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"Necrosha"
Cover to Necrosha One Shot. Art by Clayton Crain
PublisherMarvel Comics
Publication dateOctober 2009 – March 2010
Genre
Title(s)
New Mutants vol. 3, #6–8
X-Force vol. 3, #21–25 Annual #1
X-Men: Legacy vol. 1, #231–233
X-Necrosha #1
X-Nerosha: The Gathering #1
Dazzler #1
Main character(s)X-Force
New Mutants
X-Men
Deadpool
Selene
Creative team
Writer(s)Craig Kyle
Christopher Yost
Mike Carey
Zeb Wells
X-Necrosha ISBN 0-7851-4674-1

"Necrosha" is a 2009–10 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics featuring the X-Men family of characters. In the storyline, Selene decides to utilize the techno-organic virus power to bring any deceased mutants back to life, allowing her to begin her quest to ascend to godhood. This prompts multiple mutant teams to fight against Selene in an attempt to free the newly resurrected mutants. The storyline is notable for reviving a vast majority of its characters.

Publication history

[edit]

Necrosha had been slowly building in the pages of X-Force and began in earnest with the one-shot X-Necrosha, released on October 28, 2009, and continued in X-Force, New Mutants, and X-Men: Legacy.

Plot synopsis

[edit]

Through her servant, Eli Bard, Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, gains access to the Technarch transmode virus, which she uses to resurrect dead mutants. This resurrection is the beginning of her plan to become a goddess.

Selene orders her minions to bring Destiny, one of the resurrected mutants, to her. Selene wants to know what her future holds; Destiny tells her she will achieve what she has set out to do, and is put back in her cell again. Destiny insists she needs to do something, that otherwise these events will end badly. Destiny is able to contact Blindfold in Utopia and asks the girl to deliver a message. Destiny believes that she has made a mistake. Selene, however, gets something she did not plan for: another major villain, Proteus, is brought back to life along with the resurrected Destiny.

Selene returns to the place of her birth in central Europe, accompanied by her new Inner Circle, consisting of Blink, Senyaka, Mortis, Wither, and Eli Bard. They then travel to the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, where they slaughter every person there. She targets others who, according to her, have failed her in her quest for godhood, such as Sebastian Shaw, Donald Pierce, and Emma Frost (for whom she has a particular animus for having adopted the "Black Queen" moniker while working for the Dark X-Men). She also intends to attack the X-Men, because they have opposed her many times, and Magma, for her betrayal in Nova Roma. Caliban and Thunderbird lead her to the ruins of Genosha, where she claims her journey will end, welcoming them to what she now dubs Necrosha.[1] She sends most of the resurrected mutants to attack the X-Men on Utopia, and dispatches Cypher to kill Magma.

With Eli Bard, Selene resurrects the massacred residents of Genosha, with Cerebro and Bastion's computers detecting the rise of mutant numbers into the millions.[2] There is a major problem, however: many of the dead have been depowered, despite having been killed before M-Day. The Coven begins to set up a base at Necrosha.

Meanwhile, Cypher sneaks into Magma's room and knocks her unconscious; however, he cannot complete his mission of killing her due to the intervention of his former teammates and the arrival of Warlock. Sensing that something isn't right, Eli Bard reports to Selene what is happening, prompting her to send the Hellions to help and to retrieve Cypher. The former members of the New Mutants team manage to defeat the Hellions, while Magik finds out that her soulsword can damage the mutants revived by the Techno-organic virus. Warlock returns and, in combination with Magik's soulsword, manages to free Cypher from the Black Queen's influence, leaving him restored to life and in possession of his own memories and free will.[3]

Amidst the chaos, a squad of resurrected Acolytes have come for the former White King of the Hellfire Club, Magneto. They fight Loa and temporary X-Man Deadpool, who finds out that Loa's powers can damage the mutants revived by the Techno-organic virus.[4]

While the X-Men battle Selene's troops in Utopia, Hrimhari finds out that his beloved Wolfsbane, who is in a coma, is pregnant with his child (who is neither mutant nor human), and Doctor Nemesis reveals that the unborn child is threatening her health and her life.[5] Hrimhari gives his soul to the Asgardian goddess of the Underworld, Hela, in exchange for her restoring Elixir (who was also in a coma) to life. Hela does so, and they return to the Asgardian Underworld together, Hrimhari's final words being "that he would somehow find his way back to [Wolfsbane] and their unborn child." Elixir heals Wolfsbane. When he realizes that she is pregnant with Hrimhari's child, and that she will not survive the birth, he transfers some of the baby's strength to Wolfsbane.[5]

