Warning: SPOILERS for House of X #5
Marvel's Apocalypse became the X-Men's final leader.
The latest House of X #5 is an even bigger turning point in the story--and no, not because the X-Men just returned from the dead. Charles Xavier has invited the world's most ruthless mutants to live among the rest of their nation of Krakoa. In Xavier's view, the island is home to any mutant, and he's willing to offer a second chance to anyone who is willing to embrace it. That offer is open to the likes of Exodus, Sinister, and even Apocalypse. But, disturbingly, Xavier has also welcomed the mutant race's most... troubling killers.
House of X #5 clearly shows two dangerous, predatory mutants numbered among Krakoa's villainous arrivals. The first is the ancient mutant Selene, a millennia-old mutant whose power is to drain the life from others in order to extend her own. The second is Emplate, who needs to suck the bone marrow from other mutants - turning them into his thralls - in order to get the energy he needs to stay on this plane of existence. Xavier has essentially invited these two to an all-you-can-eat buffet. What's more, for Selene and Emplate, their continued survival as living beings depends upon their taking advantage of the opportunity and snacking on some of Krakoa's other residents.
Although Apocalypse is trusted after all his centuries of evil, and it is why Xavier hasn't even excluded the likes of Emplate and Selene. Furthermore, there's been some speculation that anyone who steps foot on Krakoan soil is psychically manipulated by Xavier in order to ensure they align themselves with Krakoan society; that would explain Apocalypse's odd characterization in this very scene.
But whatever is really going on, the simple fact is that this cannot end well. Selene and Emplate aren't just your run-of-the-mill mutant villains, driven by ideology or personal bitterness. Their hunger can only be sated if they give in to their base instincts - and that means Xavier has put everybody on the island of Krakoa at risk.
House of X #5 is available now from your local comic book shop, or direct from Marvel Comics.
