Marvel Comics Sins Of Sinister X-Men Event Spoilers Sees Return Of Fan-Fave Chimera, Rasputin IV, But…
…Who Is She and Is She Here To Stay This Time?
Will Cardinal Also Return?
Here’s the shorthand on both characters.
- Chimera – An engineered mutant from the future whose DNA is made up of Colossus, Shadowcat, X-23, Kid Omega and Unus.
- Cardinal – An engineered mutant from the future with DNA of Nightcrawler and Rachel Summers.
They were both fan faves from the 2019 reboot of Marvel’s X-Men franchise in Powers of X and House of X.
Marvel is currently undergoing the Sins of Sinister event in its X-Men corner.
Last week’s Immoral X-Men #1 (of 3) had a surprise in it.
It teased Chimera’s return.
Immoral X-Men #1 (out last week) saw Emma Frost “vs” Mister Sinister.
There’s a Council of Shadows in this bleak future 10 years from now.
The last pages of the issue teases the next time jump which will be 100 years in the future in Immoral X-Men #2 (of 3) in stores March 15, 2023.
As such, Marvel featured Chimera on its page to refamiliarize readers with Rasputin IV.
Meet Rasputin IV, Mister Sinister’s Powerful Chimera Creation
Who is Rasputin IV? Learn more about Mister Sinister’sChimera creation, who played a critical role in ‘Powers of X’ prior to her ‘Sins of Sinister’ debut.
In SINS OF SINISTER (2023) #1, Mister Sinister took over the world and completely reshaped the future of the X-Men in his own twisted image. However, SINS OF SINISTER is not the first timeline where Sinister doomed mutantkind. In one of the timelines featured in POWERS OF X (2019), Sinister and his genetically engineered Chimera mutants helped destroy a world where Apocalypse led a mutant revolution.
Now, Sinister has plans to unleash Rasputin IV—one of his most powerful Chimera creations—in IMMORAL X-MEN (2023) #1 by Kieron Gillen, Paco Medina, Walden Wong, Victor Olazaba, Jay David Ramos, Chris Sotomayor, and VC’s Clayton Cowles. Before she fully emerges in the SINS OF SINISTER timeline, let’s take a closer look at Rasputin IV and how she changed the course of her future in POWERS OF X.
WHO IS RASPUTIN IV?
Rasputin IV debuted in POWERS OF X (2019) #1 by Jonathan Hickman, R.B. Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, Marte Gracia, and VC’s Clayton Cowles. Where Sinister designed his modern Chimera to have the powers of two mutants, Rasputin possessed five X-genes, which gave her the powers of five mutants. Rasputin has the organic metal skin of Colossus, the telekinesis of Quentin Quire, the force fields of Unus the Untouchable, the intangibility of Kate “Kitty” Pryde, and the healing factor of Laura Kinney’s Wolverine. Rasputin also wields the powerful Soulsword, as well as its mystical armor.
In Rasputin’s timeline, Moira MacTaggert and Apocalypse built a mutant empire together, thanks to Moira’s mutant power to reincarnate in a new timeline with the memories of her past lives. Having seen mutants wiped out under both Charles Xavier and Magneto’s leadership, Moira believed that uniting mutants behind Apocalypse offered the best chance for the long-term survival of her kind in her ninth life.
Before Xavier could form the X-Men, Moira awoke a sleeping Apocalypse, and the pair launched a war on humanity with their X-Men. After forcing Sinister into working for them, Apocalypse and Moira’s mutant empire faced an existential threat from the Man-Machine Supremacy and its Sentinels. Accordingly, Sinister developed Chimera mutants with powers that were particularly useful in battle.
Rasputin was part of the third generation of Sinister’s Chimera, which combined up to five X-genes in one being. These genetically engineered mutants overwhelmed the Man-Machine Supremacy and seemed to cause a turning point in mutants’ war against humans. However, Sinister’s fourth generation Chimera mutants was unstable, and their eventual failure killed many mutants and wiped out mutant settlements on Krakoa and Mars. While most remaining mutants migrated to the Shi’ar Empire, Rasputin and a handful of other mutants stayed with Apocalypse and a wounded Moira on the orbiting space station Asteroid K.
WHAT HAPPENED TO RASPUTIN IV?
After Apocalypse and Moira realized that the activation of the Sentinel leader Nimrod was the turning point that doomed mutants, they planned to steal information about Nimrod’s origin and send it on to Moira’s next life. During the first part of that mission, Rasputin took on an entire squad of Sentinels with her numerous powers and abilities. Although her team located where Nimrod’s records were being held, the battle-hardened Rasputin lost two of her teammates, Percival and Cylobel, in the fight. This left Rasputin, Apocalypse, Wolverine, Xorn, a humanoid Krakoa, and two Chimera named North and Cardinal as the last mutants in the Solar System. Apocalypse personally led the final mission to retrieve the details of Nimrod’s origins, and Rasputin took charge of another squad tasked with creating a distraction.
While Apocalypse’s team retrieved information about Nimrod’s activation, Rasputin and her team traveled to Earth and attacked the machine-worshipping Church of the Ascendancy. Rasputin’s group met fierce resistance from the Omega Sentinel and her forces, which killed North and Cardinal and fatally wounded Xorn. Ultimately, Rasputin released the singularity within Xorn and created a small black hole that seemingly killed everyone present. Despite Rasputin’s apparent death, the primary mission was successful, and Wolverine sent Moira on to her next life with the specifics of Nimrod’s creation.
Although the details of Nimrod’s origins guided Moira, Xavier, and Magneto in the early days of Krakoa, the X-Men ultimately could not stop the machine’s activation. Nevertheless, after experimenting extensively on himself, Mister Sinister developed mutant Chimera techniques decades before he did in Rasputin’s timeline.
In SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Sinister has released an army of his Chimera creations and uses them to maintain his grip on the world. Now, Sinister’s Rasputin is set to change the future of mutants once more in IMMORAL X-MEN (2023) #1 by Kieron Gillen, Paco Medina, Walden Wong, Victor Olazaba, Jay David Ramos, Chris Sotomayor, and VC’s Clayton Cowles.
Meet Rasputin IV in Kieron Gillen and Paco Medina’s IMMORAL X-MEN #1, on sale now!
IMMORAL X-MEN #1 (OF 3)
KIERON GILLEN (W) • PACO MEDINA (A) • Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
PLANET OF THE APES VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO
VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTOADORED AND RESPECTED!
They said the mutants were humanity’s future. It’s 10 years later and they were proven to be right. The X-Men exist in a world that adores and respects them…so why are they sworn to crush it?! But while they do, Emma can take a few minutes out to crush Mister Sinister.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
Can Cardinal be far behind as Sins of Sinister continues this week?
