'Hellions' #1 Preview: Meet the X-Men's Suicide Squad with a roster full of the worst Krakoa has to offer
This week in mutant news, the X-Men are about to get their own team of former villains along the lines of Suicide Squad and the Thunderbolts. Except that while those teams were at least partly heroic, this one looks like it's going to be far deeper in the black than the gray side of morality.
That's just as well because mutants don't particularly seem to care for human concepts like morality anymore ever since the founding of Krakoa. But that said, 'Hellions' might just take things a step too far with a team comprised of some of the worst villains in mutant history, working under the direction of possibly the single most evil man to ever tussle with the X-Men.
Back when Jonathan Hickman relaunched the X-books in 2019, he completely upended the mutant status quo by setting up the first proper mutant nation and providing amnesty to all the villainous mutants who have plagued the X-Men over the years. Now in the new 'Hellions' series by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia, some of the worst of these villains are coming together in a team led by none other than mutantkind's most unpredictable mad scientist Mister Sinister.
“I can't believe I get a chance to play in the sandbox Jonathan Hickman and company have so brilliantly created,” Wells said in a release from Marvel. “For my money it's the most exciting game in town and I can't wait to let this merry band of psychopaths loose in it.”
Segovia chimed in adding, "I am HUGE fan of Zeb Wells' work. The moment I read his HELLIONS pitch, I was blown away. It's a new level of mutant stories and I was overjoyed and pumped to begin drawing it immediately. I can't wait for you guys to see the magic we're cooking up and I promise you'll enjoy the ride!"
The original Hellions were a team of young mutants led by then-villain Emma Frost and her Hellfire Club. That team served as rivals to the New Mutants but it looks like this group of Hellions are going to be much worse than any previous incarnation with Psylocke and Havok, Cyclops's brother, being the only even slightly heroic people on the squad. The only hope is that these Hellions may use their abilities in defense of mutantkind instead of against them, though we wouldn't put our money on it.
Here's the official solicitation for the upcoming #1: "BAD IS THE NEW GOOD! When Krakoa opened their doors to all mutants and forgave all past crimes, they might have known they'd have to accept some of their worst foes into the fold...but they didn't plan for what to do with them. Not to worry—Mister Sinister knows what to do with the troublemakers. Meet his new Hellions: Scalphunter, Wild Child, Empath, Nanny, Orphanmaker, Psylocke...and Havok?! Under Sinister's direction, they are sure to become productive members of mutant society. Writer ZEB WELLS (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, NEW MUTANTS) and artist STEPHEN SEGOVIA (WOLVERINE: MANIFEST DESTINY, SUPERIOR CARNAGE) bring you the team you're going to hate to love!"
'Hellions' #1 will arrive in stores on March 25.