X-Men Messiah Complex - I Think I Know Who The Baby Is
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Okay, I think 3 chapters is enough for a post, don’t you? No? Too bad, I don’t have anything else to write about!
Much like the last time I posted a Messiah Complex recap and not the first, I’m going to try and keep the spoilers to a minimum since these issues have only been out for three weeks at most. That said, I’m sure there will be minor spoilers and vague allusions to major spoilers since I just can’t help myself, so read at your own risk, or read along with the comics and consider this a comic book version of a commentary track.
Okay, let’s see, where were we? Layla and the Madrox dupe have been “captured” and are currently being processed for admittance into the mutant prison camp, we still have no idea what’s going on with the other dupe in the other alternate timeline, Caliban’s dead, X-23 had her revenge on Lady Deathstrike and maybe killed her, Rahne found out that her abusive adoptive father, Rev. Craig, has joined with the Reavers, and Cable has escaped with the baby and one of the Blackbirds. I think that catches us up.
I’m struck by the similarity of the future detention camp to what I assume Hitler’s death camps were like in the past and what Guantanamo Bay is probably like now, with the hate and the need to look upon the prisoners as less than human. I know I should probably be feeling something from this, but I’m really not feeling much. Whether that’s a failing on the part of the storytellers or on the part of my sense of compassion, I don’t know.
What DID effect me, somehow, is how upset Warpath is by Caliban’s death. People treating each-other like something they stepped in, I’m apparently okay with - anguish over a friend’s death? I’m a marshmallow. Who knew?
It may have been a bit forced, but I kinda loved Cyclops’ demand to treat Caliban’s body with respect because “He died an X-Man”. The fact that it seemed a bit forced actually helped it in my mind. I’m left with a sense that he’s stepping out of his comfort zone, trying to be more of a hard-ass because he recognizes that the situation requires a hard-ass. Alot of the slightly off moments for these characters leaves me with a sense that they want to break down, but know they can’t. Anyone that is pushed - either by themselves or others - beyond their limits is going to seem a bit off. It’s a subtle bit of characterization, but it really works for me.
On another note, am I the only one getting a bit of a Lone Wolf and Cub vibe from Cable and the baby? I wonder if that’s what the Cable series is going to be like, since the preview images that I’ve seen still show him with the baby. Now that I think of it, those preview images kind of ruin a bit of the dramatic tension of this crossover, but I’m too into it to notice.
Okay, that’s enough images for a bit.
Also, I do love Cyclops’ flashback to when Cable was a baby, before he had to send him to the future. It shows, like I mentioned before, that this is not easy for Scott, that he’s not taking any of this lightly, least of all sending a team to possibly kill him. And, by showing how hard it is for Scott, it also illustrates just how high the stakes are. Have I mentioned how much I love the writing on this?
And, as ambivalent as I am towards the New X-Men, it is nice that they’re playing such a vital role. Who knows, I may actually like them by the end of this crossover. If they survive.
I’m not clear on why Cable was looking for a time machine from Forge - the only thing I can really think of is that one of the alternate futures is his and the baby plays a vital role.
And… a nice dual reveal of Madrox and Layla’s tattoos and the apparent X-traitor close out this chapter. That last sentence may have spoiled you, but if you care that much you’ve hopefully read X-Men 206 by now. Still, I won’t post that last page, no matter how cool it looks. Here’s a hint, it’s not Professor X. Yet.
Ok, now that we know who the traitor is, we find out fairly quickly WHY the traitor is…traitoring and why Layla and Jamie are in this time line, even though no-one in the present knows anything. Which kinda gives it away… Screw it, I’m about to spoil this twist, so stop reading if you want to avoid it, okay? Okay.
The traitor is Bishop. He shot Forge and Cable, both of whom are unconscious, and he’s about to shoot the baby when the Marauders show up, kick his butt, and take the baby.
