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samasmith23 · 2 years ago

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The dualistic rivalry between Wolverine & Mystique, as portrayed by Jason Aaron

While the majority of X-Men fans have listed Sabretooth (aka, Victor Creed) as the perfect rival for Wolverine (aka, Logan), I've personally always considered Mystique (aka, Raven Darkhölme) to be a far superior dualistic foil to the fan-favorite Canadian berserker-rage mutant.

My fondness for the rivalry between Logan and the blue-skinned shape-shifter can be primarily attributed to the 2008 storyline Wolverine: Get Mystique by writer Jason Aaron & artist Ron Garney, published across Wolverine (2003) #62-65. In this arc, Wolverine is, determined to get revenge on Mystique after she betrayed the X-Men to Mr. Sinister during the Messiah CompleX crossover event (Mystique had briefly become a member of the X-Men before betraying them), tracking Raven down to the Middle East where the two engage in a deadly game of cat-&-mouse pursuit.

What elevates Get Mystique beyond a standard chase story is that Aaron uses the premise to intricately explore parallels between the two characters that had not yet been explored by previous writers. Throughout the 1980s-2000s, it was heavily implied that Logan & Raven had known each other for a long time and might have even been romantically involved at one point, which does make sense since the two are both over 100 years old. This past connection between the two characters is discussed in an interview with Aaron from Marvel Spotlight: Wolverine, in which the author stated that he "played off of what had been hinted at or mentioned before that... [giving] them a real love/hate relationship."

Subsequently, Aaron frames the present-day chase & rivalry between Logan & Raven throughout Get Mystique in juxtaposition to a series of flashbacks showcasing the two characters' first encounter with each other back in the 1920s. Specifically, it is revealed that Logan & Raven seemingly met each other by sheer coincidence when they were both scheduled to be executed by a firing squad in Mexico. The two escaped execution, however, with Raven offering Logan to join her gang of two-bit grifters up in Kansas City where he would serve as their muscle and protection.

During these flashbacks, Aaron repeatedly emphasizes Logan's reluctance towards the idea of settling down, rejecting Raven's offer of the prospect of a found-family through her criminal gang. Similar to Raven, Logan's mistrust is derived from his status as both a mutant and a societal outcast, believing that trusting other people inevitably results in death and betrayal. The uneven partnership between Logan & Raven soon comes to a head when the latter's gang attempts to rob a high-security Federal Reserve bank, with Raven suddenly fleeing during the middle of the heist due to having allegedly sold out her gang to the police, who subsequently gun them all down. When the police surround Logan, however, it is revealed in a dramatic that he was actually the one who sold out the gang instead of Raven. Essentially, Logan concluded that Raven had been lying to and manipulating him the whole time, even though his only evidence to support this was the fact that Raven wasn't bribing the cops like she originally told him.

Although it's heavily implied that Raven was planning to eventually discard Logan after successfully manipulating him for her own ends, Aaron leaves the question of whether or not she was deliberately ambiguous as to be left to the reader's interpretation. This ambiguity effectively serves to establish a common ground between Wolverine & Mystique as rivals, demonstrating how the two characters are eerie reflections of each other from a morality perspective.

The flashbacks to Logan & Raven’s first encounter during the 1920s are juxtaposed against the two’ present-day chase in the Middle East, wherein Wolverine has taken Mystique’s most recent betrayal of the X-Men on a personal level since he views the team as both a family and a chance to atone for his past sins. As Wolverine & Mystique engage in their deadly game of cat-&-mouse, Aaron further establishes the dualistic relationship between the two. Both characters are mutants who have lived longer life spans due to their healing factors and have learned not to trust others through their experiences, often ending in betrayal or death. Despite these parallels, however, Aaron simultaneously emphasizes how Wolverine & Mystique are also very different from each other. While Logan acknowledges that he is flawed, he attempts to retreat from his inner demons, finding sanctuary with superhero teams like the X-Men since he feels that their cause allows him to become something better than himself. Conversely, Raven does not deny and even openly embraces her sinister nature, utilizing her shapeshifting abilities to manipulate, deceive, and murder others to survive and fulfill her own agendas.

The parallels between the two characters are made further apparent when Wolverine accuses Mystique of cowardice due to her repeatedly hiding behind & sacrificing the lives of innocent civilians simply to avoid a confrontation. These words deeply anger Mystique since she views Wolverine as a hypocrite who is too afraid to admit and come to terms with his past sins. This results in the chase culminating with Mystique stealing a U.S. military truck and deciding to fight Wolverine to the death in the Syrian Desert, completely naked (albeit appropriately shadowed).

On a surface level, Mystique stripping off her classic costume via shape-shifting leans into both fan service and duplicitous femme fatale tropes, as well as emulates the character's then-recent portrayal by supermodel & actress Rebecca Romijn in the live-action X-Men film trilogy. From a characterization and thematic perspective, however, Raven's decision to fight naked conveys the mutant terrorist's unashamed resolve & confidence. Despite being a shape-shifter who utilizes her powers to deceive others, Mystique is ironically honest & straightforward in her actions. She finds a sense of liberating power through her refusal to hide who and what she is, effectively accepting her status as the villain. This conviction is evident in Mystique’s words as she disrobes, stating to herself that Logan “doesn’t have the guts to face up to who he really is,” whereas she’s “not ashamed of anything [she’s] ever done. And [she’s] certainly got nothing to hide.”

