But he still almost never takes off Cerebro and retains his role as father- or god-figure. He never takes off the Cerebro-helmet, which literally keeps him connected to the souls of every mutant on Krakoa.Īfter House of X/Powers of X, Xavier’s appearance and the extent of his authority were tempered a bit. Xavier’s depiction throughout House of X/Powers of X is disquieting, even creepy at times. The creative team’s depiction of Xavier in House of X/Powers of X strays too far from benevolent head of state into the territory of disturbing cult-leader - a charismatic, seemingly good-natured, but secretly manipulative person who holds absolute, unquestioned authority over his followers, and is worshiped by them as a god-figure. On Krakoa, it’s made abundantly clear that the new mutant paradise is the house that Xavier built.

In the worst cases, he completely controls the lives of every cult member. The problem lies in his absolute authority over everything, including all teachings and decisions. Sometimes he claims to be the returned Messiah or God himself. Sometimes he (cult leaders are most often men) claims to be a prophet, the sole recipient of God’s revelation. The first and most prominent warning sign of a religious cult is the adored charismatic leader who’s become the unquestioned source of all power. The charismatic and infallible cult leader

So let’s look at four major telltale signs of religious cults, how Hickman’s Krakoa originally did or did not fit these criteria, and whether things have changed. Why would Hickman turn the protagonists of his story, the super heroes we should be rooting for, into something like that?īut much has happened since House of X/Powers of X. I couldn’t ignore the red flags signaling that the mutant community on Krakoa might be a form of religious cult, which just seemed puzzling. One could easily interpret the mutant society on Krakoa as a religious group actually living out their hoped-for goal of eternal paradise here on Earth.īut a lot of these religious undertones felt subtly but unmistakably off. Krakoa is a mutant Garden of Eden, Charles Xavier is backing up mutants’ souls in Cerebro, forgiveness has been granted to the worst sinners, Moira MacTaggert has the mutant power of reincarnation, the Five give the gift of resurrection, and the list goes on. The current Krakoan era of X-men has been filled with uncanny religious undertones and symbolism since its creation by Jonathan Hickman in the ground-breaking House of X/Powers of X series.

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