Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men: Red #15!The ultimate Omega mutant's powers finally make sense, as X-Men shares more about the abilities of the villain currently laying waste to Mars: Genesis, wife of Apocalypse. A warrior mutant from Arakko, Genesis is currently the host of the demon god Annihilation, which is using her powers to lay waste to Mars and push Storm's army of freedom fighters to the edge of oblivion. However, until now, all fans knew was that Genesis has the ability to control plants - a surprisingly prosaic power for a mutant who has been described as the Omega of Omegas.
In Al Ewing, Yıldıray Çınar, Federico Blee, and Ariana Maher's X-Men: Red #15, fans get a look into Genesis' past, and a vital clue as to why she's so powerful. The issue shares the backstory of the Fisher King - a powerless mutant who grew up in the demonic prisons of Amenth. After a plan to strike out at Annihilation's demonic regime goes wrong, the Fisher King can't figure out how Genesis and her children found out his plans. After causing the death of his wife as a punishment, Genesis reveals that she used the Fisher King's own gut flora to spy on his group.
Genesis' Plant Powers Are WAY More Versatile Than X-Men Fans Guessed
Thousands of years ago, Genesis and Apocalypse ruled a mutant society which was beset by demons. The powerful mutants fought for their freedom, but eventually their nation was broken in two - stranding one half in the demonic realm of Amenth, and one half on Earth. While Apocalypse stayed on Earth to try and raise a powerful mutant army, Genesis was stranded in a world of demons, fighting to keep the forces of darkness from breaking through for as long as possible. Genesis later entered into a duel with the demons' god Annihilation, and ended up wearing the demonic crown in which the dark god lives, coming under its thrall. While Genesis was recently freed from the helm and had it transformed into a staff of victory, it's still controlling her, exerting hypnotic power both on Genesis and her fellow mutants. Under Annihilation's influence, Genesis is waging war on the mutant society currently based on Mars, with countless warriors falling before her forces.
What's notable about Genesis is how powerful recent X-Men comics have confirmed her to be. Genesis is so powerful that Apocalypse - one of the X-Men's most ferocious villains of all time - is considered the weak philosopher to her warrior general. She also managed to keep the endless armies of Amenth at bay for centuries, and even beat Annihilation's prior host in a one-on-one duel. Genesis has been described as the definitive Omega mutant, and has conquered many other Omegas in her long life. Her previous act before arriving on Earth was to kill the White Sword - an Omega mutant who commanded an army of 100 expert warriors he could resurrect from death at will. However, despite her accomplishments, it was hard to see what made Genesis so unbeatable - is attacking your enemies with vines really so devastating?
Genesis' Mutant Power Includes Total Control of Microflora
However, Genesis spying on the Fisher King via his own gut flora gives new meaning to her powers. In current X-Men lore, an Omega mutant isn't just powerful - they're defined as a mutant whose control in their area of influence couldn't be more absolute. Genesis doesn't just control plants - she controls them totally, and in every way it's possible to imagine. The human body relies on a wide variety of microflora to function, and Genesis' power opens up a variety of ways for her to hurt or even enhance her fellow mutants - it's likely she could shut down her enemies' vital functions at will, or enhance herself and her soldiers into mutant super-soldiers by fine-tuning their biology. It also seems that she can recover information from every plant - every blade of grass or patch of moss is her spy. Added to Annihilation's hypnotic powers, Genesis is starting to seem genuinely unbeatable, especially with an army at her command.
X-Men's Other Omega Mutants Can't Compete
Storm has an impossible mission in defeating Genesis, as the ultimate Omega mutant has spent millennia honing her abilities, exploring their limits, and training herself to wield them without equal. Hopefully, Storm's freedom fighters can find some way to free Genesis totally from Annihilation's influence, because X-Men lore is beginning to suggest that there may be no actual way to defeat Genesis in combat.
X-Men: Red #15 is available now from Marvel Comics.
