How 'Sins of Sinister' Changed the Marvel Universe

In SINS OF SINISTER, Mister Sinister conquered the X-Men’s future. After seizing control of several mutant leaders, Sinister and his agents took over the mutant nation Krakoa before moving onto the rest of the world. But even as Sinister began to understand the true horror of his creation, his corrupted X-Men went to war with the universe and built a cosmic empire that lasted for almost 1000 years. Although Sinister's empire only existed in an alternate future, its meteoric rise and dramatic fall had a profound effect on the present-day X-Men and their nation.

Now, we’re taking a closer look at the way SINS OF SINISTER changed the Marvel Universe and how Sinister and the X-Men will pay for their sins following SINS OF SINISTER: DOMINION (2023) #1 by Kieron Gillen, Paco Medina, Lucas Werneck, Bryan Valenza, and VC's Clayton Cowles.

MISTER SINISTER LOSES

While Mister Sinister may have created the SINS OF SINISTER timeline, the destruction of that future ultimately paved the way for his most devastating defeat. Sinister set the stage for SINS OF SINISTER by creating clones of Moira MacTaggert and using their mutant power to reset the timeline, which allowed him to manipulate events to his liking. Between these Moira “save points” and his lifetime of research, he hoped to achieve Dominion status, an ultimate evolution that would allow him to exist outside of time and space as a universal constant.

In the SINS OF SINISTER timeline, Sinister successfully infected four mutant leaders with his personality, but he eventually lost his so-called Moira Engine, stranding him there without an emergency exit. After 1000 years in that future, the real Moira reemerged, found her clones, and killed one, which reset the timeline. Following the future Sinister’s death in battle, Moira sent an ominous message back in time to him and destroyed the rest of his Moira clones—but only after neutralizing their abilities. 

Although Sinister got close to Dominion in SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Moira devastated the modern Essex by telling him he would ultimately fail. Moira also kept him from learning anything else about her future, which took away one of his main tactical assets. 

After Krakoa’s leaders learned about the events of SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Sinister also lost his position of influence on the governing Quiet Council, and his modifications to Krakoa’s resurrection process were undone. Now exiled to the Pit deep within Krakoa, Sinister is weaker than he’s been in years.

RASPUTIN IV IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE

In multiple future timelines, Mister Sinister created chimera mutants, or genetically engineered mutants with multiple X-genes and abilities. In SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Sinister created Rasputin IV to be the ultimate chimera with the powers of five mutants: Colossus, Kate Pryde, Kid Omega, Unus the Untouchable, and Laura Kinney’s Wolverine. Although Sinister raised Rasputin on tales of Krakoa and its glory, he ultimately betrayed her in the far future of IMMORAL X-MEN (2023) #3 by Kieron Gillen and Alessandro Vitti. While adrift in space, Rasputin made a rage-fueled deal with Mother Righteous, a genetic clone of Sinister who studied magic instead of mutants.  

Thanks to Mother Righteous, Rasputin IV arrived in the modern day, where she promptly captured Sinister moments after he killed Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, Hope Summers, and Exodus in IMMORTAL X-MEN (2022) #10 by Gillen and Lucas Werneck. Rasputin presented Sinister to the surviving Quiet Council members to be punished for his past and future crimes against Krakoa, which instantly endeared her to the mutant leaders. This also gave Rasputin enough credibility to introduce the present-day Mother Righteous as the person responsible for stopping SINS OF SINISTER’s future from coming to pass.

MOTHER RIGHTEOUS REVEALED

If Mister Sinister was SINS OF SINISTER’s biggest loser, Mother Righteous stands as the timeline’s biggest winner. In the present day, Mother Righteous has quietly been making mystical deals with mutants around Krakoa since she debuted in LEGION OF X (2022) #1 by Si Spurrier and Jan Bazaldua. In exchange for offerings of thanks and loyalty, Mother Righteous struck deals with Banshee, Selene, and Sebastian Shaw. 

In SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Mother Righteous also broke a curse that turned Nightcrawler into an animal-like creature and manipulated his genetic descendants into helping her build a powerful mystical armory. Although the future Mother Righteous was ultimately killed, she was able to send her knowledge of the future back in time to her present-day self. 

