The below contains spoilers for Empyre: X-Men #4
The Worst X-Man is back, twice-over. The mutant Bailey Hoskins, a.k.a. X-Ceptional a.k.a., “the worst X-Man” appears now to be officially part of Earth-616. Just as he saved the day during his first appearance in Earth-TRN656 (well... sort of), he saves the day in Empyre X-Men #4 (well... sort of).
Bailey Hoskins was originally the central character of a five-part limited series by Max Bemis and Michael Walsh called X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever. The teenage Bailey had mutant ability to explode, but not the ability to heal from said explosions; in other words, if he uses his power, he dies. A long series of missteps, mistakes, tragedies, and rejections lead to Bailey sacrificing himself to stop an evil mutant dictator. To honor his sacrifice, the reality-warping mutant Miranda to transform the entire Earth-TRN656 continuity into a pitch letter on the desk of X-Man editor Jordan B. White. White declares that it's not the right time for such a story, but Bailey may appear in the main continuity one day.
Writer Jonathan Hickman appears to have fulfilled that promise. Apparently, Hoskins has been in Earth-616 all along; in keeping with the character's tragicomic nature, it seems he died in the Sentinel attack on Genosha. When Scarlet Witch zombified the mutant population of Genosha during X-Men Empyre, a zombie named Explodey Boy is among them. There are benefits to being dead; Explodey Boy can now use his mutant power multiple times. However, since Professor X found a way to resurrect nearly any mutant in House of X, this means that a non-Zombified Explodey Boy is also alive on Krakoa. And he wants to have a long talk with his zombie self.
In the midst of a chaotic battlefield, living Explodey Boy reveals to zombie Explodey Boy that... he's happy. In the mutant paradise of Krakoa, he's been working on his relationship with his family. He's been practicing not being too mean when he cracks a joke. He even got to kiss a girl! He also reveals to his zombie self that the spell keeping the zombies animated will end soon, and offers to spend those last few moments “just hang[ing] out.” Zombie Explodey Boy is overjoyed to hear that they are doing well on Krakoa. He decides to do what Explodey Boy does best, and go out with a bang instead. Diving into the mouth of a zombified Coati plant monster, zombie Explodey Boy vaporizes himself, splattering the overwhelmed X-Men with the remains of their fallen foe.
While neither character is directly stated to be the Earth-616 version of Hoskins, it seems pretty clear that they are. Besides being both teenage boys, Earth TRN-656 Bailey Hoskins and Earth-616 Explodey Boy both share the same power. They both have a strong relationship with Beast. Finally, they both have a tendency for exuberance and a complete inability to read the room.
The conversation between the two Explodey Boys is a vindicating tribute to one of the most tragic and relatable characters in the Marvel multiverse. Bemis and Walsh conceived Bailey as thoroughly average: the least special of all the special people. Every reader of a comic book can relate to wanting to be a super-hero, but also realizing that the powers one gets in real life are far more mundane. However, as Beast said to Bailey long ago in an alternate dimension “[learning] to utilize one's weaknesses as tools [is] the very essence of X-Men-ism.” To find that a version of Bailey is happy in at least one universe and that happiness came by working on his relationship with others and himself (both literally and figuratively)... well, that is a type of heroism anyone can achieve.
