The X-Men comics are officially setting up their craziest relationship. The entire mutant race has settled on the living island of Krakoa, and the X-Men are building a new mutant community. It’s becoming abundantly clear all the rules of human society are being ditched, most notably when it comes to relationships. After all, one of the few Krakoan laws is to “Make More Mutants,” which means the mutants are actually orders to get busy making babies.
Evidence is building that Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine have taken this particularly seriously. The polyamorous relationship was first teased when astute readers noticed there were open connecting doors between the three mutants’ separate bedrooms in the Summers House on the Moon. Since then, Cyclops and Wolverine have been seen flirting, and Jean recently settled down to spend some quality time with Logan in the Krakoan equivalent of a hot tub. Meanwhile, Cyclops’ son Cable – who’s now a teenager due to a plot that even Doctor Who would consider a little too “timey-wimey” – has his eyes on all the mutant girls. In Cable #1, he took Armor and Pixie on a walk, and it was pretty clear what he had in mind – even if events did take a different direction.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
But Marvel Comics is now setting up Cable’s craziest relationship to date. Comic book fans were taken aback by the solicitation for Cable #2, which featured a cover showing Kid Cable and all five of the Stepford Cuckoos. The text promised “Love and Violence,” with Cable taking the disappearance of mutant babies personally. “Almost as personally as his love life,” the text continued. “It’s not easy dating five girls, even if they are clones.“ This week’s Wolverine #3 confirms all five of the Stepford Cuckoos really are into Cable. In one early scene, the Five-In-One help Wolverine persuade Quentin Quire to help him on a mission, with all five flirting with him. “We did this for you,” one telepathically informs Logan. “Now you better follow up on your promise, Wolverine. Set us up with the one we want… Cable.” In case there was any doubt about their intent, the word “Cable” was placed in a heart-shaped speech bubble.
The Stepford Cuckoos have only recently been united courtesy of Krakoa’s resurrection protocols, but this is still the first time the clone “sisters” – who share a hive mind of sorts – have ever all agreed they are interested in the same guy. That hive mind technically blurs the line here, because there’s a sense in which Cable isn’t dating five individual people, but rather five individual parts of a bonded consciousness that defies definition. Cable, of course, is a powerful telepath himself; it’s entirely possible he is able to at least temporarily join the Cuckoos’ hive mind in a psychic rapport similar to the one shared between Cyclops and Jean Grey. Comics have never shown a relationship like this before.
But it’s frankly even weirder than that. Cable is the son of Cyclops, and the Stepford Cuckoos are clones – considered “daughters” – of Emma Frost. Scott Summers and Emma Frost used to be an item, and there have been hints they’re back to spending quality time together on Krakoa as well. Cyclops once quipped that the X-Men can get pretty incestuous, but this is taking matters one step closer to that.
More: The X-Men Figured Out How To Kill Wolverine (And It’s Horrifying)