X-Men: Second Coming

"Second Coming" is a crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that ran through the most of the X-Men comic books from March to July 2010.

Publication history

"Second Coming" was the final part of a trilogy of stories that began with "Messiah Complex" and continued in "Messiah War". Intended as a conclusion to Cable's efforts to save Hope from Bishop who has hunted the so-called Mutant Messiah since her birth, the series also builds on the "Utopia", "Nation X" and "Necrosha" storylines of 2009 in the X-Men books.

The story centers on the return of Cable and Hope Summers to the present day and Bastion's final campaign to destroy the X-Men.

Plot synopsis

The story follows the return of Cable and Hope from the future to the present. Their arrival sparks off action from Bastion and his allies Stephen Lang, Bolivar Trask, William Stryker, Graydon Creed and Cameron Hodge. Bastion tells them that the Mutant Messiah has returned and gives them orders to kill her.

In a motel a fire-fight between Cable, Hope and the Purifiers breaks out; Wolverine and the others arrive to help them. As the Alpha Team, (Wolverine, X-23, Angel, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Psylocke and Magik), battle Stryker and his Purifiers Magik makes her way toward Hope under orders from Wolverine to teleport her to Utopia. One of the Purifiers opens a portal to Limbo that Magik cannot control and she is drawn into it by a cluster of demonic tentacles. The Purifiers also incapacitate Nightcrawler with disorienting weaponry to prevent him from teleporting. Wolverine's team find Cable and Hope and after a short confrontation with another group of Sapien League members the X-Men and Cable decide for a diversionary tactic. Cable remains behind with some of the X-Men after learning from the New Mutants that Cable was being tracked, while Rogue, Nightcrawler and Hope leave in order to protect the girl.

The Second Coming (poem)

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Second Coming is a poem composed by Irish poet W. B. Yeats in 1919, first printed in The Dial in November 1920, and afterwards included in his 1921 collection of verses Michael Robartes and the Dancer. The poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse and second coming allegorically to describe the atmosphere of post-war Europe. The poem is considered a major work of Modernist poetry and has been reprinted in several collections, including The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.

Second Coming (Dickies album)

Second Coming is the 1989 comeback album by Los Angeles punk band The Dickies, and the band's fourth studio album. By 1989, the Dickies' brand of tongue-in-cheek, poppy punk was largely out of fashion, but the later success of bands like Green Day and the Queers make it clear what an influence these L.A. jokers were. Highlights include snarky covers of "Hair" and Gene Pitney's "Town Without Pity", alongside equally goofy originals like "Dummy Up" and "Booby Trap".

In 2007, the album was re-released by Captain Oi! and featured the tracks from the Killer Klowns From Outer Space EP as bonus tracks.

Track listing

Credits

The Dickies

Additional musicians

Production

Second Coming (Shotgun Messiah album)

Second Coming is the second album from hard rock group Shotgun Messiah, released in 1991 on Relativity Records.

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Skold and Harry Cody, except where noted.

Personnel

Notes: Stixx is credited as drummer - although he was still a member of the band, the drums on 'Second Coming' is a mix between programmed and triggered drums.

Additional musicians: PAT REGAN - "Silly percussion" on "I Wanna Know"

Produced by Harry Cody and Tim Skold. Recorded at Fortress Studios.

References

To ad some "realism" to the programmed drums, Stixx played the symbols in the studio recording sessions.

X-Men (film)

X-Men is a 2000 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the first installment in the X-Men film series. The film, directed by Bryan Singer and written by David Hayter, features an ensemble cast that includes Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Ray Park, Tyler Mane, and Anna Paquin. It depicts a world in which a small proportion of people are mutants, whose possession of superhuman powers makes them distrusted by normal humans. The film focuses on the mutants Wolverine and Rogue as they are brought into a conflict between two groups that have radically different approaches to bringing about the acceptance of mutantkind: Professor Xavier's X-Men, and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto.

Development for X-Men began as far back as 1984 with Orion Pictures. At one point James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow were in discussions. The film rights went to 20th Century Fox in 1994 and various scripts and film treatments were commissioned from Andrew Kevin Walker, John Logan, Joss Whedon and Michael Chabon. Singer signed to direct in 1996, with further rewrites by Ed Solomon, Singer, Tom DeSanto, Christopher McQuarrie and Hayter in which Beast and Nightcrawler were deleted over budget concerns from Fox. X-Men marks the Hollywood debut of actor Hugh Jackman, who was a last-second choice for Wolverine, cast three weeks into filming. Filming took place from September 22, 1999 to March 3, 2000, primarily in Toronto. X-Men was released to positive reviews and was a financial success, starting the X-Men film franchise and spawning a reemergence of superhero films.

X-Men (Game Gear video game)

X-Men is a video game that was released in 1994 for the Sega Game Gear featuring the X-Men superhero team. In the game, most of the X-Men have been captured by Magneto; only Wolverine and Cyclops survived the initial assault on X-Men headquarters and are available for play at the start of the game. Players rescue the other X-Men and use them and their abilities to defeat Magneto.

Sega released a sequel in 1995, X-Men 2: Game Master's Legacy.

Gameplay

Players defeat enemies and navigate levels by punching, kicking, and jumping. Mutant abilities can be activated and deactivated. However, these mutant abilities drains the energy from the player's character. A new playable character is unlocked after finishing a level, including Storm, Rogue, Psylocke, Nightcrawler and Iceman.

There are several foes from the X-Men universe to defeat including Callisto, Sauron, Sebastian Shaw, Omega Red, a Brood Queen and Magneto. Each boss has their own stage based on various diverse settings from X-Men, including the Morlock Tunnels, the Savage Land, the Hellfire Club, Madripoor, the Brood homeworld and Avalon. These levels are often labyrinths of either technological wonders, biological wonders, or a mixture of both. As more X-Men are rescued, these allies can be called upon to take over as the player's character. Magneto serves as the final boss of the game.

Marvel Anime

Marvel Anime is a series of four television anime series and two direct to video films produced in collaboration between Marvel Entertainment and Japanese animation studio Madhouse. The four twelve-episode series, based on Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, and Blade respectively, aired in Japan on Animax between October 2010 and September 2011. An English-language version aired in North America on G4 between July 2011 and April 2012. Each of the series, guided by writer Warren Ellis, largely features Japan as the setting for the storyline.

Premise

The project took top Marvel characters and reintroduced them for a Japanese audience via four 12-part series; Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men, and Blade, which aired in Japan on Animax between October 2010 and September 2011. The announcement was confirmed at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con. According to former Madhouse President and CEO Jungo Maruta, Marvel gave the anime studio free rein to re-imagine the Marvel superheroes for Japanese audiences. An English version is currently airing in the United States on G4. The series was guided by Warren Ellis. "It will create an entire parallel universe for Marvel," said Simon Philips, president of Marvel International about Marvel Anime. The Marvel Anime series is being aired in Australia on Sci Fi.