Warning: Spoilers for A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5The universe of Marvel Comics is currently experiencing supreme judgment in the A.X.E.: Judgment Day event and it’s tie-ins, as the reborn Celestial Progenitor passes judgment on heroes, villains, and all of humanity… but the cosmic being has noticeably avoided judging the X-Men’s living island of Krakoa, instead choosing to destroy it without a second thought.
Throughout the A.X.E.: Judgment Day event the Progenitor, revived by several Eternals, Mister Sinister, and Tony Stark, has loomed over the Marvel Universe judging major characters left and right giving them a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” using a seemingly arbitrary and cosmically unknowable system of judgment. The living island Krakoa was first introduced in the beloved 1975 X-Men reboot Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum as a major antagonist of the mutants, and while the being has gone through many changes over the years, switching sides and allegiances, it has always been clear the island is living and sentient, capable of making choices and judgments.
Krakoa has played a major role in Marvel Comics since Jonathan Hickman’s 2019 soft reboot of the X-Men in House of X/Powers of X, both as the main setting for X-Men comics and also a powerful character in its own right, speaking through its translator Doug Ramsey, firmly established as firmly established as a sentient and highly intelligent mutant being. Yet, it seems as though the Progenitor has completely forgotten, or chosen to ignore, the passing of judgment on the living island, instead opting to just destroy it with its apocalyptic powers in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5 – written by Kieron Gillen with stunning art by Valerio Schiti. It is clear that the Progenitor is treating the world too harshly, deciding to raze the Earth of all life after a majority of heroes and civilians “failed” its tests, and while most major characters in the Marvel universe do not recognize the Celestial’s authority over their fate, it is still frustrating to see the being destroy Krakoa without judging it first, or at least not in a way that has been visible to readers.
There is an argument to be made that Krakoa escaped specific judgment because it is a part of Earth, or “The Great Machine,” seeing as the Eternals were unable to nuke it without activating their internal self-destruct sequences, and yet the Eternals are also part of The Great Machine, and they received individual judgment. Krakoa has been a major character the past 4 years of Marvel Comics and has also displayed not only high levels of sentience but incredibly intense emotional reactions, such as the re-emergence and reunification of itself, and it’s counterpart Arakko, as well as its anger at being forced to create the Pit and jail mutants within it’s body. It would be fascinating to see how the Progenitor would judge Krakoa, a former villain turned utopia-like haven for mutantkind, and it seems likely that the island would pass the Celestial’s judgment. However, there is still time for Krakoa to be judged, as the Judgment Day event is not over yet, and it would be incredibly interesting to see Krakoa be judged as a part of a judgment passed on its strongest allies the mutant Cypher and the alien Warlock, a trio that have been working in subterfuge behind the Quiet Council’s back, but for seemingly the “right” and moral reasons.
Regardless of how Krakoa would be judged by the Progenitor, it is undeniable that the sentient island deserves to been as much as a living, judge-able thing as the rest of Marvel’s heroes and villains, and the Celestial destroying it without seemingly a second thought to its true nature is frustrating to say the least, and also shows just how flawed and fallible this new “god” really is.
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #5 is available now in stores.
