WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for X-Men Legends #3 by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Laura Martin, and John Workman, on sale now.
The various X-Men teams of the Marvel Universe have crossed paths with some of the most brutal powerful villains in the Marvel Universe. While Marvel’s present-day X-Men. are more concerned with nation-building and ensuring the long-term survival of mutantkind, X-Men Legends has taken readers back to the early days of X-Factor, when that team was simply the reunited original X-Men.
And in X-Men Legends #3, this X-Men team faces two terrifying villains with diametrically opposed goals, Apocalypse and the mutant-hating Cameron Hodge.
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X-Men Legends #3 picks up just before the events of 1989’s X-Factor #43. While X-Factor is embroiled in a desperate bid to rescue themselves and their sentient Celestial Ship from its own evolution, Apocalypse was working behind the scenes to ensure their destruction. The classic mutant villain had only recently lost his Horsemen, including Archangel, as well as Ship which had long been in his grasp. In need of any advantage he could find, Apocalypse took it upon himself to bring another into his fold, someone that had an intimate knowledge of X-Factor: Cameron Hodge.
First introduced in 1986’s X-Factor #1 by Bob Layton and Jackson Guice, Hodge was the college roommate of Warren Worthington III, the X-Men’s Angel. Warren considered the two of them friends, enough so that when he decided to finance X-Factor, he brought Hodge on as the team’s Public Relations Director. Unbeknownst to the hero, Hodge had always hated Warren, and when he discovered that his roommate was a mutant, that hatred boiled over into full-blown xenophobia. Hodge was responsible for Warren’s wings being forcefully removed, and not long after the rest of the team realized what he was up to. Desperate to see mutants eradicated no matter the consequences, Hodge made a dark pact with the demon N’astirh in exchange for immortality. That ensured his survival, even after Warren returned as Archangel to behead his nemesis.
And in this previously unrevealed chapter, Apocalypse was there shortly after to find Hodge, and he even gave him a new body.
Hodge is more than happy to agree to any deal if it furthers his goal to eradicate mutantkind, even if it means working with the mutant menace Apocalypse. Of course, Apocalypse does state that he owes Hodge some amount of debt, as having Warren’s wings amputated gave Apocalypse the opening he needed to transform the hero into his Horseman of Death. This ultimately ensured Hodge’s own demise, even if his demonic inability to die has kept him around. In something of a consolation gift, Apocalypse outfits Hodge’s severed yet sentient head with a towering robot body, one that appears more than capable of handling the X-Men in a fight on its own.
Even if both of these villains have a serious grudge against X-Factor, their divergent larger goals make this an extraordinarily odd pairing. Still, it’s an eye-opening glimpse into the relationship between Hodge and Apocalypse, that shines a spotlight on how far Hodge is willing to go in his quest for a mutant free world. Their exchange is also telling as to just how little of a threat Apocalypse considered Hodge, or anyone else, at that time as he kept his attention on far greater goals.
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