Meanwhile, on Muir Island, Proteus uses Destiny's body to send the message to Blindfold in order to lure the X-Men there. After Blindfold delivers Destiny's message to the X-Men, Cyclops sends her to Muir Island alongside a team composed of Nightcrawler, Rogue, Psylocke, Colossus, Husk, Trance, and Magneto.[6] Proteus manages to leave Colossus unconscious and take mental possession of the whole team except for Rogue and Magneto. After a hard battle, Magneto manages to disperse Proteus's form, while Rogue (and later Psylocke) frees her teammates and Destiny from Proteus's possession. Magneto, however, recognizes that Proteus is still alive and it is only a matter of time before he returns. Destiny, recognizing that the Techno-organic virus in her body is fading and she will soon die again, says her farewells to Rogue before departing.[7]

In Utopia, Selene's plan leads to the X-Men and X-Force fighting for their lives while the island is consumed by Selene's forces. In order to perform the ritual that would turn her into a goddess, Selene needs the mystical dagger that Eli Bard had previously lost when he was attacked by the spirits of Warpath's deceased tribe, so Selene sends her Inner Circle to Utopia to retrieve it. During the fight against the X-Men and X-Force, Blink shatters Archangel's wings, and Utopia residents Diamond Lil and Onyxx are killed by Mortis and Wither, respectively. The Inner Circle then teleports back to Genosha, taking an unconscious Warpath with them.[8] Once Bard gives Selene the knife and proclaims his eternal love for her, Selene fatally stabs him, much to Wither's delight. Warpath is eventually rescued by the Vanisher, but Selene absorbs the many souls around her, turning light blue and growing in size.[9]

Selene finally becomes the goddess she had sought to be for so long, incapacitating sorcerers Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Brother Voodoo in the process. Turning to her followers, she commands them to get her more souls. Meanwhile, Warpath teaches X-Force the Ghost Dance, a ritual he learned from Ghost Rider that is intended to kill evil spirits such as Selene, and they engage in battle against Selene's Inner Circle. During the fight, Thunderbird, Senyaka, and Wither are killed, while both Mortis and Blink are defeated and run away.

Warpath is able to kill Selene by plunging her own dagger into her chest. Shocked that her moment of godhood was taken away so quickly, Selene explodes into rays of light, apparently ending the effect of the corrupted Techno-organic virus in the bodies she had revived. X-Force is fractured, with most of its members leaving the team, even though Cyclops states that soon, X-Force will be more necessary than ever.[10]

Resurrection list

[edit]

Selene resurrects the following characters in her quest:[11]

Chronological reading order

[edit]
  • Necrosha: The Gathering
  • X-Necrosha #1
  • New Mutants #6
  • X-Force #21
  • New Mutants #7
  • X-Force #22
  • New Mutants #8
  • X-Force #23
  • X-Men Legacy #231
  • X-Men Legacy #232
  • X-Force #24
  • X-Men Legacy #233
  • X-Force #25

Issues involved but not listed

[edit]
  • X-Force vol. 3 Annual #1[12] – between New Mutants #7 and X-Force #22
  • Dazzler one-shot – after the end

Collected editions

[edit]

The story has been collected into a number of trade paperback volumes:

  • X-Necrosha (collects X-Force #21–25, New Mutants #6–8, X-Men: Legacy #231–233, and X-Force/New Mutants: Necrosha one-shot, 336 pages, hardcover, July 2010 ISBN 0-7851-4674-1)
  • X-Men Legacy: Necrosha (collects X-Men Legacy #231–234, X-Necrosha (X-Men Legacy story), 112 pages, Paperback, March 2012, ISBN 0785162984)
  • New Mutants, Volume 2: Necrosha (collects New Mutants #6–11, and X-Force/New Mutants Necrosha one-shot, 160 pages, hardcover, May 2010, ISBN 0-7851-3993-1)
  • X-Force, Volume 4: Necrosha (collects X-Force #21–25, 144 pages, paperback, April 2010, ISBN 0-7851-3541-3)

See also

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References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Necrosha

