Warning: Contains spoilers forX-Factor (2024) #3!
A standout character in Marvel’sX-Factorrelaunch officially reveals their brutally tragic origin, and it may help them take the crown for the publisher’s most cursed mutant ever. In the X-Men’s new era, 2024’s X-Factor is basically a government-run squad of mutant sellouts with an eclectic and expendable roster of heroes. One of the team’s newest recruits only discovered their mutant power late in life, in a pretty devastating way.
Granny Smite,a new mutant hero with a death wish, takes a central role inX-Factor (2024) #3- written by Mark Russell, with art by Bob Quinn, color artist Jesus Aburtov, and letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna. The bold new addition to the world of X-Men has her origin briefly explained, and is integral to X-Factor’s mission.
Losing her whole family in two freak accidents, Granny Smite only recognized her immortality when she became the impossible survivor of both tragedies in her mid-80s.Without her loved ones, the unlucky mutant hero is committed to testing the limits of her immortal status.
Marvel’s Newest Superhero is an 87-Year-Old Who Wants to Die
Though there have been reluctant Marvel Comics heroes in the past,Granny Smite remains a unique take on the superhero formula as an elderly woman trying to cheat her immortality and find a way out. As she joins the second roster ofthe new mutant squad inX-Factor #1- also written by Russell with art by Quinn and colors by Aburtov - the senior superhero is unfairly viewed as an expendable liability to the team. However, she proves herself as a valuable asset to the team inX-Factor #3, being extremely important and perhaps the most useful to their space mission.
“If Nobody Likes the Characters, Focus on the Plot”: Marvel Admits How the X-Men Franchise Lost Its Way
With the relaunched “X-Factor,” Marvel admits where it went wrong with the X-Men franchise, and takes the opportunity to tell a more focused story.
When Superpowers Become a Curse: Marvel’s Most Miserable Mutants
Any X-Men reader likely knows that the mutant lifestyle is not always so super or heroic, with many instances where their initial use of powers becomes a source of trauma. With a wide range of possible abilities throughout decades of Marvel storytelling, Granny Smite’s immortality isn’t exactly amongthe worst mutant powers the publisher has seen. Though others can have elements of body horror, heights of power that can’t be properly controlled, or even power that’s just simply inconvenient,Granny Smite’s ability to never die is only such a curse because of the horrifying and nightmarish way she discovered it.
X-Men: 16 Mutants Who Just Disappeared From The Comics
Given that every one of Marvel’s merry mutants deserves their moment, we put the spotlight on some beloved, if largely forgotten about characters.
Rogue and Nightcrawler are perhaps the most famous examples of mutants that feel burdened by mutation, at least initially. Nightcrawler has a strong physical differentiation from humans from his mutation, with a long sharp tail and ears, and bold blue skin. Before Roguegained the ability to control her powers, she couldn’t touch anybody for fear of draining their power and life-energy, meaning that any physical contact with another person could turn deadly.Granny Smite’s mutation didn’t cause any of these immediate negative effects, but her origin is still devastating as an unwitting sole survivor without any living loved ones.
Granny Smite is X-Factor’s Biggest Wild Card
As a new kind of hero in the world of the X-Men and its various subsidiary groups, Granny Smite has already proven herself as a member of the X-Factor in their latest issue. However, the series is already full of surprises in only three issues,killing off a few of its new characters. Though Granny Smite’s whole thing is her inability to die, it’s not totally impossible for there to be some way to de-power and kill the new fan-favorite.Seeing as her character still hasn’t been totally developed, the new mutant wild card could even transition into a villain.
Most immortal characters either don’t age or age significantly slower, but Granny Smite continues to age as she lives on and on forever. For fear of that fate and missing her family after losing them in two unfortunate freak accidents, the latest mutant hero is not determined to live any longer. However, the series manages to hammer home just how cursed her character is while maintaining a real sense of humor, levity, and dignity for the character. Though Granny Smite may have the most tragic backstory ever, her new role on theX-Factorgives her a chance to shine.
X-Factor (2024) #3is available now from Marvel Comics.
X-Factor
X-Factor is a Marvel comic series centering on a team made up of popular X-Men characters Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Iceman. In the ’90s, a new X-Factor team was introduced, consisting of Valerie Cooper, Havok, Multiple Man, Polaris, Quicksilver, Wolfsbane, and Strong Guy. Later, Mystique, Sabretooth, Shard, and Wild Child would join the superhero team.
