Mister Sinister is one of the most popular villains in X-Men comics. Fans who grew up with the ’90s X-Men cartoons and comics know the character and his machinations well. Nathaniel Essex, aka Mister Sinister, has augmented his powers through extensive genetic manipulation and uses his knowledge in that field to conduct often horrifying experiments using the DNA of powerful Mutants.
In the current Krakoan age of X-Men comics, Sinister has come out from the shadows and now sits on the ruling council of the Mutant nation. On the surface, Sinister has been charming and cooperative, with his signature sense of humor on full display. Despite his veneer of civility, however, Sinister has continued his plots and experiments behind the scenes, and it looks like fans will soon see the results in Marvel Comics’ upcoming Sins of Sinister crossover event.
10/10 Sins Of Sinister Will Begin In January 2023
Marvel Comics first teased the upcoming Sins of Sinister event in August 2022 with a tweet featuring a video of static and the words, “S.O.S. January 2023.” Marvel followed up with more details in October at New York Comic-Con. The Sins of Sinister event will officially launch on January 25, 2023, with the release of the giant-sized one-shot comic Sins of Sinister #1.
After the initial one-shot issue, the event will then continue over the next three months across three of the main X-Men titles, Legion of X, Immortal X-Men, and X-Men Red, before ending with another one-shot issue, Sins of Sinister: Dominion in April 2023. The titles of those series will change for the event.
9/10 Sins Of Sinister Will Consist Of 11 Comic Book Issues
Immortal X-Men #9-10 will serve as a prelude to the event. The Sins of Sinister event will be launching with an oversized issue titled Sins of Sinister #1, in January 2023. The series will continue across three of the main X-Men comic book series–Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red, and Legion of X for three issues each.
Throughout February and April 2023, those three X-Men titles will be completely transformed to reflect the changes Mister Sinister has wrought on the world. The titles will become Immoral X-Men, where Emma Frost fights back against Sinister, Storm & The Brotherhood of Mutants, where Storm will seek revenge for the destruction of Arakko, and Nightcrawlers, featuring Sinister’s private army of Nightcrawler hybrids.
8/10 Many Different Creators Are Contributing To Sins Of Sinister
The primary creative force behind Marvel’s Sins of Sinister event is writer Kieron Gillen, who created the overall scope and design of the event. Gillen will be writing the initial Sins of Sinister one-shot that launches the event, as well as the Immoral X-Men series during the event. Al Ewing and Si Spurrier will be writing Storm & the Brotherhood of Mutants and Nightcrawlers respectively.
Marvel has many talented artists in their stable, and they are putting some of their best creators to work. Lucas Werneck will be drawing the prelude issues of Immortal X-Men and the Sins of Sinister one-shot. Leinil Francis Yu has created the cover art for each of the debut issues. The three main titles are reported to be illustrated by Paco Medina, Patch Zircher, and Alessandro Vitti.
7/10 The Sins Of Sinister Event Will Remake The World In Mister Sinister’s Image
Marvel has kept details about the Sins of Sinister event fairly quiet, however, they have announced some details about what will be occurring during the special crossover event. In essence, Mister Sinister will be taking control of and redesigning the world. According to Marvel, the horrific reality created by Mister Sinister “makes the Age of Apocalypse look like the X-Men Swimsuit Special.”
The announcements from Marvel make the Sinister-led event sound heavy on horror elements. While horror is not the genre most associated with X-Men titles, some storylines have dipped toes into that pool before. Marvel has released images of what some of the characters will look like after 100 years, and “horrific” definitely comes to mind.
6/10 Age Of Apocalypse Inspired The Sins Of Sinister Event
In the advertising for Sins of Sinister that Marvel has released so far, even the publisher itself has drawn parallels between the upcoming Sins of Sinister event and the popular Age of Apocalypse event that took place during the 1990s. In that event, the villain Apocalypse remade the world, culling all humans and hunting down any dissenting Mutants.
Aside from re-creating the Marvel Comics universe to fulfill the whims of an epic villain, there are additional similarities between the two series. Both events involve rebranding existing titles to reflect the world the villain has created, and both alter existing characters in ways that reflect the changes to their world.
5/10 Mister Sinister Has Always Been Plotting
Traditionally, Mister Sinister has operated in the shadows, manipulating events to achieve his goals and further his genetic research. In the late 20th Century, his plots mostly consisted of cloning powerful Mutants, then watching the chaos that ensued. These cloning experiments will definitely play a role in the new event.
During Krakoa’s creation, Professor X and Magneto approached Sinister about his library of Mutant DNA. After negotiating terms, Sinister agreed to share his data and join the ruling council of Krakoa. The comics have made it clear that although Mister Sinister promised to behave, he has never stopped plotting or experimenting. The results of those plots will likely be revealed in Sins of Sinister.
4/10 Sins Of Sinister Will Be Set 10, 100, and 1,000 Years In The Future
One thing Marvel has revealed about Sins of Sinister is the event’s timeline. Each series in the event will have three issues. The first issue will be set 10 years in the future, the second 100 years, and the third 1,000 years ahead of the current timeline. Writer Gillen may have been inspired by the recent indie comic hit, Eight Billion Genies, which has similar time leaps between issues.
Teasers for the event imply that eventually, Mister Sinister will be unhappy with the world he has created. Readers can probably assume that the event will end with the world reverting to something that looks similar to its current form. However, it must take over 1,000 years for the heroes to succeed in restoring the balance. Sinister may be opposing them, or perhaps even helping them, if his creations have gotten out of control.
3/10 Marvel Has Revealed Costumes From 1,000 Years In The Future
As a preview of the event, Marvel has revealed its artists’ renderings of several of the characters and costumes from Sins of Sinister. The characters and costumes are from 10, 100, and 1,000 years in the future. Predictably, the 10-year images are more easily recognizable than the 1,000-year ones.
At 10 years, we see Storm, a cross between Mister Sinister and Captain America, and Wagnervine–a hybrid of Nightcrawler and Wolverine. At 100 years out, Cable apparently has had his cybernetics replaced, Sinister has a yellow, grey, and red jumpsuit, and Nightcrawler has undergone a horrific transformation. The 1,000-year images show new characters Ironfire and Auntie Fortune, plus returning character Rasputin.
2/10 Mutant Chimeras Will Feature Heavily In Sins Of Sinister
Mister Sinister is best known as a scientist. He has extensive knowledge as a geneticist, including frequent experimentation using Mutant genes. From his earliest appearances in Marvel Comics, Sinister has been obsessed with the genetics of the strongest Mutants, particularly Jean Grey and Scott Summers (aka Cyclops).
Sinister has experimented on animals, humans, Mutants, and even himself. Marvel has announced that the Nightcrawlers title from the Sins of Sinister event will feature Sinister’s team of private assassins, who are all clone-hybrids of teleporting mutant Nightcrawler. Wagnervine, who is a hybrid of Nightcrawler and Wolverine, will be leading the team.
1/10 Rasputin Will Return In Sins Of Sinister
Fans who read the Powers of X event were excited to learn that Sins of Sinister would be bringing back a fan-favorite character from that series. Rasputin is not Russia’s greatest love machine, but rather a Chimera created from the DNA of five different Mutants–Quentin Quire, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Unus the Untouchable, and Laura Kinney.
One of the promotional images shared by Marvel Comics showed Rasputin appearing 1,000 years in the future in Mister Sinister’s world. She was last seen being pulled into a black hole. Readers will be keen to discover whether this is the same Rasputin from that timeline or a new Sinister creation.