Well, Gambit takes the baby, and I’m starting to think that maybe he’s not really against the X-men now that I’ve paid attention. I went back and looked at a few things, and there may be more going on there than what meets the eye. Way back when Sunfire and Gambit attacked Providence, before Cable “died”, he noted that Gambit’s accent seemed overly forced. Could it be that he was trying to tip Cable off that something was up without coming out and saying that something was up? I mean, the one-minute to dawn thing now seems like a rather clear allusion to Messiah Complex. Also, when they were fighting Cannonball and Iceman, he attacked Cannonball right when what’s-his-face was about to shoot him. Could it be he was attacking so that Cannonball wouldn’t be shot? And right now, he could have killed Bishop, but he didn’t - might this have been on purpose, too? I think Gambit may be more on the up and up than we think. Also, after all time that Bishop was thinking that Gambit was the X-traitor, how gratifying do you think it is for Gambit that Bishop is now a traitor?
Also, I don’t remember if I mentioned this theory before, but I think that the baby is Layla Miller. This would give one explanation on why she “knows stuff”.
Bishop does do a nice last-minute spin job on the events when the X-Posse shows up, though.
I sympathize with Warpath and his desire to protect Hepzibah (what is she, anyway, a squirrel?), but he definitely needed to be put in his place, both by Logan and Squirrel Girl.
The baby flickering in and out just reinforces my Layla theory, by the way. She can turn her mutant signal scan thingamabob on and off, which is what I think the baby is doing unconsciously. Just say I’m correct now, it’ll save us all time.
And Cable calls in Professor X, proving me sorta right about why they kept showing him getting more and more alienated.
Ok, I was wrong - we don’t find out Bishop’s “why” until the next chapter, in X-Factor 27. I could edit that out and make myself look less like a moron, but it’s better that you find this out about me now rather than later on when you’ve started thinking I actually have a brain.
Anyway, it basically boils down to this: In Bishop’s future, the baby slaughtered millions of humans, thus starting a war that the mutants lost. Bishops parents were killed in the war and Bishop was put in one of the mutant concentration camps. Kiddie Bishop expresses his wish to Madrox and Layla that he could go back and kill the baby because, while he may never have been born, he wouldn’t have to see his family die.
Right after this, Layla blows up the Madrox clone so that Madrox prime will know what happened. I’m not sure if Layla survived and was stranded or died in the explosion. Holy crap, wait… I just noticed that Layla calls herself Layla Madrox - is she the future bebbe of Madrox and whichever of his teammates are pregnant?!?! Could that still mean that she’s the messiah baby? Have either of the X-Factor women been to Alaska recently? Would it be a big deal for them to have gone and come back without anyone noticing? I really need to read some back issues now.
Edit: In the comments, AJ just reminded me of Layla’s claims that she would one day marry Jamie. This would explain the “Layla Madrox” thing and debunk my theory about her being his daughter.
But I still think she’s the Messiah Baby, at least partially because I don’t have any better candidates.
Ok, back to this for now - the Cuckoos trace Gambit, maybe because he accidentally on purpose broadcast himself to them? Cyclops sends Bishop and X-Force after them before Madrox wakes up -with his “M” tattoo - and explains everything, at which point Cyclops and his crew race after them.
Cable explains himself to Professor X - his explanation amounts to “half my old team has joined the Marauders, how do I know who I can trust?”. My theory is that the other dupe is in his future, in which the baby did something to save the world or that her death sparked something terrible. Regardless, Cable and Professor X are on their way to Muir Island, too, where there would appear to be an impending Battle Royale.
Cool twist with Mystique and Gambit - could it be that they’re both secretly X-men moles?
Predator X is at the mansion and eating dead mutants, OMGWTFMUTIEBBQ!
X-Force gets to Muir Island first and the battle begins!
Sorry, I’m trying not to spoil the VERY end of this issue, at least.
In the words of the X-Teaser…
NEXT WEEK:
FINAL SHOWDOWN.
PREDATOR X FEASTS
SINISTER’S FATE REVEALED.
And I wanna know who Layla’s mom is and whether or not she really is the messiah bebbe!!
tag: Marvel, Messiah Complex, Layla Miller, Madrox, Bishop, Cable, Cyclops, Gambit, Messiah Baby
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Comments
Possible, but I hope not. I’ve had enough of this death and rebirth of Jean Grey.
My money’s on Layla Miller. The blonde hair, the registering then not registering on Cerebra, and the timing of the birth shortly after one of the ladies in X-Factor getting pregnant, shortly after two of them sleeping with Madrox, shortly after Layla Miller - who was just revealed to be Layla MADROX and thus Jamie’s daughter - shows up, all point me towards Layla being the Messiah baby.
