the first chapter of Marvel’s Inhumans vs X-Men event. As the threat of extinction is now imminent, a coalition of mutants have decided to strike first against the dominant Inhuman court.
After months of unsuccessfully looking for a cure to the Terigen Mist, Beast returns to the X-Men with the news that the Mist will encompass the whole Earth, killing all mutants. Expecting something like this to happen, Emma Frost recruited Storm and Magneto early-on to devise an attack plan against the Inhumans, allowing them to destroy the Terrigen Mist once and for all.
Storm
The big surprise is how every mutant leader, whether or not they’ve been mortal enemies in the past, put aside their differences to unite, rather aggressively, against the Inhumans. It’s a bold move, and honestly very refreshing to see after witnessing the X-Men struggle for so long.
Although it’s only the first issue, the mutants enlist members like Jean Grey and Dazzler to pull off a thrilling, Ocean’s Eleven-esque surprise attack that incapacitates key members of the Inhuman chain-of-command like Karnak and Black Bolt, two of the biggest threats to the mutants.
While it feels a little out-of-character to see some members of the mutants take the warpath, the desperation in their fight for survival is very palpable, and dare we even say it? Justifiable.
Likewise, this might be the first time the Inhumans side feels fully fleshed out. While it’s hard to empathize with their mission to let the Mist spread as far across the globe as possible, the story has fully embraced and honed the similarities the Inhumans share with, say, Greek Gods, and to see the Inhuman royal family hold court is frankly their coolest aspect.
Of course, knowing that this is just the first issue in a planned event series, the X-Men have yet to win. However, if the last page of the issue is anything to go by, the Inhumans vs X-Men event will be sure to be the war Marvel has been promising for months.
