Warning: may contain mild spoilers for Marauders #21
Marvel Comics is setting up a rematch between the Fantastic Four's Mr. Fantastic and the X-Men's Charles Xavier. The relationship between the X-Men and the Fantastic Four has frequently been a tense one, as one would expect from rival superhero teams who have very different agendas. Reed Richards' vision of the future is very different from the one Charles Xavier now champions, and the Fantastic Four clashed openly with the X-Men over the fate of Reed's son, Franklin.
Franklin has since been retconned as a non-mutant, but before he learned this, he was briefly welcomed on the mutant island of Krakoa. This led Mr. Fantastic to go to drastic, not to mention unwise, lengths to prevent his son from leaving the family; he actually depowered Franklin and even concealed his apparent mutant X-gene. Xavier was appalled at this action, which he viewed as a threat to the entire mutant race, and so he erased the memories of this technology from Reed's mind, and in a particularly vindictive mood, allowed Reed to remember that he had done so. It was as much a demonstration of mutant superiority as anything else, but it looks as though it has begun a vendetta between Mr. Fantastic and Charles Xavier.
Marvel has published an official preview for Marauders #21, by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli, and it reveals that Reed looks set to be getting his own back. The Fantastic Four are among the guests invited to the X-Men's Hellfire Gala, although apparently, Xavier was unsure the invitation would be well received after their last encounter. "The kids wanted to come," Reed explains, "so I made the time. Also, I wanted to say this to your face..." He then whispers some unknown words to Xavier, and walks away confidently, leaving Xavier visibly disturbed behind him.
The scene is an absolutely delightful one, and it's frankly impossible to say which of the two geniuses readers are supposed to root for. Xavier has always been something of a jerk (as Kitty Pryde once famously put it), and he's so eager to demonstrate mutant superiority that he hasn't stopped to think about whether his actions are helping make the mutant community friends, or whether he's fanning the flames of enmity. Indeed, his newfound mutant nation has seemed to be hurtling towards World War III, with Apocalypse causing chaos in England, X-Force conducting secret policies of regime change in countries that won't sign up to import mutant drugs (possibly including Wakanda), and Sokovia even supporting an assassination attempt on the Professor. Meanwhile, Reed is every bit as arrogant as Xavier, possibly more so, and he has an even darker history of morally dubious decisions.
But what did Mr. Fantastic whisper? Perhaps, "I got around your psychic block," meaning he knows how to depower mutants once again; perhaps "You'll never enter my mind again," meaning he's found a way to make his mind utterly impervious to psychic assault. Whatever it may have been, the conflict between Charles Xavier and Reed Richards has clearly escalated once again, and the X-Men and Fantastic Four won't be happy to learn that's the case.
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