40 years ago, Marvel’s Secret Wars ended the X-Men’s scariest relationship

The Marvel Comics event “Secret Wars,” which ran for 12 issues from May 1984 to April 1985, was one of the most brazen fanservice-inspired events in the company’s history. After all, when you boil the medium down to its very essence, the fundamental question of superhero comics is “Who would win in a fight?” » Would Spider-Man be the best Wolverine? How would Captain America fare against the Hulk? Questions like these lead to fun, speculative conversations that can liven up a fourth-grade summer afternoon. It doesn’t matter what the heroes are fighting for. The only important thing is the fight.

“Secret Wars” decided to dramatize such fights by constructing a massive superhero event with no real context or real motivation. The paltry story goes like this: a godlike super-being called The Beyonder (perhaps a stand-in for Marvel readers) loves superheroes. He wants to see who would win in a massive fight between the good guys and the bad guys, and builds a pocket dimension – Battleworld – where they can fight unfettered. Why are they fighting? They’re good guys and bad guys, that’s why. Additionally, the winner receives a wish. At least 35 notable Marvel characters were part of the brawl.

Several X-Men were present, of course. Particularly for this article, the Russian murderer Colossus with metallic skin was there, but not the ghostly Shadowcat, a mutant who can walk through walls. At the time, Colossus and Shadowcat were dating, which is scary, considering Colossus (real name: Piotr Rasputin) was 19 when they began their relationship while Shadowcat (real name: Kitty Pryde) was only 13. 40 years ago, Jim Shooter, Marvel’s editor-in-chief at the time, wrote a special arc in “Secret Wars” that saw Colossus fall in love with a another woman, thus bringing this horror to an end.

The controversial Jim Shooter introduced a new character during “Secret Wars” that Colossus would become passionate about, all in the middle of battle. The character was an alien doctor named Zsaji, and Colossus was smitten at first sight. His love for Zsaji – an adult – was so strong that he began to realize that his feelings for Shadowcat – not an adult – were not entirely genuine. Zsaji had healing powers and used them, ending his life, to heal a group of injured heroes. Colossus never dated Zsaji, but the time he spent with her was personally substantial.

When Colossus returned to Earth after the events of “Secret Wars”, he broke up with Shadowcat. This happened in “The Uncanny X-Men” #183, written by Chris Claremont. According to the Comic Book Herald websiteJim Shooter never liked Colossus and Shadowcat dating. Their relationship started out as something rather cute, with young Kitty having a crush on her older, prettier teammate, but the fact that they started dating apparently made Shooter uncomfortable. Zsaji was invented specifically so Marvel could get away with a canonical relationship between a college-aged man and a high school girl.

It should be noted that these were comics aimed at young readers, so there was no sexual dimension in the relationship between Kitty and Piotr. It’s a great relief. Indeed, one can read those ’80s “X-Men” comics and view Kitty’s initial crush as very sweet. It was when Colossus started flirting back that things started to get a little gross.

Fans on Reddit pointed this outhowever, that the relationship between Colossus and Shadowcat was not as disreputable as the one Shadowcat had in the 1990s. In issue 90 of “Excalibur”, published in August 1995, Kitty teamed up with a super-powered British spy named Pete Wisdom. Pete, a legitimate member of MI6, was capable of firing electric bolts. At this point, Kitty’s age had been advanced to 16 (remember, time doesn’t work consistently in Marvel Comics). Peter Wisdom, however, would be in his 40s…and he and Kitty started dating. It was the 90s, so the “it was a different time” argument is much less valid. Plus, a 40 year old trying to date a high school girl is much more blatant than a 19 year old dating a 13 year old.

Of course, the inappropriateness of the Pryde/Wisdom relationship became a plot point almost immediately. Colossus, upon learning that his ex-girlfriend was prey, attacked Wisdom, breaking his back and leaving him in a wheelchair. This happened in “Excalibur” #92, just two months later. Both issues were written by Warren Ellis.

Eventually, Kitty and Piotr started dating again, as explained in “Astonishing X-Men” #14. This issue, however, was only published in 2006, and a lot has happened in the intervening decade. Colossus was killed and resurrected, for one thing. Additionally, both characters had eventually age-changed into adulthood, so when they consummated their relationship, everything was ultimately normal. Plus, it had been 22 years since “Secret Wars,” so a lot of Marvel’s old readers had probably moved on since then.

It took decades, but Marvel finally did something proper with these characters.

A feature film titled “Avengers: Secret Wars” is expected in theaters on December 17, 2027.