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Necrosha is a crossover event published from December 2009 to April 2010, primarily featuring the , X-Men: Legacy, and series, in which the ancient mutant villain Gallio unleashes the , a , to resurrect millions of deceased mutants as an undead army, aiming to sacrifice them on the ruins of to ascend to godhood. The event, written by creators including , Mike Carey, and Craig Kyle, ties into the broader storyline post-, highlighting themes of death, resurrection, and the mutant struggle for survival. Central to the plot is Selene's Inner Circle, comprising Eli Bard, Blink, Mortis, Senyaka, and Wither, who facilitate the resurrections using the Transmode Virus, a enhanced by Selene's mystic powers and Eli Bard's abilities. Key protagonists include the team—Wolverine, , , Warpath, Domino, , and Wolfsbane—who launch a preemptive strike on , now dubbed Necrosha, to thwart Selene's ritual. The , led by Cyclops and on , defend against invasions by resurrected foes such as , Destiny, and Thunderbird, while the , including Cannonball, Magik, and , confront Cypher, who has been turned into a viral carrier. The event unfolds across multiple locations, including the X-Men's island base of , the desolate , and Muir Island, where the entity possesses mutants in a related . Climaxing in a brutal confrontation, Warpath stabs with the spirit blade recovered from his brother Thunderbird, disrupting her ritual, leading to her apparent discorporation and the collapse of her army. Necrosha results in significant casualties, such as the deaths of Diamond Lil and Meld, and lasting impacts like Cypher and rejoining the , alongside revelations about mutant resurrection mechanics that influence subsequent narratives. The storyline is collected in the trade paperback X-Necrosha, encompassing issues from X Necrosha #1, X-Force #21-25, #6-8, [X-Men: Legacy #231-234](/page/X-Men: Legacy #231-234), and related one-shots.

Background and Context

Fictional Prerequisites

Selene Gallio, an ancient mutant sorceress believed to have been born over 17,000 years ago in , possesses vast psychic and mystical abilities that have sustained her immortality through the absorption of life energies from others, establishing her as a perennial foe of the . As the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, she has repeatedly clashed with the team, manipulating events to consolidate power and pursue eternal life, including failed rituals to ascend to godhood by sacrificing entire populations. Her enmity with the intensified through alliances with groups like the Upstarts, targeting mutants for sport and elimination to further her agendas. Eli Bard, a devoted servant cursed with vampiric immortality by , harnessed a —derived from the Transmode strain that infected Cable—to reanimate deceased mutants by transforming their organic remains into controllable, techno-organic entities. This virus, which merges machinery and living tissue, allowed Bard to propagate networks of undead servants, setting the stage for large-scale resurrections tied to 's schemes. The Decimation event, sparked by Scarlet Witch's declaration "No more mutants" during , drastically reduced the global population from hundreds of thousands to fewer than 200 individuals, leaving mutantkind on the brink of extinction. This crisis culminated in the , where the birth of —the first child since Decimation—ignited a desperate pursuit by the , Purifiers, and Marauders, ultimately forcing the team to relocate to the island base of in under Cyclops' command to safeguard survivors. There, amid ongoing threats, Cyclops authorized the formation of as a black-ops unit led by to handle covert operations beyond standard protocols. The fall of Genosha, orchestrated by Cassandra Nova through the unleashing of Wild Sentinels on the mutant haven, resulted in the slaughter of 16 million inhabitants, transforming the island into a vast necropolis of ruins that would later become central to resurrection plots.

Key Concepts and Themes

The Necrosha event centers on a mystically enhanced version of the techno-organic virus, originally derived from the alien Technarch race, which Selene and her acolyte Eli Bard deploy to reanimate deceased mutants. This virus transforms organic remains into techno-organic hybrids, reassembling destroyed bodies and binding the resurrected individuals as zombie-like thralls completely under Selene's psychic control. Unlike typical infections that consume hosts, in Necrosha, it serves as a tool for mass resurrection, enabling the revival of millions while allowing the undead to drain life force from the living, which Selene harvests to fuel her ritualistic ascension to godhood. Thematically, Necrosha explores profound anxieties surrounding death, revenge, and the fragility of mortality within the X-Men universe, portraying not as renewal but as a grotesque violation of the natural order. This perversion contrasts sharply with more redemptive revivals in lore, such as those empowered by the Phoenix Force, which often restore individuals with their agency intact; here, the undead exist solely as instruments of vengeance, embodying Selene's millennia-long grudge against and highlighting the ethical perils of defying death on a massive scale. The event underscores themes of undeath as a fate worse than oblivion, forcing surviving to confront the emotional toll of battling former allies twisted into mindless hordes. Selene's plan draws heavily on her status as an ancient sorceress proficient in dark mysticism, amplified through blood rituals that channel sacrificial energy to empower the and sustain her pursuits. These rituals, echoing her historical attempts at mass sacrifice, integrate vampiric essence-draining with arcane ceremonies, positioning her as a figure who manipulates for personal . Central to the event is the transformation of Genosha—the site of a prior genocidal massacre of mutants—into "Necrosha," a sprawling necropolis teeming with the reanimated dead, symbolizing a hellish inversion of mutant homeland ideals. This undead cityscape serves as both a staging ground for Selene's army and a metaphor for the haunting legacy of mutant suffering, where the island's ruins become a perpetual monument to unresolved trauma and vengeful undeath.

