The X-Men franchise had its share of oddball characters in the '90s, but one of the most divisive and controversial of them all has made his way back into comics, with new details of his return arriving in August 2's Scarlet Witch #7 from writer Steve Orlando, artists Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli, colorist Frank Williams, and letterer Cory Petit. Light spoilers ahead!
In Scarlet Witch #7, Wanda Maximoff seems to come face-to-face with her currently deceased father Magneto. Magneto died back at the end of the recent AXE: Judgment Day event, and was not resurrected per his own wishes.
More curious, the island nation of Krakoa recently fell in a violent invasion from Orchis, meaning that mutants are currently without the power of resurrection anyway, making a potential return for Magneto even more improbable.
However, Wanda's confusion is quickly allayed as she discovers that the man in front of her is not her father Magneto, but his long lost clone, Joseph - right down to the man-bun that holds up his notoriously long hair.
For those who don't remember, Joseph is a younger clone of Magneto who first popped up in the mid-'90s, causing some similar confusion to what Wanda experiences in Scarlet Witch #7. He was created by a villain named Astra, with the intent for him to kill Magneto, but he suffered amnesia and strayed from his purpose, eventually joining up with the X-Men.
This isn't the first time Joseph has returned since his first death in the late '90s - clones have a way of doing that. His resurrection this time is explained in Scarlet Witch #7, with Joseph telling Wanda that he woke up alone in Mister Sinister's abandoned cloning labs on Krakoa, eventually fleeing the island.
For the past couple issues of Scarlet Witch, he's shown up under mysterious circumstances with readers (and the characters in the book) being led to believe that he was actually Magneto. But with the truth now revealed, how will the X-Men react to Joseph's return? It seems like he'll be sticking around, so we may find out a bit more when Scarlet Witch #8 releases on September 6.
Want more Wanda Maximoff? Check out the best Scarlet Witch stories of all time.
