One of Marvel’s Omega-Level mutants served as a beacon of hope to the X-Men in their darkest days before evolving into a nemesis for Cable.
As the first mutant born after the infamous “M-Day,” Hope Summers became a beacon of light during one of the X-Men’s darkest eras. Through her unique ability to manipulate the powers of other mutants, Hope almost single-handedly brought her people back from the brink of extinction, earning the unofficial but well-deserved title of “mutant messiah” in the process. With the founding of the mutant nation of Krakoa, Hope is once again playing an integral role in ensuring the survival of her kind as leader of the Five, a group of mutants whose combined powers are capable of resurrecting their fallen brethren.
Despite the massive pressure that her position has placed on her, Hope has managed to remain a compassionate person who helps others because it’s what she wants to do, not because it’s her “destiny” to do so. However, in one particularly dark timeline, Hope never gets the chance to become the mutant messiah and instead becomes the second incarnation of the time-traveling X-Men villain Stryfe, who etched out a miserable existence in an apocalyptic alternate future that never saw the second coming of the mutants.
Hope’s birth in X-Men #204 (by Mike Carey, Mike Choi, Sarah Oback, and Cory Petit) was seen as a miracle within the mutant community, which had suffered a devastating blow after a grief-stricken Scarlet Witch cast a spell that robbed 98% of the world’s mutant population of their powers in the climax of 2005’s House of M (by Brian Michael Bendis and Oliver Coipal). Upon learning of her existence, numerous mutant and anti-mutant factions set out to claim or kill Hope, kickstarting a bloody war that ended with the time-traveling X-Men Cable taking the newborn mutant into the future to protect her. Raised into adulthood by her savior, Hope eventually returned to the present day and used her Omega-Level abilities to save the X-Men during one of their darkest hours by slaying the advanced Sentienal Bastion, who had united many of the team’s deadliest enemies in an attempt to destroy them once and for all.
Following this, Hope became an important figure in the X-Men, leading a team of young mutants whose dormant powers were awakened by her return to the present. Eventually, the cosmic Phoenix Force would attempt to claim Hope as its newest host, kickstarting a disagreement between the superheroes of the Marvel Universe that transitioned into all-out war in 2014’s Avengers vs. X-Men (by Brian Michael Bendis, John Romita Jr., and others). Hope was eventually able to use the Phoenix’s raw psychic power to undo the Scarlet Witch’s spell and restore the mutants to their former glory, finally fulfilling her destiny.
However, Hope’s destiny could have played out very differently. During Avengers: X-Sanction, a short series leading into Avengers vs. X-Men, Cable accidentally traveled to an alternative future caused by the death of Hope at the hands of the Avengers. Desperate to save his adoptive daughter, Cable attempted to incapacitate the Avengers with the Techno-Organic Virus before being stopped by Hope.
Having learned that the Avengers would be targeting his adoptive daughter due to her connection to the Phoenix, Cable warned Cyclops to be ready, unknowingly setting up the events that led to the X-Men’s confrontation with the Avengers. Although Hope’s death is prevented, an even worse timeline is created in which an older Hope is unable to save the mutants. In a desperate attempt to change her future, this Hope takes up the weapons and armor of Cable’s arch-nemesis Stryfe and attempts to manipulate her adoptive father into altering the course of history before being stopped by her younger, heroic self.
Hope’s potential transformation into Stryfe highlights both the important role that the young mutant plays in the course of Marvel history and the importance of her bond with Cable. Considering the current state of the mutants and Hope’s pivotal role on Krakoa, the mutant messiah has surely made her adoptive father very proud.
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