Warning: Contains SPOILERS for X-Men #20!Professor Charles Xavier is a powerful mutant telepathwho founded the superhero team theX-Men. For years, Professor X was regarded as a great man and a heroic leader, but his legacy tells another story, especially in light of the X-Men’s new nickname.
InX-Men#20 by Jed MacKay and Netho Diaz, Cyclops gets into a fist fight with a federal agent named Lundqvist, who has been assigned to keep an eye on the X-Men (and all mutant activity) sincethe fall of Krakoa. Lundqvist trusted Cyclops to keep him in the loop about mutant activity, and after Cyclops withheld information, Lundqvist took that personally.
Their fight landed Lundqvist and Cyclops in jail, where they ‘slept it off’ in adjacent cells. The two get the chance to discuss their differences, which is when Lundqvist brings up Charles Xavier and asks Cyclops what kind of stories Professor X fed into the X-Men as kids to make them his soldiers. Or asLundqvist calls them, “X-Gene Warboys”.
The X-Men’s New Nickname Highlights Xavier’s Wrongdoings
As akid readingX-Mencomics, it seemed like there was nothing more exciting in the world than being taken in by Professor X and becoming one of his X-Men. And, if a kid were a mutant in the Marvel Universe, that would be a very real possibility. Which is why this new insulting nickname for the X-Men isn’t wrong, and why Xavier’s practices have always been a problem.
Charles Xavier would indoctrinate young mutants, like Cyclops, Beast, and Jean Grey, and turn them into child-soldiers. Sure, Xavier was teaching them to fight evil and help non-mutants accept mutants' rights to exist, which is decidedly good. But the problem is that Xavier was recruiting them as children under the guise of running a school, effectively brainwashing them to pick up his cause.
Why “Warboys” is the Perfect Insult for the X-Men
While the nickname pretty much speaks for itself, as Xavier literally turned a group of mutant children into soldiers, it becomes even more perfect when considering what it’s referencing. “Warboys” is the name of the cult followers of Immortan Joe inMad Max: Fury Road, who regarded Joe as a god among mortals, and who were willing to die following him.
Lundqvist was implying that the X-Men were as brainwashed as Immortan Joe’s followers, and in a way, he wasn’t wrong. Professor X took in young mutants with nowhere to go, gave them an X-Men uniform, and told them to risk their lives as soldiers. In other words, theX-Men’s new nickname proves Professor X is the worst.
