Now that A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 is out, many are wondering if all of their favorite heroes on Arakko are dead, which means X-Men: Red #5 will be a hugely popular read. Magneto, Storm, and many more heroes reside there after Earth’s mutants made Mars habitable. Since they’re alone, the Eternal Uranos took it upon himself to attack them first. Given the devastation he left behind, this X-Men: Red is an important read to understand Marvel’s summer event.
Add in the fact that Magneto and other Arakko mutants decided they would not be allowing resurrection protocols for their people, and death is very much the end for these characters. There is no way to bring them back, making this issue a tense one.
That’s aided by Uranos showing up nearly at the very start with absolutely no hesitation. He’s there to make a statement, and characters die. That includes a death that Uranos doesn’t take but a surprise double-crosser that’ll have readers talking.
Given that Uranos is related to Thanos, it’s hard not to connect the two and boy, Ewing and Stefano Caselli make you fear him far more than Thanos. He’s colder due to pure arrogance and a lack of theater. It’s as if Marvel decided Thanos was made too heroic and unthreatening over the years, so they brought in a character of similar strength with even less empathy. He comes off as haunting at times reading this issue, and he makes for a fantastic main villain to combat future issues of the event.
They should all just run!
Credit: Marvel
Since Uranos’s attack is a surprise, Ewing and Caselli show off the character’s might in one-on-one matches. That makes for interesting mini battles throughout the issue, with Magneto being the final fighter. Characters like Legion and Cable get a crack at him, each offering an impressive volley at the villain only to fall in tragic ways.
Outside of Uranos’s impressive ability to crush enemies without breaking a sweat, this issue also advances Magneto’s character development. It’s detailed early on the other main character of this series, Storm is off-world and thus will appear later. In only four issues, Magneto has found a new home and new people to defend. After this issue, he also appears to be evolving in a different way that should have fans of his running to comic shops to read the next issue. It’s a cool idea, and if my theory is right, it makes him far more badass than he already was.
X-Men: Red #5 benefits from A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 as that issue tees up this issue to show how Uranos committed a total annihilation on the Arakko people. That includes big-name mutants like Cable, Nightcrawler, and Magneto. In the world of comics, X-Men: Red takes bigger swings than most.
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