10 Moments Marvel Have Chosen To Ignore

2. Nightcrawler's Father Is Literally The Devil

Nightcrawler Child Of Satan
Marvel Comics

Apologies at this point to those of you who have had the misfortune to have read "X-Men: The Draco." It's not fair to dredge up such painful memories of something as triggering as...

...Chuck Austen.

We all have that one guy at work that everyone wonders how he got the job in the first place let alone all the plum assignments he gets handed despite his constant incompetence. During the Marvel renaissance in the early 2000s, Chuck Austen was that guy. And somehow, he "wrote" War Machine, The Avengers and THREE separate X-Men titles.

Sadly, it was not his tenure with the company that Marvel swept under the rug; it was his most significant continuity change. Up until "The Draco" storyline the mutant Nightcrawler had been portrayed as an orphan whose parents left him to the circus because of his demonic appearance. Growing up, he would find inner-peace and comfort in his faith.

Chuck Austen revealed that Nightcrawler's father was a representation of the Judeo-Christian devil who teleported into "our world" so he could sire a child that would one day grow up and free him from his imprisonment. Just take a minute to process that sentence. Chuck Austen took a positive and enlightened representation of a Christian character and have him find out his father was the devil, and he only existed as a way for his old man to escape from Hell.

There's no point trying to argue with Marvel's decision here, but why couldn't they have redacted the exploding communion wafers and the mad nurse storylines while they were at it?

Contributor
Contributor

Kevin McHugh is a code-monkey by day and a purveyor of the unpleasant by night. Having had several comics published by Future Quake Press he is now moving into prose. An avid fan of punk rock, cheap horror movies and even cheaper fast-food Kevin can be found pontificating either on Twitter or over at WhatCulture Comics where he is a regular contributor. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two daughters.