Everything you thought you knew about Nightcrawler and Mystique is being upended in the pages of X-Men Blue: Origins. As the Marvel event Fall of X is in full swing, many mutant secrets are being laid bare. One such secret is why Mystique abandoned her newborn son. Writer Si Spurrier has taken the original reason and completely altered it in a way that is more heartbreaking. Plus, it completely changes everything we thought we knew about Mystique and her shape-shifting powers.
Nightcrawler’s Origins
Prior to the changes introduced in X-Men Blue: Origins, Nightcrawler’s origins were still quite a mystery. The accepted story was that Mystique shifted and lived as the wife of Baron Christian Wagner. However, the flaming-haired mutant slipped off to have an affair with the mutant immortal Azazel. The secret union led to the birth of Nightcrawler, which Mystique abandoned. This story, while sparse on the details, makes sense since Azazel’s powers consist of teleportation.
However, X-Men Blue: Origins has revealed that this was all a ruse. The truth is Mystique kept her lover and wife Destiny close as a servant in the Wagner estate. Together, the two conceived Nightcrawler and hid the pregnancy from Wagner before eventually killing him. However, Azazel eventually created a mob that stormed the Wagner estate, and Mystique fled with the newborn Nightcrawler. She stashed the babe in the woods to find her wife but eventually lost both that night.
X-Men Blue: Origins
This shocking revelation comes after Mystique rejects Charles Xavier’s mental influence. This breaks the mental block that Destiny had Charles place on Mystique when she could not get over the loss of their son. That is how Mystique came to believe that Azazel was the father, and the original story was the truth.
Even more, it is revealed in the notes of X-Men Blue: Origins #1 that Mystique is not a shape shifter. Instead, she is known as a “gene-shaper” and can rewrite her cells and genetic structure. This is how she was able to conceive Nightcrawler with her wife. This is a crazy revelation that has only come to light thanks to the Fall of X event. It will be interesting to see how this changes the relationship between mother and son moving forward.