Publication History

Development and Announcement

Necrosha was announced by at the X-Men panel during International in July 2009, positioned as a major crossover event spanning the titles X-Force, New Mutants, and X-Men: Legacy. The announcement highlighted the storyline's focus on the resurrection of deceased mutants by the villain , tying into broader narratives exploring life, death, and mutant survival in the post- era. This event stemmed from Marvel's editorial strategy to delve deeper into resurrection motifs following (2007–2008), which had established a "second coming" arc for the mutant race amid declining numbers and existential threats. By reviving long-dead characters and escalating supernatural elements, Necrosha aimed to heighten stakes for the fragmented X-teams while building momentum toward the subsequent storyline in 2010. Teasers for the event first appeared in X-Force #21, released in November 2009, which introduced key plot threads and foreshadowed the chaos of mass resurrections, directly leading into the core one-shot X Necrosha #1 in October 2009. This issue marked the official kickoff of the crossover's serialized structure across the involved series. The storyline drew conceptual inspiration from earlier Marvel events like the 1980s Excalibur arc involving the villain Necrom, whose necromantic powers and undead threats echoed in Necrosha's homage to themes of death manipulation within the mythos. Key creative contributions came from writers Craig Kyle and , who helmed the segments central to the event's development.

Creative Teams and Releases

The Necrosha crossover event featured a core creative team drawn from the ongoing titles, with writing the segments, handling , and Mike Carey scripting X-Men: Legacy. contributed to the event's foundational elements, including the prelude anthology. On the art side, provided the primary illustrations for , known for his detailed, shadowy depictions that amplified the event's supernatural tension. Paul Davidson served as the lead artist for , with additional contributions from Diogenes Neves, while Clay Mann and Laurence Campbell handled X-Men: Legacy, emphasizing atmospheric horror through stark contrasts and dynamic action sequences. The event's publications spanned late 2009 into early 2010, beginning with #21 in November 2009 and concluding with #25 in March 2010, alongside : Legacy #231-234 from December 2009 to March 2010. #6-8 ran from October 2009 to December 2009, integrating the crossover's mutant resurrection themes into the team's narrative. The one-shot X-Necrosha #1, which introduced key plot drivers like Selene's ritual, released in October 2009. Supporting one-shots included Necrosha: The Gathering, a December 2009 prelude anthology that detailed the assembly of Selene's death dealers through short stories by Kyle and Yost, illustrated by various artists including Kalman Andrasofsky. Production notes highlight the event's emphasis on horror-infused visuals, particularly Crain's visceral, ink-heavy style in , which used deep shadows and grotesque distortions to evoke dread during resurrection scenes. Davidson's work in complemented this with fluid, eerie portrayals of ghostly figures, while Campbell's gritty realism in : Legacy added psychological intensity to the undead threats. These artistic choices reinforced Necrosha's crossover nature, blending high-stakes action with supernatural terror across titles.