The only flaw in the Layla Miller being madrox’s kid theory is that in X-Factor, she occasionaly claims that she is going to marry Madrox some day. Meaning, if he was her dad…then…ew. She could’ve been lying, but that’s what the Madrox could’ve been about.
Damnit, AJ, I had totally forgotten about her claiming she would marry Jamie! You just totally blew that idea out of the water!
But she could still totally be the Messiah Baby!
about layla miller in HoM the scarlet witch putted her in there to be a fail-safe program…. this baby could be the same here….. layla miller would be cool, with a shit load of bigger powerss
Did the Scarlet Witch put Layla there or is Layla so subtly powerful that she was there in spite of the Scarlet Witch?
Hmmmmm….
well how i read it, it was like the scarlet witch put layla in there…. (i have to re-read a lot to check what episode it was) but if layla was there by her self she had a lil amnesia during HoM till MC 10 hehe 
but Hmmmm….. yeah what else
proberly happend durin that grenade *swap* trick she did on the guard…. orrr well she’s 80 years in the future you dont know what sideaffects a playstaion22/xbox1080 has
lol thats some nice electronick you got there… anyway
from MC to macbook…..
i think ill drop by when we find out who the baby really is
Please do! I don’t really expect to get anything up on the final chapter before the evening of Sunday the 27th, because Sundays are my one free day that I really settle in and get some comics reading done, so you may want to check in sometime on Monday the 28th.
Of course, you’re more than welcome to come by as much as you like - I have write-ups on the previous Messiah Complex chapters and plenty of other stuff!
I’m not entirely sure the baby is going to be anyone in particular. Yeah, it could very well be Layla, as their powers seem somewhat similiar, but it could also be just a completely new character.
Jeez, how crazy would it be if Cable saved the baby, rasied it, and then Bishop turned out to be right!
Either way, I can’t wait for the final chapter.
It’s totally possible that the baby is noone in particular, maybe even likely, but it’s more fun to speculate that it actually is somebody.
Personally, I was pretty sure that Cable was the mutant messiah until they started talking about the baby in the run-up to this crossover.
Posting about Chapter 12 in a few minutes, I’m fine-tuning the images right now.
[...] not hunting down the links to all the write-ups leading to this one, but the one before this is right here, and it has links to the ones before it. Right then, on with the [...]
I read a theory somewhere online saying the baby may be a reincarnated Jean Gray. How awkward would that be for Scott?
Nah, I suspect that Jean Grey is Mutant Zero from Avengers The Initiative.
High profile female mutant that people are used to seeing on covers and is currently unaccounted for… sounds like Jean Grey to me.
Or Illyana Rasputin
oww illyana rasputin is bizzy with rulin Limbo she teleported the x-men back and after that she closed herself in to Limbo (some crazy demon world, hell i donnow)
…. last time i saw her in new x-men
and i believe Jean Grey is much bigger that mutant zero…. last time she and the phoenix force returned to the white room, and this is where they heal. so hope she return bad ass i guess. anyway…. (my inet was gone for a view days… i just saw you posted #12 im gonna check that out.
I got the impression that she wasn’t the real Illyana, but some kind of alternate version spawned from a fragment of her soul, so it’s not out of the question for her to be reborn through some kind of magic. Or the baby could just be a Skrull.
As for Mutant X, I can think of a few explanations.
First, when Jean Grey has been “reborn” before, she hasn’t been at full Phoenix power.
Second, how do you know that we have seen the full extent of Mutant X’s powers - she’s shown up what, twice?
Third, they’ve indicated that Mutant X cannot hear her real name or something bad will happen. To me, this indicates that Mutant X has some level of amnesia and hearing her name would remind her of her name. Perhaps Jean Grey has been brainwashed by the Initiative and remembering who she was would cause her to lash out at Henry Gyrich, et. al.
