Highlighting what makes X-Factor such a great, yet unique team and part of the X-Men Mutant Utopia
The mutants are the next step in human evolution and are proving their superiority in how they have innovated the systems on their island nation of Krakoa. While branches of the Krakoan government resemble real-world systems like trade, legislature,e and homeland security; they appear to run more efficiently to form an actual utopian society. While each team on the island serves a crucial function, X-Factor truly embodies the ideals of the mutants and proves how humans have room to grow.
X-Factor has always been a group of mutant heroes that are more investigative in nature. However, up until now, its members have always been a part of assimilated human culture. In the past, X-Factor’s workings have either been sanctioned by the U.S. government or as a sort of private eye business in the heart of New York City. This new incarnation symbolizes the advancements the mutants have made as a race. Their mission is simple, solve mysteries surrounding the disappearances and deaths of their fellow mutants.
While this concept isn’t groundbreaking by itself, when put into the perspective of how Krakoa has achieved immortality for its citizens, this is a vast undertaking and must fall on the most well-equipped for the job. Once X-Factor can confirm that a mutant is truly dead, they can greenlight their resurrection process and have them brought back to life. When the team cracks a case, they aren’t breaking bad news to grieving loved ones; they’re reuniting them. In order to do so, this group must be able to solve troubling mysteries with a definitive answer.
The roster isn’t composed of random B-list mutants or even incredibly popular ones, but of specialized individuals. Each member of X-Factor is incredibly clever and has immensely powerful abilities that assist in tracking, forensics, and questioning. Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) is the French-Canadian speedster serving as the team leader. He is impatient but thorough, due in fact to him being the fastest mutant alive. He’s popularly known as the first openly gay mutant and made history by being the first to get married. Someone who has a lot of firsts under his belt is a crucial frontrunner for a team whose mission is often time-sensitive.
He is one of the few that successfully integrated a human, his husband Kyle, into the island. Polaris (Lorna Dane), has always been in the shadow of her father Magneto. They have similar powers and have both been villain and hero. However, having control over the magnetic forces of the earth plays a huge role as a citizen on a sentient island. On Krakoa, she is attuned to the land beneath her feet. Here, she can create things for the betterment of Mutantkind, instead of destroying that of the humans’.
Prestige (Rachel Summers) is the daughter of Jean Grey and Cyclops from a far-flung future. Rachel traveled back to the present to use her world-class telepathy and telekinesis to save the timeline. On X-Factor, psychic powers alone are a godsend for obtaining knowledge from the minds of others. Surprisingly, that’s not even her most useful ability. She was born with an extra ability she named “chrono-skimming”, which allows her to view and project thoughts throughout the entire timeline. Paired with her other powers, she is able to witness events that have already happened, just by being in the vicinity. Rachel, who has become the omnipotent Phoenix on more than one occasion, serves as insurance to the team’s survival.
Daken, Wolverine’s estranged son from a short-lived chance at happiness in Japan, has often been at odds with mutant heroes in the past. He spent a good portion of his life, hunting down his father. Daken has been a spy, assassin, and crime boss. His feral senses make him an expert tracker, his regeneration and bone claws make him an expert fighter, and his pheromone manipulation ability makes him an expert seducer and coercer.
He has not been afraid to use his sexuality to achieve his goals. As a member of X-Factor, it seems he has changed for the better. Daken has found a sense of inner peace and has a relaxed outlook on using a more consensual way to acquire knowledge from others. This amount of self-control allows him to start honest relationships with others.
Prodigy (David Alleyne) is not only a valuable team member but also a prime example of how effective the resurrection protocols are. David lost his mutant ability to telepathically absorb information and skills from others. Like many depowered mutants, he was still useful but felt unmade. Luckily, through the newfound Krakoan process to bring back dead mutants, David chose to partake in “The Crucible”. This ceremony gives mutants who have been injured, an honorable death at the hands of someone they choose, only to be resurrected and made whole again. With his regained powers and technologically advanced goggles, David processes information like a supercomputer.
Being a genius is one thing, but also having the ability to communicate what others know, makes him integral to the collaborative effort of solving mysteries. David is obviously very intelligent, but never stoic. In fact, he is very nurturing and maintains a relationship with Speed (Tommy Shepherd), the semi-reincarnated son of the Scarlet Witch. Krakoa has quite the complex relationship with the reality-warping mutant? not mutant? but David navigates this complexity with ease.
Lastly, Eye-Boy (Trevor Hawkins), the youngest and most oddball member of the team. Having dozens of eyes all over your body doesn’t sound appealing in the power department. However, not having the vision to apply a skill set like his, is a problem Trevor does not have. Each of his eyes is incredibly perceptive and allows him to see on a microscopic and telescopic level, or on every spectrum of light. Nothing goes unnoticed, not even micro-expressions and other non-verbal cues a person makes. Trevor is a walking forensics lab and lie detector. His eagerness and astuteness keep the team together.
This colorful group of individuals of varying races, gender, sexual identity, and age, exemplifies the rich diversity of the mutant nation. A unique, synergistic, team that has specialized abilities applied to problem-solving is the personification of the evolved ideals that Krakoa is built on. This is where X-Factor differs from that of the human world law enforcement. The mutants don’t go on patrol, they respond to the passionate pleas for help from their fellow citizens.
The X-Factor team is all well equipped to effectively communicate with the public, and ensure that everyone gets the help that they need. While those of us in the real world do not have the advanced technology of which Krakoa has, we do live in an age of almost limitless information and knowledge. Implementing a system in which those who are meant to solve problems, to do that instead of causing more, is something we should adopt from the mutant utopia.
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