Plot Overview

Prelude and Initial Resurrections

In the prelude to the Necrosha event, Eli Bard, a vampiric servant of Selene enhanced by the techno-organic virus, resurrected the precognitive mutant Destiny by infecting her corpse with the virus, granting him the ability to control the undead and enabling Selene's plan for mass resurrections across the mutant world. This act, detailed in the lead-up issues, allowed Bard to harness Destiny's foresight, forcing her to confirm Selene's path to godhood while she secretly attempted to warn the X-Men. The virus, a modified Technarch strain, reanimated the dead as obedient thralls, setting the stage for Selene's ritual on the ruins of Genosha. The initial resurrections targeted former members, including and Shinobi Shaw, whom revived to bolster Selene's inner circle and exact revenge on her old allies. These undead mutants launched the first assaults, storming the headquarters in and slaughtering its guards to seize control, while simultaneously incursing upon , where resurrected Hellions like and Jetstream attacked the X-Brig, confronting Sebastian Shaw and . Early strikes also reached New Orleans, tying into Selene's historical ties, as her forces disrupted mutant safe havens and drew out responders. X-Force, comprising members like , Warpath, and , initiated an investigation into 's activities following reports of anomalous resurrections and attacks on , tracing the back to through intelligence from ally Risque. Their probe revealed 's orchestration of the undead uprising on , where Cerebra scans detected the mutant population surging from hundreds to over a million as corpses rose en masse. This discovery alerted Cyclops to Selene's broader scheme, prompting defensive measures against the encroaching horde. A pivotal early resurrection involved Proteus, whose psionic essence returned to Muir Island, possessing the body of Blindfold after Destiny's telepathic warning inadvertently reached her instead of Rogue, igniting chaos and forcing an X-Men team to respond to the possession-driven rampage. This incursion exemplified the virus's disruptive potential, as Proteus body-hopped to sow confusion among the defenders.

Escalation and Battles

As the Necrosha event intensified, resurrected mutants under Selene's influence launched widespread assaults on mutant bastions, prompting desperate defenses across multiple fronts. On Utopia, the X-Men's island sanctuary, hordes of undead mutants invaded, forcing a coordinated effort from various teams including the X-Men, X-Force elements, and auxiliary fighters. Deadpool contributed to the chaotic melee, wielding his blades against the zombie onslaught to stem the tide of attackers breaching the perimeter. The encountered a direct confrontation with their rivals, the original Hellions, who sought to seize the reanimated Cypher amid the broader invasion. This skirmish highlighted the personal stakes of the undead uprising, as the leveraged their bonds and powers to repel the aggressive incursion while protecting their compromised teammate. Simultaneously, mounted a high-risk infiltration of , now transformed into the heart of Necrosha, where they carved through waves of zombie mutants to disrupt Selene's operations at the core. The team's covert advance involved brutal close-quarters combat against the relentless hordes, testing their lethal efficiency in a bid to halt the ritualistic escalation. In parallel arcs detailed in X-Men: Legacy, Rogue grappled with the resurrection of her foster mother Destiny, leading a strike team to Muir Island to counter the threat, where they clashed with possessed and reanimated foes in a bid to sever Destiny's manipulative influence. , stationed on , contended with mind-controlled aggressors among the invaders, using his telepathic prowess to detect and neutralize psychic manipulations fueling the assaults.

Climax and Resolution

As the conflicts across intensified, initiated her long-awaited ritual in the ruins of Hammer Bay, aiming to sacrifice the vast army of resurrected mutants to fuel her transformation into a . This techno-organic virus-fueled horde, numbering in the millions from 's fallen, served as the sacrificial offerings, their life essences channeled to empower 's ascension and grant her dominion over life and death. X-Force, having battled through waves of undead foes, confronted at the ritual's peak, where she briefly achieved godhood, her power surging dramatically. Warpath, protected by the ritual that rendered him immune to her vampiric touch, seized the opportunity to wield 's own ceremonial to strike her down, plunging it into her chest and shattering her nascent divinity. The attack caused to explode in a burst of energy, her body discorporating as her ritual collapsed. With Selene's defeat, the techno-organic virus sustaining the resurrections was neutralized, leading to the immediate and permanent death of all mutants as their bodies crumbled to dust across and beyond. This abrupt end to the Necrosha event left the survivors grappling with profound emotional repercussions, while Rogue shared a fleeting reunion with the resurrected , who imparted cryptic warnings about Rogue's connection to the mutant child before succumbing to the same fate.

