Recent events have transformed a longtime ally to the X-Men into a dangerous wildcard — but now they’ve seemingly escalated to full-blown villain.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X Deaths of Wolverine #3, now on sale from Marvel Comics
X Deaths of Wolverine has been focused largely on Moira MacTaggert and Omega Wolverine. A Phalanx empowered and time-displaced version of Logan has been on the hunt for Moira, and so far portrayed as a nigh-unstoppable and ruthless killer. Meanwhile, Moira’s desperation to stay ahead of Mystique has painted her in a sympathetic light, especially to other heroes like Valkyrie.
X Deaths of Wolverine #3 shifts things radically however, with Omega Wolverine seemingly sent back in time to stop Moira for the good of all mutants — because the longtime X-Men ally has seemingly become the kind of villain she’s spent years opposing.
For years, Moira MacTaggert was one of the most steadfast human allies to the mutant community. Having befriended Charles Xavier (and even sharing a brief romance with him) in their youth, MacTaggert eventually became one of the world’s leading geneticists. From her facility on Muir Island, she became a frequent ally to the X-Men, serving as a medical and scientific aid to the team. Her apparent death during the “Eve of Destruction” storyline removed her from the board for years, until House of X revealed she’d actually faked her death with the help of Charles Xavier and Magneto and gave her a new level of importance in the X-Men mythos. Moira was retconned into a mutant — given the ability to resurrect in a reset timeline upon her death.
The knowledge she possessed from her previous lives gave way to Krakoa as it is today. However, this version of Moira proved surprisingly brutal and bitter. In the past, Moira had been a steadfast ally of the mutant heroes, with a strong enough resolve to match the likes of Xavier and Magneto. This had been tempered with genuine faith in a mutant/human future. But it seems that after multiple resurrections, Moira lost faith in the idea of a truly successful mutant society. In secret, her intent instead became to depower mutants in an attempt to spare them eradication from either humanity or artificial intelligence — until her secrets escalated her desperation and was depowered by Mystique.
Only spared by Cypher — but more or less exiled from Krakoa — Moira has found evidence that Krakoa tried to kill her with plant-like cancer. All of this has led Moira to openly declare war on the mutants, working with a tech genius towards a plan she promises will “save” the world from mutants. She is even revealed to survive into the distant future according to Omega Wolverine, having embraced technology fully and becoming an immortal Omega Sentinel-like villain. This is in-character with recent developments of Moira, but would feel like a huge betrayal of her character from decades past. Even given the darker take on the character that came as a result of her mutant status being codified, Moira becoming what appears to be a full-blown villain is a major shift for the character.
Her attempts to “save” the mutants by empowering them was at least stemming from a place of good intent and lingering trauma. But after more or less declaring war on Krakoa by killing Mystique, Moira has seemingly decided to become the kind of threat she was previously trying to help stop. Considering all the work she put into helping mutants in various crises over the decades, seeing her transform from a well-intentioned wildcard to genuine threat is a harrowing reveal. It’s a haunting turn considering the role she used to play in X-Men stories, serving as a mentor and motherly figure to young mutants. Now, she seems intent on eliminating them in the harshest terms possible — fully cementing her transformation into a villain.
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