Now armed with knowledge of the SINS OF SINISTER timeline and her actions within it, Mother Righteous presented herself to the Quiet Council as the savior of Krakoa. When she met the mutant leaders, she told them about Sinister’s use of the Moira Engine and the chaos of SINS OF SINISTER’s future. After Destiny confirmed those revelations, Mother Righteous also revealed which Quiet Council members had been infected by Sinister, which sidelined four of Krakoa’s strongest mutants. 

In return for all of this, Mother Righteous received an ominous “thanks” from Storm on behalf of Krakoa. Now, Righteous stands ready to influence Krakoa’s leaders in a major way and pursue her plans to reach Dominion status.

THE QUIET COUNCIL EXILES

Together, Charles Xavier, Emma Frost, Hope Summers, and Exodus stand as some of Krakoa’s most powerful mutants and influential leaders. However, they also became the unwilling keys to SINS OF SINISTER’s future after Sinister killed them in IMMORTAL X-MEN (2022) #9 by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck. When they were resurrected, Sinister inserted copies of his personality into each of their genetic codes. Although Sinister’s machinations turned these mutants into corrupted versions of themselves during SINS OF SINISTER, Mother Righteous appeared before that could happen in the present.

Until such time as Sinister's modifications can be removed, all four of these mutants agreed to remain in exile in Krakoa’s Pit. Since these four mutants represent a third of Krakoa’s leaders, their absence and potential untrustworthiness put the Quiet Council in a precarious position. With so many potentially compromised leaders, the Quiet Council’s remaining members must try to maintain peace on Krakoa and deal with external threats like the mutant-hating group Orchis while guarding against any traces of Sinister’s potential influence on their peers.

DESTINY’S VISIONS

Since Destiny was resurrected and elected to the Quiet Council, the precognitive mutant’s visions of the future have helped guide Krakoa. However, she was devastated by the revelation that all of the futures she could predict led the death of her wife Mystique, which she realized in IMMORTAL X-MEN (2022) #3 by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck. Although Destiny was aware of Sinister’s Moira clones, she did not stop his plans, because she believed that SINS OF SINISTER’s future was the only timeline where Mystique lived a long life, as revealed in STORM AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF MUTANTS (2023) #2 by Al Ewing and Andrea Di Vito.

Just as Mother Righteous revealed herself to the Quiet Council, the present-day Destiny was struck by a wave of visions about new possible futures—all while Sinister begged her to stop the other Essex clones from reaching Dominion status. Destiny also confirmed Mother Righteous’ accusations about Sinister and the Moira clones. Taken together, these events have made the rest of the Quiet Council suspicious of Destiny, how much she knows, and the way she may be trying to influence the future.

A NEW DOMINION

Over a century ago, scientist Nathaniel Essex created four clones of himself, as revealed in IMMORTAL X-MEN (2022) #8 by Kieron Gillen and Michele Bandini. To transcend the bounds of reality by becoming a Dominion, Mister Sinister dedicated himself to studying mutants and their genetics, while Mother Righteous and his other clones pursued other avenues of study. In the final moments of SINS OF SINISTER’s future, Mister Sinister tried to channel the energy of the universe’s mutants to make himself a Dominion, but he was stopped by another Essex clone who had already reached Dominion status. 

Although Sinister failed at his life’s work, this revelation means that one of the other Essex clones seems set to become a Dominion. Armed with a millennium’s worth of knowledge, Mother Righteous may know enough to find a way to mystically ascend to Dominion status. Meanwhile, Orbis Stellaris—who studied space—still wields the near-infinite processing power of the World Farm, which could provide him a path to Dominionhood. Finally, Doctor Stasis—with his studies on human genetic potential and his work with Orchis—could also find a way to reach Dominion. Although the mutants of Krakoa still don’t fully understand the threat these Sinister clones pose, one of them has already won the ultimate victory, and the X-Men don’t even realize it yet.

Witness the end of an era and the beginning of a new one in SINS OF SINISTER: DOMINION #1, on sale now!

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