Characters and Resurrections

Primary Antagonists

Selene Gallio, known as the Black Queen of the , serves as the central antagonist of Necrosha, driven by her ambition to achieve godhood through the mass sacrifice of mutant souls on the island of . As an ancient who has survived millennia by draining the life force of others, Selene manipulates resurrected mutants, including members of the former Hellions team, to fuel her ritual and overwhelm the . Her backstory as a ruthless member of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle underscores her long-standing enmity toward mutantkind, positioning her resurrection scheme as the culmination of centuries of vampiric conquest. Selene's Inner Circle comprises Blink (teleportation for rapid deployment of undead forces), Mortis (energy draining to weaken victims), Senyaka (energy siphoning to empower the ritual), and Wither (touch-based decay to eliminate resistance), who aid in gathering and controlling the army. Eli Bard, Selene's devoted techno-organic acolyte, acts as her primary enforcer and architect of the event's necromantic technology. A former servant from who bonded with the Transmode virus from a Technarch spawn—a techno-organic strain—Bard adapts this pathogen into a resurrection protocol capable of reanimating deceased mutants as thralls under Selene's control. His alliance with , forged through mutual vampiric pursuits, enables the widespread uprising that besieges mutant strongholds worldwide. Supporting Selene's plot are members of her reconstituted Inner Circle, including resurrected Hellfire Club affiliates who aid in the chaos. Harry Leland, the former Black Bishop whose mass-increasing powers once bolstered the Club's schemes, is revived to infiltrate and disrupt facilities, leveraging his historical ties to Sebastian Shaw. Other undead allies, such as Shinobi Shaw, further the assault by targeting key figures within the Hellfire Club's remnants, ensuring Selene's ritual proceeds unhindered. These antagonists are ultimately thwarted during the climactic battle on .

Resurrected Mutants

The Necrosha event saw the resurrection of numerous deceased through a engineered by Eli Bard and empowered by 's dark sorcery, creating an undead army to fuel her ascension to godhood. These resurrections were inherently temporary, as the were reanimated as decaying corpses lacking true vitality, compelled to serve while progressively deteriorating. The mechanics of this undeath enforced mindless obedience to Selene's commands, with the resurrected mutants exhibiting rapid physical decay and a parasitic need to drain life-force from living beings to prolong their animation. This life-force consumption not only sustained them temporarily but also amplified the event's horror, as they turned on former allies in battles across locations like Utopia and Muir Island. Unique cases deviated from the standard thrall state. Kevin MacTaggert, aka Proteus, retained his psionic body-hopping ability post-resurrection, allowing him to possess and control multiple hosts on Muir Island during confrontations with the X-Men. Destiny (Irene Adler), the precognitive mutant, was brought back and subjected to prophetic manipulations that advanced Selene's schemes, though her visions provided unexpected complications for her summoners. Notable examples of resurrected mutants include a mix of former X-Men allies, villains, and obscure victims, all briefly reanimated before their permanent destruction. Key examples include:
  • Banshee (Sean Cassidy): The sonic-screaming Irish mutant, killed years prior, led a underwater assault on Utopia as a frontline thrall. His resurrection was temporary, ending in decay during the siege.
  • Doug Ramsey (Cypher, cyborg form): The linguist mutant's body was partially resurrected and controlled to infiltrate and attack the New Mutants, though his mind partially resisted via techno-organic links before full liberation.
  • Fabian Cortez: The Acolyte leader with energy amplification powers, revived to empower other thralls in Genosha-based rituals.
  • Firefist (Russ Collins): The fiery mutant fighter, brought back as a combat drone in assaults on X-Men bases.
  • Harry Leland: The mass-increasing Hellfire Club member, resurrected to disrupt X-Men defenses with gravitational manipulation.
  • Illyana Rasputin (Magik, partial illusion): A illusory partial resurrection tricked the New Mutants, manifesting as a demonic vision rather than full reanimation.
  • Kevin MacTaggert/Proteus: See unique cases above; his return in X-Men: Legacy #231-233 involved widespread possession chaos on Muir Island.
  • Madelyne Pryor (partial): The clone of Jean Grey appeared in fragmented, illusory form tied to psychic echoes, not a complete physical revival.
Additionally, Selene's victims from the Genosha massacre formed the bulk of the horde, including Barnacle, Katu, Rem-Ram, and Spoor, all reanimated as obedient zombies draining life from the island's ruins to empower Selene's ritual. These thousands of lesser thralls exemplified the event's scale, overwhelming X-Men forces through sheer numbers before collective destruction. Other groups included the original Hellions (e.g., Tarot, Roulette), Acolytes (e.g., Siena Blaze, Unus), and Apache tribe members resurrected by Bard.