Additionally, Raven's characterization in the Get Mystique arc heavily draws inspiration from her aforementioned live-action film counterpart. Essentially, Rebbeca Romjin's portrayal of Mystique as being in a constant state of undress highlights the mutant terrorist's unashamed pride in her identity & actions. This idea of Romjin's Mystique finding power through her sexually provocative appearance is supported by Nimona and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) creator N.D. Stevenson. During a 2015 interview with The Hub as part of their One Thing Leads to Another series, Stevenson discussed how as a trans-man assigned female at birth he admired Mystique’s confidence & fluidity growing up, emphasizing that “she couldn’t be trapped in a single form… she was so confident she didn’t even wear any clothes and I was transfixed… shapeshifters became a shorthand for the kind of power I wanted… to switch between any number of bodies in the blink of an eye while keeping my real self safe.”

While the queer-coding of Mystique's villainous behavior has the potential to lean into harmful stereotypes, this characterization has simultaneously resonated with individuals like Stevenson who view Mystique's status as an ostrascized yet unashamed antagonist to be transformative & liberating. to be Furthermore, Stevenson's words about Romjin's Mystique "keeping her real self safe" are reinforced by the films themselves. Most notably, during the scene from X2: X-Men United wherein Mystique responds to Nightcrawler’s question of why she refuses to use her power to disguise her true appearance with the answer, “Because we shouldn’t have to.”

In essence, the climatic & bloody showdown of Aaron's Get Mystique storyline effectively draws influence from Rebecca Romjin's live-action portrayal of the titular character. Mystique utilizes her naked body as a means of communicating her audacious refusal to disguise her true self, taking pride in her villainous deeds instead of denying them while simultaneously criticizing what she perceives as hypocrisy from Wolverine due to his similar past. When Raven questions Logan's motivation of simply wanting revenge for her betraying the X-Men multiple times over, arguing that Logan's anger over her most recent betrayal is instead derived from his desire to understand Raven's refusal to seek redemption through the team. This results in Raven ruthlessly tearing apart Logan's very identity as an X-Man since he too has berayed & killed for the sake of his own self-preservation. She boldly declares to Logan:

"I've used the X-Men whenever I've needed to, but they’ve never been my family. Much as you want it to be true, they’re not your family either. People like us don’t get to put down roots and play nice. I betray the X-Men because it’s in my nature, and someday, Logan, whether you want to admit it or not, you’ll do the same damn thing. You’ll turn your back on them because that’s who you are. Oh, don't act so offended, honey. After all, we both know you've done it before."

In addition to Mystique's words alluding to the 1921 Bank Heist wherein Logan sold both her and the rest of her gang out, this scene ultimately forces Logan to confront the come to terms with that he is ultimately no better than Mystique and is, therefore, just as undeserving of developing familial bonds.

While Mystique's aforementioned statements of "people like us" not having a family or "putting down roots" can be perceived as contradicting the previously established relationships with both her wife Destiny (aka, Irene Adler) and adopted daughter Rogue (Anna Marie LeBeau), they effectively underscore the inherent nihilism surrounding Raven's embracing of her villainous behavior. In addition to Destiny having been killed in battle several years prior (Destiny would not be resurrected until the modern Krakoa Era), during the Messiah CompleX event, Mystique deliberately shoots Rogue to subdue her when she outed herself as a traitor to the team. Rogue was already dying from the mysterious Strain 88 virus, which caused her mutant powers to go haywire and made skin-to-skin contact with other people instantly fatal. Adhering to the prophecies inscribed in the late Destiny's personal diaries, Mystique believed that both Mister Sinister’s resources and the infant Hope Summers (the first mutant baby since M-Day) were capable of curing Rogue. Mystique not only murdered Sinister by pressing his face against Rogue’s but also risked the baby’s life in the exact same manner in an attempt to heal her foster daughter. While Hope fortunately survived, Rogue was still deeply angered by Mystique's endangerment of the infant and effectively disowned her foster mother by attempting to kill Mystique with her touch (though she only renders Raven unconscious due to Hope's touch curing Rogue of Strain 88).

With both Mystique's wife dead and her foster daughter now wanting nothing to do with her, Aaron's Get Mystique storyline effectively builds upon the foundations of the self-destructive nature of Raven's actions by having her actively dismiss and demoralize Wolverine's familial bond with the X-Men. Aaron underscores how, despite Raven's audacious confidence her success is undermined by the belief that she is unworthy of both redemption & companionship. Subsequently, Raven's hatred of Wolverine is primarily derived from her envy towards the rest of world viewing Logan as a hero despite him having committed similar crimes to herself. While these motivating factors are subtextually inferred within the text of Get Mystique, they are made explicit in both Mike Carey & Michael Ryan's Kill or Cure backup story from the X-Men: Manifest Destiny miniseries, where Raven laments to Iceman in over Logan's words that "she'd die alone because she's lived alone, never [letting] anyone get close to her," as well as by Aaron himself along with artist Aaron Kuder in the pages of Avengers Forever (2023) #13, where an alternate-future version of Raven tells Logan that "somehow the world always serves [him] lemonade while [she's] left holding the lemons."

