Marvel Comics has announced X-Men Blue: Origins, a new one-shot that will finally reveal the whole truth regarding famed X-Man Nightcrawler (aka the Uncanny Spider-Man) and his birth mother, Mystique.
As announced at San Diego Comic-Con, X-Men Blue: Origins #1 is due to hit comic shops late this coming November. The one-shot comes from writer Simon “Si” Spurrier (Legion of X, John Constantine: Hellblazer) and artist Wilton Santos (Excalibur, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra). It promises to “at long last provide the definitive origin story for Nightcrawler!”
Check out Francis Manapul’s cover art for X-Men Blue: Origins #1 below:
What to expect from X-Men Blue: Origins #1
“Since his earliest days with the X-Men under writer Chris Claremont, the circumstances of Nightcrawler’s birth has been the subject of rumors, half-truths, and heartbreak,” Marvel explains. “Now, Spurrier — who’s guided the character through the Krakoan age as well his upcoming journey through FALL OF X in UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN — clears away all the lies you’ve been told and delivers the truth about Mystique and Nightcrawler once and for all!”
The House of Ideas further teases, “This is the one you can’t miss, True Believer! You think you know how the beloved blue devil came into this troubled world? You think you know the tale of his mendacious mamma Mystique? You don’t! Mother and son reunite in a mold-shattering tale that exposes secrets held for decades and redefines both characters forever!”
“It’s not often you get the chance to shine new light into the origins of a truly beloved character,” Spurrier said. “To do so for two at once is an unprecedented privilege … With this book, we’re breaking new ground in more ways than one. We’re walking this path with the deepest love for Nightcrawler and Mystique, and the deepest respect for the formative stories that surround them.
“And yet … by shifting perspective … by wondering which parts of the standard history can be trusted and which are unreliable … by climbing into the minds and memories of mother and son alike … we’re enriching their shared tale in a way that will cast fertile shadows across everything they do from now onwards,” the writer continued. “This is one of those books that will be discussed for years to come.”
Nightcrawler’s parental history, explained
In the mainstream Marvel Universe, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler is the son of fellow mutants Raven Darkhölme/Mystique and Azazel. The shape-shifting Mystique had taken the form of a German noblewoman and married Baron Christian Wagner. However, she had an affair with Azazel, leading her to become pregnant with Kurt.
Kurt was born visibly mutated. The stress of the experience caused Raven to reveal her true form as well, forcing the two to flee an angry mob. During the ordeal, Raven fell unconscious, leaving Kurt to float down a river. Kurt miraculously survived going over a waterfall. Fortune teller Margali Szardos then found the blue baby and decided to raise him as her own.
X-Men Blue: Origins #1 goes on sale Nov. 29.
