WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Marauders #19 by Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Edgar Delgado & VC’s Cory Petit, on sale now.
The X-Men have operated across the globe, performing heroic deeds in places such as Japan and Australia. The X-Men may not always be recognized as heroes, but they’ve rarely gone to war with foreign nations. Despite their heroic nature, Marvel’s Mutants have on the warpath with the fictional country of Madripoor.
In the past few years, the X-Men have united with the rest of mutantkind, forming their own mutant nation in House of X #1, by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz. This nation is called Krakoa, based on the sentient mutant island of the same name. Together, mutants have formed Krakoa to advance their role in society and move forward as the next evolutionary stage of life. Of course, this new nation has been met with mixed reactions, with some countries seeing Krakoa as a threat. Madripoor, in particular, has been a constant opponent of Krakoa. This lawless nation was recently taken over by Homines Verendi, the young group of villains formerly known as the Hellfire Club.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
The original Hellfire Club was an organization formed to profit off of the fear and hatred of mutants across the globe. In recent years, this organization has been taken over by a group of privileged children with high intelligence. Since this new group of Hellfire Kids emerged, in X-Men: Schism #1, by Jason Aaron and Carlos Pacheco, they’ve clashed with mutantkind on several occasions.
In Marauders #9, by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli, Homines Verendi bought their way into Madripoor’s government. Homines Verendi allied themselves with the anti-mutant activist Chen Zhao to complete their ranks. Previously, the Hellfire Kids had fought Krakoa’s mutants quite a few times. Specifically, the mutant team known as the Marauders fought off enemies like the Hate-Monger and the X-Cutioner, who were hired by Homines Verendi. The Hellfire Kids were also responsible for orchestrating the murder of Kate Pryde, the Marauders’ leader.
Since then, Homines Verendi plotted to buy out most of Lowtown, the impoverished area of Madripoor, and profit by building expensive high rises. After all of Homines Verendi’s attacks against mutants, the Marauders began to fight back. In Marauders #17, by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli, Kate Pryde fought off Madripoor’s police and rescue impoverished families from Homines Verendi’s rule. From there, Krakoa’s Hellfire Trading Company began to buy up several pieces of real estate on the island.
Instead of expensive high rises, Krakoa built hospitals and other sites to help impoverished citizens. With this move, Krakoa and Homines Verendi began a war on both political and financial fronts, which only escalated as time went on. In Marauders #18, by Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli and Matteo Lolli, Homines Verendi created a new version of the Reavers, cyborgs who had been badly injured while fighting mutants.
The Reavers were sent not only to attack the Marauders, but to frame them as violent and dangerous. News footage of the Marauders’ fight with the Reavers made the mutants seem rather unhinged, giving Homines Verendi political leverage against Krakoa. The Reavers later tried to raze Lowtown, but were foiled by the timely intervention of the Morlocks, who set up shop in Lowton, which is now being referred to as “Mutietown” by some locals.
Despite all of this conflict, however, Kate Pryde did invite Homines Verendi to the Hellfire Gala. This event is being held by Emma Frost, a member of the original Hellfire Club, as a means for Krakoa to mingle with the rest of the world. The fact that Krakoa invited Homines Verendi to the Hellfire Gala means that the mutants might have a big idea up their sleeve.
Kate seemed fairly secure in inviting the Hellfire Kids to the gala, so they must have something in mind for them. Although the war between Krakoa and Madripoor goes on, it’s unclear how things will end for the two nations.
About The Author