X-Force #10 (2025)

[mastermahan]

X-Force was cancelled with issue 10, so you know that means: time to desperately rush to a conclusion!

Here are the reveals.




The big bad was Moses Magnum. He wants to create human-mutant coexistence by murdering a bunch of people.



Tank was Colossus, just like everyone thought from issue 1. It's not explained why he was pretending to be a robot.



Fake Colossus was Zanda. Also, Zanda is a shapeshifter now. EDIT: Her cartoon version was, she wasn't.



If I had a nickel for every time an Asian teenager with electrical powers who shares her name with a brand of soda died but came back as an energy being…

I'm glad Surge didn't stay dead, at least.

---- EDIT ----

PIOTR: Surprise! Tank was Colossus the whole time!

BETSY: Yeah, we all knew.

PIOTR: No, you couldn't of. I was shielded from telepathy and my acting was flawless.

BETSY: Peter, Rachel and I known you for ages. It wasn't hard to figure out who the giant metal guy was.

SAGE: And I have a computer brain.

PIOTR: ...Aren't you at least going to ask me why?

RACHEL: We really don't care.

--- LATER ---

NORIKO: Oh hey, Colossus finally stopped pretending he was a robot.

PIOTR: Oh, come on! You don't even know me!

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

Grimm+? Riiight. Was this written by the president of Moses Magnum fan club?

[akodo_rokku]

I know technically they're not supposed to be in the same power class, but I do tend to lump Moses Magnum together with Count Nefaria in my head: just two vaguely defined "really powerful" rich guys that are pretty boring and never as scary as their capabilities would suggest.

[scorntx]

Thought Zanda already was a shapeshifter?
Or was that just Panther's Quest Zanda?


Not too worried about Surge.
She's one of the New X-Men, so next time she appears it'll likely be in the background of a crowd shot where she's gone back to flesh and blood and her New X-Men outfit like none of this ever happened.


... but Rachel's okay, right? There looked like there was something about her turning into a Hound again. Nothing bad happened to her, did it?

[onsokumaru]

That series lost me when Nori was killed. I couldn't care less about Rachel and Betsy, and I had a feeling that Tank was going to be "yawn" Colossus, so that left me with only Forge and Sage. Not enough. Glad she is back, though. For characters like her, it's often a matter of "if" rather than "when".

Marvel is really doing dirty to the writer and the readers, though. Not just the cancellation despite the sales not being that bad, but also the fact that the 9th issue being a Manhunt tie-in, it won't be collected in the second TPB. Despite the fact it was a part of the whole story. But you know what will be in the TPB? That one shot about Cable published in the 10th issue, something totally unrelated to that iteration of X-Force.

[blues32]

Really overselling Mose Magnum here.

[windleopard2]

How so?

[blues32]

They've fought a LOT worse than Mose Magnum.

[thanekos]

Moses Magnum might be a superpowered weapons dealer/crime lord whose history involves literally earth-shaking plots, but apparently he's only as impressive as how many " Top 10 Villains " lists he would make.

[zachbeacon]

This run was really peak X-Force.

...in that it didn't didn't even pretend to have a story.



Why is the team doing [Insert mission here]?

Forge built a plot device and they're all just blindly following it.


What's going on with Rachel?

Nothing, she gets better immediately after the reader finds out she has a problem.


What's the deal with Tank?

He's Colossus. He's obviously Colossus.

Why is he pretending to be a robot?

Don't worry about it.


Who's the evil mastermind behind all the crises Forge's plot device is detecting?

*Throws dart at dartboard*



Anyway happy Surge's very stupid death didn't stick. The Jolt comparison is interesting because her teammates actually mourned her and here Sage was just mad at Forge for an issue. Anyway, here's hoping she doesn't get dumped of Counter Earth (I guess the mutant equivalent is Arakko), never to be seen again except for a brief cameo in Avengers vs X-Force.

[mindsweeper]

Over on the CBR board, the writer said not to expect follow up any time soon.

“As for whatever happens with Nori, no one was thinking about her until I picked her up so I'm doubting anyone has plans for her past this run. Maybe they do, but if so, they won't be what I had in store for her.”

“And Surge's upgrade IS to a new post-human state. Whether she's even a mutant anymore would have been part of her character arc going forward. She is more than just electricity now. She got some other things from Nuklo. What things? We'll probably never know.”

[zachbeacon]

"no one was thinking about her until I picked her up"

That's fair. If she hadn't been picked up she'd probably be a background character in NYX at best right now.

[deh_tommy]

Apparently the next arc would have been about Betsy and the Otherworld, which I’m really miffed we don’t get to see now given the state they left it in.

[scorntx]

That Avengers vs X-Force bit's a joke, right?


... actually, come to mention it, what has happened to Arakko?

[zachbeacon]

Yes, it's a reference to the Thunderbolts mini between Fightbolts and New Thunderbolts.

But with Marvel, who knows.

[mastermahan]

They were last seen jobbing to some rando named Aeon the Knife so alternate future Luke Cage who is also the Hulk, the Sentry, and Iron Fist could come in and save them. I wish I was making that up.

[scorntx]

"I hate everything about that sentence."

And yet, somehow, it's not surprising.

[mastermahan]

If you want to make a character mashup, it's clear you should limit yourself to two original sources, maybe three tops. If you go full Combo Man you dilute the concept too much.

Looking at you, alternate future Frank Castle who is Ghost Rider, and a herald of Galactus, and talks like Deadpool for some reason.

[aperturedreams]

I mean, I want to agree with you, because it is kinda too much, but the multiple solo series and appearances in Guardians and Avengers titles that Cosmic Ghost Rider got after debuting don't really scream failure

[cainofdreaming]

Yeah, seems like there's room for Deadpool cover bands.

[akodo_rokku]

And you didn't even *think* to ask about Kaorak!

Honestly why did the Storm comic give her a weird sci-fi flying ship when they could have just given her Kaorak?

[scorntx]

You're quite right, I completely forgot about Kaorak (the Island That Walks Like a Mutant!). The shame...


If Kaorak can't fly, that would explain why they gave her a ship.

[windleopard2]

Who's the other Asian teenager who came back as energy and is named after a drink?

[zachbeacon]

Jolt from Thunderbolts