He is one of the characters I am rooting for, along with another character in Hickman's run, Kevin Ford aka Wither. I also wanted many of the dead guys to come back, even that dead clone of Magneto. But it is only my wish anyways. I always believe that the moment Vulcan made his debut, he is different. He is a man full of rage for all that happened in his life and does not know how to deal with it. In the Uncanny X Men, when Cyclops was resurrected, he admitted he was wrong (For the "Cyclops was Right" fans, I can only say that he is wrong and he was right.) because he was angry at the world for how the mutants are living. No matter what era, the only thing that happens is that the mutants are always hunted, hated and feared. Because of that, he would always put the mutants above everyone else.
That should be what Vulcan's new character should be like. He was furious and made some controversial decisions like attacking the Shi'ar, joining Deathbird and Araki and going so far as to wake up D'Ken from his long slumber all in the hopes of finally having vengeance on the two men who are responsible for the injustices that has happened to him. While everything goes the way he wanted at first, his lack of experience i warfare and politics let to his defeat and capture at the hands of Gladiator and his Imperial Guards.
Due to his uncontrollable hate which he was unable to focus onto, his vengeance became complicated. In his eyes, he wanted the death of both D'Ken and Xavier, the two men who are responsible for ruining his life for their own agenda. During this time he met D'Ken's sister Deathbird and fallen for the later. And when he realised she wanted D'Ken on the throne, he knows that by dethroning Lilandra and capturing her will have Xavier coming for him.
So he choose to wake D'Ken once he realises that D'Ken has many followers who will come to his aid against Vulcan's vengeance. So he prioritises on Xavier and his crew first. At first, he has nothing but Deathbird in his life. But when D'Ken appeared to him with the proposal of marriage, it was also a glimmer of hope for the man. By this time, Vulcan is knowledgeable in the Shi'ar history, traditions, customs and its laws. Once he married Deathbird, he was put in a position to murder D'Ken without a problem.
Before that happened he threw the other man who is responsible for his pain, Xavier. He threw Xavier in hopes of killing him, but unfortunately Darwin, his former friend and surviving teammate saves the day and to add insult to injury for Vulcan, Xavier also recover his powers. Once D'Ken is dead, Vulcan proclaims himself the emperor and even go as far as to kill his father. This is the point where he transforms from anti-hero to anti-villain to a complete villain.
So the new arc for a character should be something of a redemption arc. Like Cyclops, Vulcan is angry and unlike his brother who has something to focus his rage onto, Vulcan does not. Because of that, he unleashed his anger everywhere and adding his oversized ego that he got from his powers are the reason for his downfall. I just hope that Hickman bring something new to this character and every other fallen X-Men.
Log in to comment