The portrayal of Mystique as a contradictory chameleon who is simultaneously honest & brazen in her duplicitous nature, as well as embittered about her status as an outcast even among fellow mutants, is what ultimately makes her such a well-rounded & nuanced character. Furthermore, it is these inherent contradictions in Mystique's ideology that Aaron uses as the basis for what ultimately distinguishes her from Wolverine: the hope and willingness to change. A sentiment that is best reflected through Logan's acknowledgment of his past sins after defeating Raven in the desert. In a deliberate parallel to Raven's earlier psychoanalysis of Logan's motivations during their fight, Aaron has Logan counter her denouncements against his character by stating:

"I'm not like you, Raven. I want you to die knowing that. I've made mistakes. Sure. God knows that I've made more than my fair share. And a lot of those involved somebody dying who shouldn't have. But I spend every moment of every day now trying to make up for those mistakes. You've just kept on making the same damn ones."

Although the Get Mystique arc concludes with Logan stating his desire to make amends for the sins of his past, Aaron still emphasizes Logan's present-day failings, which consequently negatively impact Logan's character throughout the rest of Aaron's run on Wolverine. Specifically, after Raven is mortally wounded during her battle with Logan, the latter leaves her to die alone in the desert with nothing but a pistol (in case she decides to take her own life), telling her to reflect on her life decisions while stressing that he now has a family in the form of the X-Men, whereas she's all alone due to the decisions she's made. This ending continues to be controversial with both readers & critics, who argued that Aaron's refusal to kill Mystique was emblematic of Marvel's inability to commit to permanently kill off its characters, as well as made Logan look hypocritical & unlikable for denying Raven the mercy blow.

Within the larger context of Aaron's Wolverine run as a collective whole, however, the author frames the controversial ending of Get Mystique as ultimately serving as the foundation his Logan's undoing. In addition to later issues revealing that Mystique somehow managed to survive her injuries, during the Wolverine Goes to Hell arc in particular Raven aligns herself with an organization known as the Red-Right Hand (a cult comprised of various individuals whose loved ones died by Logan’s hand) to get her revenge on Logan. This results in Raven luring Logan into a trap where the Red Right Hand banishes his soul to Hell, while his physical body is possessed by the demon known as "Hellverine." Immediately after assisting the Red Right Hand though, Raven ends up betraying the group when they inform her of their true plans for Logan's soul to eventually climb his way out of Hell and reclaim his body before attempting to get revenge on them, only to have him slaughter several of the organization's elite assassins who were secretly children that Logan had unknowingly fathered over the past century.

The group's plans turn out to be too horrible even by Mystique's standards. While Raven openly admits that she's not sorry for helping banish Logan’s soul to Hell, once again stating that "[he's] no better than [herself]," she still tries to warn him about the Red-Right Hand's true agenda out of respect for Logan's friendship with her then-deceased son Nightcrawler (who was briefly killed off during the X-Men: Second Coming event). In essence, Aaron demonstrates that despite Mystique being a remorseless & self-centered murderer, she's not a heartless monster who's completely lacking in empathy. Unfortunately, however, Logan ultimately ignores Raven's warnings & fatally cuts her down (Mystique was resurrected by The Hand ninja cult a few issues later in Aaron's run), resulting in Logan fulfilling the Red Right Hand's plan unknowingly killing his own kin in a futile effort for revenge, nearly breaking Logan's spirit in the process.

This brutal plot twist with the Red Right Hand further illustrates how, under Aaron's pen, Mystique functions as a multifaceted & nuanced individual. Despite leaning into her overtly villainous persona, Mystique sometimes possesses greater knowledge & wisdom than her heroic rival, Wolverine, specifically because she refuses to hide from her true self. Conversely, Aaron highlights how despite Logan's legitimate resolve to make amends for all of his his past sins, he still needs to gradually come to terms with and accept himself in order to truly change. It is this revelation that subsequently leads to Logan forming the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning in Aaron's Wolverine and the X-Men series, wherein Logan becomes a teacher dedicated to educating future generations of young mutants, as well as preventing them from suffering the same pain or making the same mistakes as him.

Overall, Jason Aaron's Wolverine: Get Mystique and subsequent storylines effectively forge a dualistic rivalry between Logan & Raven's Darkhölme that frames them as similar yet contrasting mirrors to each other. In a sense, one could argue that if Destiny is the person whom Mystique loves the most, then Wolverine is the person whom Mystique hates the most.

Honestly, the writing & storytelling of Jason Aaron is what helped elevate Mystique into becoming my favorite comic book supervillain of all-time! By portraying Logan & Raven as very similar yet different foils to each other, Aaron crafts a fierce & compelling rivalry that further informs both characters. From my perspective, Mystique serves as a far more interesting & nuanced arch-nemesis for Wolverine than even Sabretooth!

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