Juggernaut’s Shocking Sacrifice: Saves World, Defies X-Men and Cyttorak!

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There’s no force capable of halting the Juggernaut, not even the formidable X-Men. Since his debut in the Marvel Universe in 1965’s X-Men #12, Cain Marko has been fueled by a deep-seated animosity towards his stepbrother, Charles Xavier, the founder of the X-Men. Endowed with supernatural strength as the human manifestation of Cyttorak the Destroyer, the relentless Juggernaut has harnessed the formidable power of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak to lay waste across the globe, consistently clashing with Earth’s most powerful defenders: The X-Men, The Avengers, The Hulk, and Spider-Man.

Following brief tenures as a helmeted hero in comics like All New Exiles, X-Men Forever, and Uncanny X-Men, the massive Marko frequently reverted to villainy. However, since he was asked to join Nightcrawler’s Legionaries within the tranquil mutant nation Krakoa – “I choose to think that no one is beyond salvation,” the ex-priest expressed to his former foe in Legion of X #1 – Cain Marko has been fighting alongside, not against, Professor Xavier’s X-Men (even though he isn’t a mutant himself).

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During the era known as the Krakoan Age, Juggernaut reconnected with the X-Men, a group he joined during this period for mutantkind. However, the Krakoan Age concluded last summer in issue #35 of X-Men. In the newly restarted series by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman, Juggernaut chose to ally with Cyclops and Magneto’s X-Men team stationed in Alaska. Recently, this group traveled from Alaska to New York City to fight against one of the eight Scions of Cyttorak, Cradios, as seen in last month’s Amazing Spider-Man #66.

After Spider-Man, who had been appointed by Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Doom to fight against the Scions of Cyttorak and save Earth from destruction, temporarily passed on his role, the powerful X-Men member stepped in. In a selfless act, Spider-Man spent four of his eight life-renewing Reeds of Raggadorr to resurrect four civilians who had been killed by Scion Callix, among them his Aunt May. However, when Callix was taken over by an evil and corrupting force called the Blight, Spider-Man joined forces with the X-Men once more to combat Blight-Callix as Earth’s champion of the Covenant.

In Amazing Spider-Man #68, written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Mark Buckingham, the Blight managed to kill Spider-Man and drive the X-Men against Juggernaut. However, Juggernaut remained unaffected due to his status as Cyttorak’s champion on Earth. With the Blight’s “soul decay” spreading rapidly through New York, and threatening the world, Juggernaut found himself standing alone against the X-Men in this issue titled DEATHS.

A group consisting of Cyclops, Psylocke, Kid Omega, Magik, and Tempest (who are currently under the influence of a mysterious force known as “Blight”) attempted but ultimately failed to subdue one of their own teammates. Juggernaut managed to thwart Magik’s attempt at stabbing him with her Soul Sword, and he held strong against Omega’s telekinetic efforts to remove the helmet shielding his weak point – his mental faculties. The X-Men later found out that Juggernaut was wearing a second, concealed helmet underneath his armor, and it was Psylocke who managed to penetrate his thoughts with her psychic weapon.

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Psylocke’s assault catapulted Juggernaut’s ethereal self to the Crimson Cosmos, a realm currently under siege by the Blight, where Cyttorak resides. Despite Juggernaut’s avatar becoming progressively weaker with each virtuous act, he refused Cyttorak’s order to eliminate the X-Men and eradicate the Blight. Instead, Juggernaut expressed his feelings about his power: “I should be invincible, but I often lose to teams like the X-Men because they have allies…and that’s what I was missing.” Now that he has friends, Juggernaut won’t let anyone, including Cyttorak, stand in his way. Upon returning from his source of power, Juggernaut knocked out Kid Omega and Tempest before withstanding a full Cyclops optic blast.

He often repeats this, but today it holds particular truth. Nothing can halt the Juggernaut’s momentum, he asserted, delivering a blow to Cyke. He then reached out to Magneto and Beast in Alaska, seeking remedies for the Blight, assuring them that nothing would breach Cyttorak’s defenses. Suddenly, Magik pierced Juggernaut with her Soul Sword, yet he persisted. Overwhelmed by the X-Men, Juggernaut addressed Cyttorak, ‘Empower me as much as you can. Or don’t. I’ll keep battling. I won’t take lives. You may view them as adversaries here. I see only people who stood by me when they had no reason to. So, I vow not to abandon them. If you wish to strip my powers, by all means, do so. I’ll fall as Cain Marko, but I’ll fall fighting for my comrades.’

After Spider-Man met his end and Juggernaut fought valiantly, the story concluded in suspenseful fashion. However, previews showed what’s to come next: it seems that nothing can halt the arrival of the Spider-Naut!

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2025-02-27 04:11