Warning: Contains SPOILERS for X-Force #43
Since his initial debut, the Colossus has always been one of the X-Men's most stalwart . Usually been one of the team’s moral bastions, he has taken a dark turn over the last few years, thanks to his older brother, Mikhail Rasputin – and unfortunately for Piotr, his darkest deed committed under his brother’s thrall has now come to light.
X-Force #43 – by Ben Percy, Robert Gill, GURU-eFX, and VC’s Joe Caramagna – finds the majority of the titular team grappling with the chaos of the X-Men’s tragic Hellfire Gala, while Domino uncovers the body of Colossus’ lover, murdered by his own hands at the behest of his brother, and buried beneath his farm on the Savage Land, finally bringing Colossus' dark secret to light.
Colossus’ Crimes Have Finally Been Exposed In X-Force #43
With the assistance of a mind-controlling writer named the Chronicler, Mikhail Rasputin has controlled his brother since the very dawn of the Krakoan Age of mutantkind. Both on his own, and as a member of the Quiet Council and X-Force, Piotr has been systematically weakening the foundation of Krakoa against his own will, even shedding innocent blood at the behest of his masters. Now that the truth has come out, chances are Colossus will manage to be freed from his predicament by his fellow mutants, but the darkness of his actions will undoubtedly stick with him, with the revelation in X-Force #43 perhaps a point of no return.
Colossus Isn’t The First Mind-Controlled Mutant Hero To Do Horrible Things
Colossus' loss of agency at the hands of his brother, and the Chronicler, are of course reminiscent of another iconic member of the X-Men: Wolverine. Just as Colossus has been manipulated as a weapon in recent years, Wolverine’s well-known backstory includes him being mind-controlled and weaponized by the monsters at Weapon X, and subsequently the trauma of this dark history has shaped Logan into the man he is today. It is no doubt that regardless of Colossus’ future, his actions under Mikhail’s orders are certainly going to stick with him. Whether he manages to find the same path to redemption walked by Logan remains to be seen.
Alternatively, perhaps, Piotr will be another member of the X-Men driven to an irredeemable place by the events of the Krakoa era, and it's devastating fall. Assuming he is eventually freed from outside control, how exactly Colossus will manage to process the trauma of his time as his brother’s pawn remains to be seen. Still, Piotr is far from the first mutant to be manipulated into committing horrible atrocities – and if Marvel Comics’ Colossus ever does get the chance to come to with what happens, it won’t be too much of a surprise if he has to turn to his fellow X-Men hero Wolverine for advice.
X-Force #43 is available now from Marvel Comics.
