The Exiles
The Mutant situation has been at a crossroads for the past couple of years after M-Day. As such nearly every mutant in the world has been de-powered and left as a human. Hank McCoy, Stephen Strange, Reed Richards and all of the world’s greatest minds have been unable to crack the mutant dilemma. When Beast reached out to a group of villains including Dr. Doom, the High Evolutionary and the Dark Beast only one person truly had a chance of saving them, Mister Sinister. Though he didn’t care for the plight of mutant-kind, an alternate version of himself was willing to risk everything to save the mutants, and would recruit the Exiles.
Nathaniel Essex, MINISTER SINISTER
Born in a world where only mutants exist as humanity took the evolutionary leap forward during the Middle Ages, Nathaniel Essex was not obsessed with the workings of Darwin and could not be twisted into his prime counterpart’s evil self. Becoming a religious figure to his earth due to his immortality, Essex would meet tragedy when Apocalypse, the precursor to mutants, would release the Legacy Virus. Spreading at an accelerated rate, the Virus would decimate the population and kill every mutant on Earth except for Essex, whose blood Apocalypse had drawn the Virus from. Attacking and mortally killing Apocalypse, he would be given a cryptic statement that “everything begins and ends with Prime.” Researching this line for years, Essex would create a device capable of looking into the other universes surrounding his own. Looking through the mutant history of every single one he would come to every universe, completely devoid of mutants now, except for 616, which had the only child born after the decimation began. Searching for the most influential mutants in the remaining universes not yet affected, Essex would form his Exiles.
Nathan Summers, CABLE
Born in the 616 Universe but notable for being displaced in time, Cable was put under the charge of Hope Summers, who Essex sought out. Refusing to let Hope go without him, Cable would be made the de-facto leader of the group, using his incredible tactical abilities to lead the team through the Multiverse in order to find a way to save Mutant-Kind. Knowing his universe is at the heart of mutant salvation, Cable is willing to die for the sake of the future.
HOPE SUMMERS
The baby that started the Messiah War, Hope has been raised by Cable as the future of mutant-kind. Raised by a soldier, Hope is a warrior at heart but gentle compared to her more desperate teammates. A mutant of Omega level, Hope is the Exile’s powerhouse, using her amazing telepathic and telekinetic abilities to obliterate full armies that come after the group. Essex believes that her fate lies in releasing the Phoenix for its true purpose.
RUBY SUMMERS
The daughter of Scott Summers and Emma Frost in one of 616’s potential futures, Ruby is another woman raised on war. The instigator of the Summers Rebellion alongside Layla Miller and Jamie Madrox, Ruby is chosen because of her physical power and used as a soldier alongside Cable and Logan. Decades older than she looks, Ruby is a skilled combatant and has tremendous power in the fact that her crystal form might be made from something more powerful than mere ruby. It is revealed that she is in fact the reincarnation of the M’Kraan crystal, and needs to combine with Hope to alter reality.
OLD MAN LOGAN
Hailing from one of the other possible futures of 616, Logan was in fact the cause for the X-Men’s demise and has harbored the guilt of their death for years. Still as viscous a fighter as his younger self, Logan is a willing participant if it means he can save the mutants of the Multiverse. He still has his package which Essex believes holds the Phoenix Egg and his now adult partner Banner Jr. who has takes the name of Hulk.
Bruce Banner Jr, THE HULK
The son of Bruce Banner who Logan took in as his son, Bruce Jr has grown into a man that resembles nothing of his father’s insane self. An extremely strong being, Bruce is headstrong and prone to anger but has the same moral stance as Logan. Despite being inbred, he inherited his father’s intelligence and is a genius. Accompanying Logan with the Exiles he has a severe crush on his teammate Ruby.
Max Eisenhardt, MAGNETO
In almost all universes that Essex viewed, it was not Charles Xavier who was the leader of mutant-kind, but Magneto. Seeing how Magneto had been turned into a villain in 616, Essex wished to possibly change the future if their mission was unsuccessful. Bringing twenty year old Max Eisenhardt into the team, Essex hoped to change his view on mutants in order to possibly prevent his daughter from starting this mess. Idealistic and hopeful for the future, the events that Max witnesses greatly shape how he will act in life.
Scott Summers, CYCLOPS
In Essex’s universe Scott Summers was his adopted son after Corsair died. Having seen his son die to the Legacy Virus, Nathaniel knew that he had to bring someone as noble as him onto the team. Looking into universes to see that almost all versions of him had either twisted or vilified Scott, Nathaniel settled on the Ultimate Universe, where Scott had felt no influence from him. Choosing this Scott seconds before he is killed, Nathaniel brings him in to reunite with a version of his dead son.
A twelve issue miniseries that would define the future of mutants in not only the main Marvel Universe but all of them, the Exiles would visit several Earths in an attempt to find a cure. Highlights would be Hope realizing her true potential, Max slaughtering a group of people in a Nazi-controlled world, Ruby and Hulk consummating their relationship, Cable meeting his destiny and the final fate of Mutants being decided.
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quietly
They're the best to ever work with the characters and can handle cosmic pathos on this scale.
Here's how you do an event Marvel.
