For decades,Nightcrawlerhas been theX-Men’s sweet-natured teleporter, saving innocents and his teammates even when the odds seem impossible. However, as Marvel totally reboots its mutant heroes, Kurt Wagner goes from helpful hero to lethal gunman. But if you think Nightcrawler’s new use of his powers makes him dangerous,wait until you meet his son.
In a new trailer forUltimate Wolverine #1(included below), this new continuity’s Wolverine escapes captivity and goes up against some of his most beloved X-Men allies. This new version of Logan is showngoing up against Colossusand Mystique, as well as a deadly Nightcrawler, who rapidly teleports to pin Wolverine down with machine gun fire from countless directions.
Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, Bryan Valenza and Cory Petit’sUltimate Wolverineis the latest entry in Marvel’s newUltimate Universeline, depicting a timeline where Wolverine was captured and experimented on by the heinous Directorate X, overseen by main-timeline allies Colossus and Magik, as well as major villains including Mystique and Omega Red. However, he doesn’t intend to stay there for long.
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Nightcrawler Turns Evil as an Early Ultimate Wolverine Villain
And the Former Hero Isn’t Alone, As Other X-Men Team Members Go Dark
Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe takes place in a timeline where thevillainous Maker has altered the history fans know, warping an entire reality and installing himself as a secretive global tyrant. To beat the heroes who might have stopped him, the Maker killed them, corrupted them, or ensured they never gained powers. In the case of Wolverine,the Maker has turned Logan into his regime’s deadliest assassin, codenamed the Winter Soldier.
Condon and Cappuccio’s story inUltimate Universe: One Year Inrevealed that the Maker assigned a corrupted Colossus to rule the Eurasian Republic, capturing mutants andimprisoning them in Directorate X, where abuse and experimentation turns them into workers or weapons for the Maker. It seems this project is overseen by major X-Men characters, including Nightcrawler, who is depicted as a gun-toting priest. In this world, he seems to be on closer terms with his birth mother Mystique.
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Fans shouldn’t necessarily give up on Nightcrawler yet. While he’s on the side of some truly evil people, the Maker hides secrets within secrets, andKurt may not know the true nature of either Directorate X or the Eurasian Republic. His role as a priest suggests that in this world, his faith won out over his superhero career, hinting that he may have kept some form of his deep-seated morality. While he’s shown shooting at Wolverine, it’s not hard to imagine that Nightcrawler may have picked up Mystique’s rifle after she’s taken down by ‘the Winter Soldier.’
Alternatively, Nightcrawler could be a full collaborator with Colossus and the Maker. With heroes including the Hulk, Moon Knight, Sunfire andNick Fury working for the bad guysin this reality, it’s entirely possible the Maker found a way to bring Nightcrawler to the dark side. If so, that’s really bad news for Wolverine, as their brief fight in the trailer showcases how deadly Kurt’s powers are when he’s packing heat.However, no matter what weapon he wields, Nightcrawler’s powers aren’t as scary as those of his son.
Nightcrawler’s Son Salamander Has a Deadlier Version of His Powers
He Found a Way to Burn Enemies Alive Using Teleportation
Nightcrawerl’s son Salamander was introduced in 2000’sX-Men: Millennial Visions. This comic imagines the X-Men of 2035, with the mutant heroes locked in battle against an army of Morlocks. Fascinatingly,Salamander has a version of Nightcrawler’s powerto leap through the Brimstone Dimension.However, rather than using this dimension for teleportation, Salamander instead opens a gateway to the location and unleashes its"burning plasma"on his opponents.
It’s a smart, dark twist on Nightcrawler’s powers, especially since - apart from the stench of his teleportation clouds - fans are rarely prompted to remember that Kurt’s powers work by shifting into another dimension, then quickly re-emerging at a new location on Earth. Salamander is a darker take on the idea, showcasing a world where the X-Men have become a far crueler, less freedom-focused team. Indeed,X-Men: Millennial Visions' idea of Nightcrawler’s son has a lot in common with the new Ultimate Universe.
Nightcrawler is one of the most straight-forwardly heroic members of the X-Men, so it will be interesting for fans to see a world where he’s a trained killer. However, it’s also the case that when everyone else has failed him, the originalWolverinehas always been able to count on his best friend Kurt Wagner - a tradition that theUltimate Universeversion ofNightcrawlermight still be able to uphold, though clearly not in the characters' first meeting.
Ultimate Wolverineis coming January 15 from Marvel Comics,Ultimate Universe: One Year Inis available now.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
Wolverine
The human mutant Wolverine (a.k.a. Logan) was born James Howlett, blessed with a superhuman healing factor, senses, and physiology. Subjecting himself to experimentation to augment his skeleton and claws with adamantium, Logan is as deadly as he is reckless, impulsive, and short-tempered. Making him the X-Men’s wildest and deadliest member, and one of Marvel Comics' biggest stars. He’s played in Fox and Marvel’s movie franchises by Hugh Jackman.
Ultimate Marvel
Created in 2000, the Ultimate Marvel imprint redesigned the entire Marvel Comics universe with a new set of origin stories and relationships. The reboot reinterpreted Marvel continuity from scratch in an attempt to simplify and update the company’s 60-year history for modern audiences. With famous comic book writers such as Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Mark Millar at the helm, the Ultimate universe (named Earth-1610 within the Marvel multiverse) lasted 15 years and provided plenty of inspiration for the MCU.