Of course, this could also indicate that Mutant X is Scarlet Witch who is in denial about her role in the Decimation and remembering would cause her to go batshit insane again. Her appearance in Endangered Species makes me doubt that she’s Mutant X, but it’s possible.
yeah that would be good…. want ilyana back but nice speculatin on ilyana…
but if the baby’s a skrull im gonna back-up with Bishop on this one…. i hate people with green skinn, is that racist? well ummm im happy skrulls are aliens.
bout mutant X yeah we’ve only seen her a view times…. only saw her in action for 1 time.
but about Jean bein bigger then mX is cause, common when savin worlds and being the primel host of the phoenix force… goin back on this lil thing called the initiative ow owww i meannn shadow initiative. just being a lame thing jean grey backin up that shit……. how secret and importent her mission is. i dont want to see her in the initiative.
to be honoust i never speculated the thing “who’s Mutant X” i liked how bad ass she was but i left it with that.
and Scarlet Witch is a good choice with all that denial thing about her name….. keep mutant x for what it is
mayb its Layla trained with bishop bein reall danger with future tech…. and now she’s back 
(scratch that last thought)
I think I have some theories - in this last issue, there’s no doubt in my mind that the baby’s hair is red and the eyes are green. We know what that means. She’s either Jean OR she’s the Askani sent back in time to save Cable.
Something occurred to me when Rogue recovered. What if Rogue becomes Destiny. The baby cleared her of all her powers when she was touched to Rogue (this theory makes a lot more sense if the baby is Layla). As now rogue might “just know stuff” and eventually go back in time to write the diaries that would save her life.
So, while it hasn’t been flat out said “baby = Jean” it seems pretty obvious from our first close-up of the baby in Chapter 13, and from Cyke’s reaction, that the baby is indeed Jean reborn.
[...] comment that Jason left on my penultimate MC write-up speculated that if Layla IS the baby, it’s possible that Rogue picked up her ability to [...]
MARVEL I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DONT BRING JEAN BACK AND KEEP HER ALIVE I WILL COME AFTER ALL OF YOU!! I basically have no reason to read X-Men until she comes back. Without her there is no heart…plus she was the strongest member and I enjoyed the tension between Emma and Jean. No one on the current teams are as fun or intense as Jean. I loved how she was either extremely nurturing or a raging death goddess. How about a trade? Psylocke for Jean?? Psylocke has no personality anyway. Stupid cunt. I hope Jean comes back pissed.
Dude, Bryan… relax, it’s only a comic. We all know Jean will return eventually, I just hope they’ll make up their minds one way or the other. Dead and back over and over again gets lame.
And I know it’s just a word, and words only have as much power as you give them, but “cunt” carries alot of negative connotations for alot of people, and I don’t think a comics blog is the place to go down that path, so watch the language.
Drop as many four-letter words as you like, but let’s not use words that alienate entire genders.
Come on people its got to be Jean Grey, green eyes red hair… and every time Scott has thought about the kind its flashbacks to Jean….. she will eventually grow up with Cable in the future then return.
Remember there was no mother of the messiah baby found… maybe because there was no mother, maybe she was hatched from the white hot room…
and remember when all the telepath’s went down? what mutant you know can do that? Jean Grey…. She’s back just give her a couple of years in the future to grow up and she’ll be back!
Check our x-men first class vol.2 #8 for what could be the rising of phoenix in time to come and notice the line ‘i am far stronger than any of my previous rebirths’ maybe she’s back for good, could they really have a character that just cannot die? O wait there is already wolverine, so why not give him a life long partner to stand by him but red herself.
Am I the only person who DOESNT want the new baby to be Jean Grey? She hasnt even been dead that long, why bring her back so soon?
You’re definitely not alone on that one, Ronnie. I’m moving firmly into the camp of not wanting the baby to be any preexisting character at all. Let her be her own, brand new character. If nothing else, it adds to the wild-card element of which future she’ll cause.
Those are all pretty sound theories and I don’t think we have heard the last of Jean, Wanda and Layla…
My First thought upon the first close up was that the baby is Jean… or what about Rachel Summers… I mean it cold be she is all time travel-y. In the Marvel Uni it could happen that it is Rachel.
I think Wanda will be brought back as an insane wild card character that you never know what might happen (very Jamie Braddok like).
Layla, remember in the old show (like earlu 90’s) and Bishops “sister” was white.. maybe she is Layla…
Let me kow what you think…
[...] The Love of Comics is a great blog which I read often. CrackerBob has a nice Messiah Craplex write-up but what caught my attention today was this bit from Rich Johnston Lying in the Gutters bit about [...]