#one comfort here is all engagement I've seen with this article calls it Stupid and CBR-like

[osmiumamygdala]

Negative comic rant ahead.

Article that gives you instant heartburn (I've supplied the link in case anyone wants to see it firsthand, but I've summarized it as well):

And usually I wouldn't post anything about articles like this because it has its fair share of typos and is lacking sorely in context BUT it is posted on the official Marvel website which is Worrisome

Like

Colossus was forced to kill in self-defense. And he was ANGRY while he did it! Oh no! Gasp! I'm scandalized! He should have made the Good Boy choice of dying and letting everyone die, obviously! /s. Also... you skipped Proteus. He also did this to Proteus, remember?

Ah, right. Colossus joining Magneto. Which was super shocking, but... he didn't... actually do much of anything during this time other than stand around, talk beliefs, and take care of Magneto. I mean yeah his inaction in the face of crime IS grey. Also, his sister just died and he didn't get to be beside her. His brother just "committed suicide" again, and his mom and dad just died. I... kinda don't care that he chose to join Magneto at this time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Good for him, in fact.

WHY ARE WE ACTING LIKE AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE/DYSTOPIAN FUTURE MEANS ANYTHING CONCRETE FOR CURRENT MAINLINE COLOSSUS, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Yeah, no excuse for this one. This decision wasn't even "morally grey" it was straight fucked up. Though Warren Ellis is on record saying that he did this specifically to character assassinate Colossus because he hated him, he regrets it deeply and wouldn't do it again given the chance.

He was manipulated and being controlled. Next.

Manipulated and being controlled. There was a whole follow-up comic where Storm goes after the Pheonix 5, and she states that he's a victim in the whole thing and apologizes to him. You might as well throw the Proletarian scene in while we're at it! Next.

Manipulated and controlled! 3rd in a row! Wow!

So, to recap; we have 2 responses to extreme grief, one case of actual character bastardization, an ALTERNATE TIMELINE, and 3 cases where he is NOT IN CONTROL OF HIMSELF. By DEFINITION, MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE ARE NOT "CHOICES" THAT COLOSSUS HAS MADE. I don't care if people hate the character or want to talk about him being morally grey, I just wish it could be accurate, consistent, and fair.

Why am I posting about this? Because Colossus is not a hugely popular character, and here's Marvel outlining his "crimes" out of the blue. And I am CONCERNED

BECAUSE

The senior X-Men editor, JDW, hates Colossus with a passion and holds a grudge against the character. Multiple Marvel creatives have talked about pitching a Colossus story and being shot down. Look, I don't want to accuse JDW of anything or implicate that he would let a silly grudge against a fictional character get in the way of Story but... this is Marvel, and I have seen worse.

I also don't want to believe that Percy is going to nosedive into strictly villainizing Colossus. He promised at the beginning of all of this that Colossus fans would like this story and that it would he his Biggest Story yet. So far, Percy has done nothing to back up those claims. I still want to have faith, even though it appears there might only be 6 issues remaining in the series (not really a whole ton of time for a satisfying conclusion, wouldn't you say?) And being as we are still seeing Wolverine grappling with the whole Being Beast's Man-Slave/Attack Dog thing, and Wolverine isn't being villainized for it... it would be a double standard to not follow a similar structure for Colossus, don't you think? Wolverine gets controlled and does horrible things, and we can agree he's not at fault, but the same thing happens to Colossus, and it's different somehow...? Yeah, I don't buy it.

The trend this article sets is concerning to me. I hope this isn't a thing where Marvel is preparing us for Villain Colossus, primarily because the way it's set up reeks of victim blame. We SEE that Colossus is struggling, fighting, and screaming in his mind because he doesn't want to be doing what he's doing. His body, autonomy, and freedom have been stripped from him. He is a PAWN. This is not a conscious decision he is making! So unless they can develop a good reason for that character direction, I don't want it! Really hoping this all turns out to be a rug-pull!

Like... as it stands now, Colossus has ample reason in my book to go full villain. The lack of care he has received in and out of universe is frankly disgusting. Nobody in his life has paid any attention to him for literal years! There were so many red flags that got sped past. He is living in a nightmare where his "friends" either aren't there for him or shrug off his concerning behavior. The friends he left his family for. The family that got torn apart and slaughtered in his absence. And this is a PATTERN for him, which we can actually SEE illustrated in the examples the article gave!

I love Heroic Colossus. That's what drew me to him in the first place! I would love it if he could come out of all of this swinging with his head held high! I want him to prove everybody wrong, to work through his trauma, be genuinely himself, and to finally make some PEACE about his place in the world. But if Colossus is gonna go full villain, I do NOT want it to be half-assed. It needs to be BIG. I want to see his justified RAGE. I want to see all the pain and grief he's bottled up just EXPLODE out. I want him to stop holding back and pulling his punches. No more "morally grey," no toeing the line, FULL SEND IT. To pitch it-- He joined the X-Men for family. The X-Men then BECAME the only family he had. Now, even THAT'S gone!