In Excalibur, a former X-Force leader has proven a number of lost heroes were actually mutants, and they just got called back into action.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Excalibur #22 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega & VC’s Ariana Maher, on sale now
As a former Excalibur ally and even a brief leader of X-Force, Pete Wisdom has been one of the most tactical mutant minds on the planet. And even though he’s been hesitant to fully join the rest of Marvel’s mutants on Krakoa, he just turned to the mutant island nation to recruit a new team of allies for his next mission.
In Excalibur #22, Wisdom just proved that several long-dead agents of the British spy agency S.T.R.I.K.E. were actually mutants, which meant that they could be resurrected on Krakoa.
Pete Wisdom has been a longtime ally of the X-Men and its assorted offshoot teams, but his first loyalties have almost always been to the United Kingdom over any bond with Excalibur or the X-Men. After gaining increasing amounts of political clout and effectively ending the alliance between Krakoa and the United Kingdom, Coven Akkaba was able to ambush Wisdom and sacrifice him to help restore Morgan Le Fay. In essence, the nation that Wisdom has long fought to protect has effectively turned its back on mutantkind, banishing him from the only true home he’s ever fought for.
Initially enraged at the discovery, Wisdom quickly throws himself back into his work, realizing that four long-dead telepaths who worked with S.T.R.I.K.E. were secretly mutants whose brains had been backed up by Cerebro. By bringing his findings to the Five, Wisdom is able to have these agents of S.T.R.I.K.E., the Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies, moved to the top of island’s resurrection queue.
S.T.R.I.K.E. was essentially a UK answer to S.H.I.E.L.D., which was introduced in Captain Britain Weekly #17 by Gary Friedrich and Larry Lieber. The most notable element of S.T.R.I.K.E. was the Psi-Division, which was created during Alan Moore and Alan Davis’ Captain Britain run and utilized a number of telepaths to contend with espionage and counter-intelligence. S.T.R.I.K.E.’s Psi Division was also the same team that employed Elizabeth Braddock, the former Psylocke and current Captain Britain.
While the members of the Psi Division were killed by everything from the assassin Slaymaster to car crashes, four of them — Tom Lennox’s Ghast, Alison Double’s Albedo, Kevin Mulhearn’s Xanth and Vicki Reppion’s Rubedo — were all granted their telepathic abilities by a previously unidentified X-Gene. This means that these four specific members of the group could be restored following their demise, and now give Pete Wisdom a new team of British mutants to work with. Pete Wisdom has always been well-suited for a position in the shadows, and he now seems set to lead the resurrected S.T.R.I.K.E. Psi Division against the rising forces within the country they once served.
Wisdom’s time with MI:13 and amongst the members of Clan Akkaba make him an ideal agent to focus on their rise to power and the potential threat they pose to the mutant nation of Krakoa. S.T.R.I.K.E. may be the perfect team to help Wisdom give British mutants more agency. Another notable wrinkle in these resurrections is the fact that at the time of his death, Ghast was romanticly involved with Betsy Braddock. It’s possible his resurrection could result in their romance getting another chance, and it could complicate the flirtatious relationship that’s occurred between Wisdom and Braddock. However, having a host of skilled and trained psychics around will be a huge boon for Wisdom as he tries to figure out his next move.
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