Marvel's Ghost Rider is often seen as a nigh-unkillable, cosmically powerful hero, but in Age of X: Universe the underappreciated mutant Chamber is able to slaughter him in one hit, proving how the X-Men underutilize one of their most powerful players.
Age of X was a reality warp event from 2011 that occurred at the hands of Legion, son of Professor X, who attempted to reshape reality to make himself a hero. Age of X impacted the entire Earth, and made it so that the mutants were even more hated and feared than in the normal Earth-616 timeline, exacerbated by Jean Grey's manifestation into the Phoenix slaughtering over 600,000 people in Albany, NY. Chamber is seen as an escaped prisoner in Age of X: Universe #1 - written by Si Spurrier with art by Khoi Pham and Tom Palmer - who is fighting against the "Avengers," an evil group of superbeings led by a mutant-hunting Captain America. After the mutant Marrow attempts to knock out Sue Storm, she is captured by Johnny Blaze, the Ghost Rider, who attempts to use the Penance Stare on her. In response, Chamber uses his psionic blast to obliterate Johnny, killing him instantly.
X-Men Is Wasting Chamber's Omega-Level Potential
Jonothan "Jono" Starsmore - who goes by Chamber after ing the X-Men - was introduced in 1994s Generation X #1 as a member of Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy's new class of students being taught at the Massachusets Academy. Chamber's ability manifested as a powerful psionic blast that destroyed his chest and his lower jaw, leaving him as an energy being housed inside what amounts to a biological "shell," using telepathic communication to speak directly into people's minds. While Jono has always been established to be a powerful mutant - with mutant secret agent Pete Wisdom going so far as to say that Chamber has Omega-level potential - he is still an underrated powerhouse, who has not been utilized anywhere near his potential during the last few years of the Krakoan Era.
Jono Starsmore Is Marvel's Most Underrated Mutant
In contrast, the Ghost Rider, also known as the Spirit of Vengeance, is a human that is imbued with primordial hellfire energies, often associated with the terrible demon Zarathos, and Ghost Riders are known to be near invulnerable to physical attacks, with the use of an incredible regeneration factor. Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze has defeated incredible beings before like Doctor Strange, with Reed Richards theorizing he could overpower the Hulk. Yet, Chamber's impressive psionic power, comparable to a constant state of nuclear fission, was able to cancel out Johnny Blaze's powerful hellfire and kill the supernatural being - something that very few characters in Marvel Comics have accomplished in any reality.
It's vital to note that Age of X's reality warp did not change any mutant characters' abilities or power levels - just their history - meaning that Chamber in the main Earth-616 timeline is also capable of taking down a Ghost Rider. This confirms the beloved '90s mutant is woefully underappreciated and misused in modern X-Men comics - he belongs on the front lines of the X-Men's A-list, not wasting his potential in the background.
The supernatural entity known as the Ghost Rider is infamously difficult to defeat - let alone kill - and yet the underrated X-Men hero Chamber was able to kill Johnny Blaze without breaking a sweat, showing how Jono Starsmore should be better utilized in Marvel's mutant-focused stories.