X-Men and Allies

The strike team, comprising , , , Warpath, Domino, Wolfsbane, , and , served as the frontline operatives against the Necrosha incursion, particularly on the island of where the resurrections originated. Led by , the group utilized their covert tactics and lethal capabilities to navigate hordes of reanimated threats and disrupt the central ritual. Warpath bore a profound personal stake, as the event directly implicated the resurrection of his brother, compelling him to wield a ceremonial knife essential to the antagonists' plans. and focused on close-quarters eliminations of key lieutenants, while Wolfsbane grappled with her own vulnerabilities during intense confrontations. provided teleportation support for rapid insertions, enabling the team to target high-priority objectives amid the chaos. The roster, including Cannonball, , Magik, Karma, and Dani Moonstar, confronted echoes of their formative years as the Necrosha wave targeted their historical connections. Reformed under Cannonball's leadership, the team defended against assaults that exploited their past traumas and alliances, forcing them to reunite and leverage their combined powers—such as Magik's sorcery and Moonstar's arrows—for survival. and Karma handled crowd control and mind-based defenses, while the group's dynamics were tested by the sudden reemergence of old adversaries, underscoring their evolution from trainees to seasoned combatants. This involvement highlighted their role in protecting mutant youth at while addressing unresolved legacies from their academy days. Core X-Men leaders like Cyclops, , Rogue, and coordinated the broader response from , the mutant nation's island base under siege. Cyclops directed strategic defenses, deploying teams and resources to counter the widespread attacks, while used her to shield minds from psychic incursions and support frontline efforts. Rogue faced a deeply personal confrontation with a figure from her early history, drawing on her absorbed powers to navigate moral and physical challenges unique to her past. contributed through global psychic oversight, attempting to unravel the metaphysical mechanics behind the mass resurrections and aid in containment efforts. Their leadership ensured a unified response, balancing immediate survival with long-term implications for mutantkind. Allied figures provided supplementary chaos and resilience amid the crisis. Deadpool offered unpredictable, mercenary-style assistance in a dedicated tie-in, employing his regenerative abilities and weaponry to tackle undead incursions in a self-contained skirmish that intersected with X-Force operations. Dazzler, operating independently, survived direct assaults from past enemies mobilized by the event, using her sound-to-light transmutation to repel threats in a post-Necrosha confrontation that tested her solo resilience. These contributions added layers of unpredictability and personal grit to the allied defense.

Event Structure and Reading

Chronological Reading Order

To experience the Necrosha crossover event in chronological narrative sequence, begin with the prelude anthology Necrosha: The Gathering #1, which establishes the initial resurrections and Selene's preparations through interconnected short stories focusing on key figures like Wither, Blink, and the Upstarts. This sets the stage for the main event kickoff in X-Necrosha #1, which details the activation of the Necrosha ritual on the former Genoshan ruins and introduces parallel threats emerging across mutant locations. Following the ritual's initiation, the story branches into concurrent assaults: read New Mutants #6-8 next to follow Illyana Rasputin and her team confronting Cypher and other resurrected mutants on Utopia, dealing with the techno-organic virus outbreak tied to Selene's plan. Simultaneously, interleave X-Force #21-25 to track Wolverine's black ops team defending Utopia from an incursion by Eli Bard and his techno-organic thralls before launching a strike on Genosha, where attacks on Utopia in San Francisco and the Genoshan site occur in near-real-time, heightening the event's multi-front tension. These arcs overlap in timeline, depicting attacks on Utopia in San Francisco and the Genoshan site occurring in near-real-time, heightening the event's multi-front tension. The narrative converges in the climax with X-Men: Legacy #231-234, where Rogue and allies deal with Destiny's resurrection and Proteus's possession on Muir Island, tying into the broader resurrection fallout and the ritual's apocalyptic stakes. This sequence prioritizes story flow by alternating between the parallel battles before uniting them, ensuring coherence in the event's escalating chaos without relying on release dates for guidance.

