While there were a fair deal of Marvel-related news announcements over the weekend at NYCC, many of which you can find on this here wonderful website, there is in fact one more for us to talk about — and that’s the return of the Juggernaut.
Featured in a a new storyline called ‘The Once and Future Juggernaut’ that begins in “Amazing X-Men” #15, Cyttorak apparently wants a new avatar on Earth to take on the role of Juggernaut, and both Cain Mark and Colossus find themselves pulled into a battle to once again take on the mantle — but as these things go, there are also a few other unnamed figures called into battle to take on the mantle. Seeing as Juggernaut and Cain Marko (let alone Cyttorak) have been a bit AFK for some time now in the comics, especially after the death of Cain’s step-brother Charles Xavier, this stands as pretty noteworthy. Certainly a big deal for continuity nerds.
However, what is ostensibly more noteworthy (to me, as my fanboy nature leaks out) in this is that it will bring Colossus back to the forefront. For those unaware, Colossus has been “missing” in comics for some time now, having dropped off the face of the Earth (not literally) at the end of Dennis Hopeless’ underrated run on “Cable and X-Force”, recently returning in the pages of “Amazing X-Men” during ‘World War Wendigo’. It seems to be the focus of “Amazing” to return characters back into the fold, apparently, but Colossus is a fan favorite and was greatly missed. Now that he’s back, though, apparently Yost plans to address how power-crazy Colossus went, having recently been not only Cytorrak’s avatar but also a conduit for the Phoenix — which basically translates to a lot of trust issues surrounding the poor Russian, only to be exacerbated by the assumedly exhausting return of Cytorrak and his neediness.
So Cain Marko is back, Peter Rasputin is going to have to deal with his problems, and Cytorrak is assembling a whole bevy of people to fight for his affection. After Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness left “Amazing X-Men” so quick after it launched, the direction/point of the book as an ancillary X-Title was certainly a curious one; however, with the announcement of the upcoming ‘Once and Future Juggernaut’ arc, I can honestly say that I’m pretty excited to check out what is to come. At the very least, it sounds remarkably different from what Bendis has planned for his two books.
