Writer Al Ewing has been laying the seeds of a cosmic conflict in the Marvel Universe since the conclusion of 2020's Empyre event, which seemed to foreshadow a rift in the then-burgeoning Kree/Skrull Alliance led by Emperor Hulkling.
Now, in November 2's X-Men Red #8, Ewing, artists Madibek Musibekov and Federico Blee, and letterer Ariana Maher, the story that's been building starts to break - and it could have massive ramifications on the entire Marvel Universe, especially the X-Men and the mutants of Krakoa.
Spoilers ahead for X-Men Red #8
The finale of the Empyre event feature a look forward at the future of the Marvel Universe, seemingly showing Abigail Brand of the mutant space organization SWORD standing over Emperor Hulkling and his royal guard who lay defeated on the floor - though it was unclear whether she was there to help, or as part of the attack that felled them.
Now, we apparently have an answer - and it's not looking great for the Kree/Skrull Alliance or Krakoa.
In X-Men Red #8, a Skrull envoy entreats Empress Xandra of the Shi'Ar Empire to make amends for a plot by the Shi'Ar to sow divisions between the Kree and Skrull, ancient enemies who recently united under the command of the half-Kree/half-Skrull regent Emperor Hulkling.
Meanwhile, Cable, Manifold, Whiz-Kid, and the other agents of SWORD have uncovered deceptions by Abigail Brand revealing that she's been playing both the mutants of Krakoa and the anti-mutant group ORCHIS in a scheme that seems to be bigger than mutantkind - or even Earth.
As the Shi'Ar Empress confesses to the manipulations of her empire, blaming it on her predecessor, the agents of SWORD uncover another secret about Abigail Brand's manipulations. She's got a secret sleeper agent on Krakoa - someone whose personality was subverted by Brand for her own purposes.
It's Vulcan, the brother of Cyclops and Havok, the former warrior emperor of the Shi'Ar who menaced Earth.
And just as the agents of SWORD make their discovery, Vulcan appears in the Shi'Ar throne room, apparently about to claim it back in the name of Abigail Brand and her machinations for Earth and the Sol system.
The story continues in December 7's X-Men Red #9.
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