Core and Tie-In Issues

The Necrosha crossover event features a set of core issues that drive the central narrative of Selene's resurrection scheme and the X-Men's response, distinguishing them as mandatory reads for understanding the full storyline. These include the one-shot X-Necrosha #1, which serves as an overview introducing the mass resurrections of deceased mutants and Selene's bid for godhood through the Necrosha ritual on Genosha. The miniseries New Mutants #6-8 focuses on the New Mutants' confrontation with resurrected threats tied to their past, directly impacting the team's dynamics amid the broader chaos. Similarly, X-Force #21-25 centers on defending Utopia from Eli Bard's forces before the assault on Genosha, where X-Force battles waves of undead mutants in a desperate bid to thwart Selene's ceremony. Rounding out the core is X-Men: Legacy #231-234, which explores the Rogue and Destiny arc on Muir Island, where Destiny's revival leads to Proteus's possession of Rogue. Tie-in issues provide optional expansions on peripheral elements, enhancing the event without being essential to the main plot. Dazzler: The Saga Continues #1 depicts a zombie attack on Dazzler, showcasing the resurrections' ripple effects on isolated mutants post-Necrosha. X-Force Annual #1 includes a tangential "Undeadpool" story, bridging minor gaps in the undead theme. Certain issues involve minor appearances or tangential connections but are not essential for the event's progression. For instance, #516-517 includes brief references to the resurrections amid the X-Men's activities on , without advancing the central conflicts. No major digital-only releases or later reprints specifically tied to Necrosha have been noted beyond standard collected editions.

Legacy and Collected Editions

Aftermath in Marvel Continuity

The Necrosha event left lasting immediate effects on the surviving , with many of the resurrected suffering permanent deaths once Selene's ritual was disrupted, reinforcing the fragility of life in the face of necromantic threats. In particular, the resurrections served as a catalyst for emotional closure among key characters; Warpath confronted and ultimately avenged his brother Thunderbird, who had been briefly revived as part of Selene's army, using a ceremonial blade to end the threat and find personal resolution amid the grief. Similarly, Rogue's reunion with her adoptive mother Destiny on Muir Island provided a poignant confrontation, where Destiny revealed that she was the great-grandmother to (Ruth Aldine), deepening Rogue's understanding of her own powers and their potential ties to precognitive legacies, though no permanent power alterations occurred. In the broader Marvel continuity, the event's echoes persisted through thematic reinforcements of mutant extinction fears, directly influencing the narrative buildup to the Second Coming crossover in 2010, where Bastion's anti-mutant schemes capitalized on the chaos sown by Necrosha's mass resurrections and subsequent losses. The ruins, desecrated during the event as a site of undead uprising, continued to symbolize in later stories, serving as backdrop for reflections on past atrocities without direct Necrosha revivals. Destiny's brief during Necrosha found indirect resonance in the era, particularly with her full return in 2021 via Mystique's political maneuvering on the island nation, though the central to the event was never revisited or repurposed in subsequent plots. The event was later referenced in the era, including mentioning the Genoshan undead uprising in and a similar of Genoshan s by Maximoff in : X-Men, reinforcing themes of mass revival and history. Post-2010 X-Men events, such as in 2012, indirectly echoed Necrosha's resurrection motifs through escalating conflicts over survival and the ethical perils of revival, but no major elements like Selene's or the virus were revived, marking a shift toward new paradigms of resurrection in the era (2019–2024) and its immediate aftermath. This evolution underscored Necrosha's role in solidifying themes of death's inescapability, even as Krakoan protocols like the Five offered systemic solutions to losses from the event.

Collected Editions

The Necrosha storyline has been compiled in several trade paperback and editions, allowing readers to access the core event and related issues in collected formats. X-Necrosha (, July 2010, ISBN 978-0-7851-4674-7) collects X-Necrosha #1 and X-Force #21-25, focusing on the central confrontation with Selene's forces. New Mutants Vol. 2: Necrosha (hardcover, May 2010, ISBN 978-0-7851-3993-5) collects New Mutants #6-11, highlighting the team's encounters with resurrected foes like Cypher. X-Force Vol. 4: Necrosha (trade paperback, April 2010, ISBN 978-0-7851-3541-8) collects X-Force #21-25 and X-Force Annual #1, covering the team's infiltration of Genosha and battles against the undead army. X-Men: Legacy - Necrosha (trade paperback, March 2012, ISBN 978-0-7851-6298-2) collects X-Men: Legacy #231-234 along with tie-in material from X-Necrosha, centering on the X-Men's defense of Muir Island against Proteus and other threats. Later reprints and broader collections include Necrosha material in the X-Men Milestones: Necrosha (trade paperback, August 2020, ISBN 978-1-302-92397-6), which expands to encompass New X-Men #32, X-Force #11 and #21-25, New Mutants #6-8, X-Men: Legacy #231-234, X-Necrosha, X-Necrosha: The Gathering, and material from X-Force Annual #1; no dedicated new editions of the original collections have been released since 2020 as of November 2025.

References

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