X-Men's Nightcrawler Meets His Mutant Match in [SPOILER]
Krakoa's arena is pitting X-Men against each other to prove who is the best fighter - and Nightcrawler's first match just proved his skill.
Warning: SPOILERS for Cable #1
The X-Men comics have finally revealed what would happen if their two most famous mutant teleporters, Nightcrawler and Blink, went head-to-head. Superhero slugfests have become something of a tradition in comics, and they've made their way on to the big screen. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice marketed itself as the ultimate duel between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel; meanwhile, Captain America: Civil War tore the Avengers apart, and ended with Tony Stark trying to kill the Winter Soldier.
Leave it to Marvel's X-Men relaunch to turn the idea on its head. The newest Cable #1 reveals the X-Men have established a training dojo in which mutants engage in one-on-one duels. The former Morlock Callisto is the most frequent competitor, enjoying slicing and dicing her way through opponents such as Pyro, Fish, and Jumbo Carnation. Dazzler has beaten Jubilee, while Bishop has been taken down by Monet St. Croix. Ironically, one of the most interesting duels was apparently a draw.
Two of the first competitors in the dojo were Nightcrawler and Blink, the X-Men's most famous teleporters -- both of whom movie audiences have met in the X-Men films. All things considered, the match-up is actually quite a compliment to Nightcrawler, given his powers. A limited, largely line-of-sight teleportation ability is, frankly, eclipsed by Blink's. Which means his ability to wield it on equal footing with blink stands as testimony to his skill and experience.
Blink's teleportation is unrestricted by range - she once jumped from Earth to the Moon - and she further seems to have no limitations when it comes to mass. Her most interesting ability, however, is to create shards of an unknown teleportational energy that she throws at a target; on impact, they displace part of said target in an extremely painful way. Presumably Nightcrawler used his own natural agility to avoid these so-called "daggers" - but Blink was just as successful at dodging him.
It's interesting to speculate just how long the fight would have lasted before being forced into an official draw. Cable #1 suggests the mutants are encouraged to be as aggressive as possible, so it's safe to assume the two mutants were evading a lot of punches. It's quite amusing to imagine the cheering crowds gradually getting bored as they realized neither Nightcrawler nor Blink was managing to land a single blow, and it's worth noting this is, apparently, the only draw in the (admittedly short) history of the dojo. Both Nightcrawler and Blink have good reason to be proud of their achievement; but it remains to be seen whether or not they'll ever call a rematch.
Cable #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.