Summary
- Spider-Man's Vulture has joined forces with Orchis in the Fall of X storyline, becoming a dedicated enemy of the X-Men and spearheading the Hound division.
- Vulture's hatred for mutants stems from their development of resurrection and immortality on Krakoa, which they did not share with the world.
- The Hound program mirrors the dark Days of Future Past reality, where mutants were enslaved and used to hunt down others, posing a significant threat to Krakoa.
The following contains spoilers for Uncanny Nightcrawler #1, now on sale from Marvel Comics
The X-Men have plenty of enemies and have suffered all sorts of dark periods, but the Fall of X storyline has taken things to another level entirely. With the world increasingly turning against the X-Men and their allies at large, it increasingly looks like the Marvel Universe is approaching a grim direction. It doesn't help that one of Spider-Man's oldest enemies is hard at work making that nightmare a reality, and it could make him a far more specific enemy to the mutant heroes going forward.
Vulture has become entangled in the events of Fall of X by openly joining Orchis in Uncanny Spider-Man #1 (by Si Spurrier, Lee Garbett, Matt Milla and VC's Joe Caramagna). Notably, he's hard at work bringing the Hound program into the modern Marvel Universe. Given the horrifying history of the concept and the dark implications it sets up for the future, this could set the stage for Vulture to become a more personal and dedicated foe of the X-Men going forward.
Spider-Man's Vulture Has Become An X-Men Villain
The entire Marvel Universe is in a dark state of flux at the moment. The grim circumstances of Fall of X painted targets on the backs of every known mutant, particularly the X-Men. Much of the hero community has been moving to help them in these conflicts, even as it risks their own safety. Even some notable villains like Kingpin have aligned with the X-Men in their conflict against the mutant-hating Orchis organization, attempt to counter their increasing influence over the public. But some villains have thrown in with Orchis, painting themselves in an even darker light than normal. This includes Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture. One of Spider-Man's oldest enemies, the Vulture has largely been confined to the Wall-Crawler's corner of the Marvel Universe, debuting in the second issue of Amazing Spider-Man. But with Nightcrawler becoming the latest hero to don the moniker of Spider-Man, the line between them is becoming increasingly blurry. It turns out that Vulture has taken up a position with Orchis -- and not just for the money.
It turns out that Vulture took specific offense at the mutant nation of Krakoa developing resurrection and functional immortality, but didn't choose to share it fully with the rest of the world. As a result, he's given in to hatred for the mutant race and has turned his attention to helping bring them down. Joining up with Orchis, Vulture is specifically brought on to spearhead the Hound division. Openly experimenting on mutants like a captured Feral, Vulture decries his past as a common criminal and has seemingly fully thrown himself into "elevating" humanity beyond their current limits. Taking on the mantle of Director Vulture and incorporating what appears to be Technarch elements into his winged suit, Toomes has officially joined the X-Men's worst enemies. But his specific role within the organization might make him a more foundational foe for the mutants going forward.
Vulture & Orchis Could Jumpstart A New Days Of Future Past
Over the years, plenty of Marvel villains have been thrown down with unusual heroes. Events like Acts of Vengeance laned into this idea, and they rarely shifted the full dynamics of the villains towards a different hero. But by joining the Hound program, Vulture may have made himself an enemy for the life of the X-Men. The Hound program was introduced as a concept in the dark timeline commonly known as the Days of Future Past. In that reality, the Sentinel program advanced to such a degree that the world was effectively taken over by the robots. In the aftermath, most heroes and villains were wiped out, while mutants became a largely endangered species. One of the most horrific elements of this reality was the way the vicious Ahab would capture surviving mutants and experiment on them to create personal agents. These Hounds, reduced to a subservient state, would then be used to hunt down other mutants. It was a horrifying ordeal for everyone involved, and her history as one of the Hounds haunts Rachel Summers to this day.
The fact that Orchis is openly working on a new Hound program is just the latest example of the group trying to transform the core-Marvel Universe into a new version of the Days of Future Past reality. But it's also a horrifying prospect to see brought to the world, as enslaves some of the few surviving mutants and weaponizes them against the rest of their people. In the Krakoa Era, where mutants of all types came together to form a unified nation, this is the worst-case scenario -- one where mutants are reduced to weapons against their will and targeted at one another. The fact that Vulture isn't just a part of the program but happily leading it speaks to just how deeply his fury at mutants has become. It's also unlikely that the X-Men, if they ever discover his involvement, will simply allow him to go back to being another super-criminal in a world full of them.
On both sides of the conflict, there's now a very personal element to any future face-offs. For Vulture, a character who has regularly cheated death and worked to avoid his own mortality, the prospect of immortality being kept away from him feels like a personal slight. For the X-Men, anyone working to openly create the Days of Future Past timeline is someone who needs to be brought down, as they represent a present and existential threat to any future where mutants are seen as equals to humanity. Vulture and the X-Men's antagonism deserves to be more fleshed out than just "superheroes vs. supervillains" given Vulture's perspective and the X-Men's history with the Hounds. This could even lead more Spider-Man enemies to become more involved in the events of Fall of X, driving more of the Wall-Crawler's foes into a battle for the future of the mutant race in the Marvel Universe.