Captain America and the X-Men rarely cross paths in the world of Marvel Comics. While both have adventures centered around political realities, Steve Rogers faces different challenges than the Mutants of Marvel. It seems fitting then that a new retcon involving one of the darkest Captain America stories ever should come out of a comic featuring the Mutant vigilantes.
Written by Eve L. Ewing, with art by Tiago Palma, X-Men United #2 finds Steve Rogers seeking the team’s help. Captain America had heard of the new empathy engine the Greymatter Lane school was using to find isolated and at-risk Mutants. Rogers thought the same engine might help him with a problem.
After the original Super-Soldier Serum formula was presumed lost, the United States government secretly began trying to recreate it. Their test subjects were Black soldiers, most of whom suffered intensely and died young. Even Isaiah Bradley, the one recorded survivor, suffered permanent brain damage as a side-effect of his serum. This horrific addition to the Captain America history was introduced in the 2003 miniseries Truth: Red, White and Black.
After a brief discussion, the Greymatter Lane leadership agree to help Captain America. A team of X-Men is assembled to accompany Steve Rogers on this mission of mercy. However, their first effort leads to a surprising revelation that retcons part of Truth: Red, White and Black.
New X-Men villain not as dead as believed
The first scan by the X-Men empath Axo yields impressions of a Black veteran from Philadelphia. Rogers recalls that that was the hometown of Maurice Canfield, whom he’d heard about from Isiah Bradley’s wife. He also recalls that the official Project: Rebirth records said that Canfield died. This sets up a major retcon from the history in Truth: Red, White and Black.
Along with Isaiah Bradley, Maurice Canfield was one of the three main characters of Truth: Red, White and Black. An outspoken activist, he was subsequently arrested for protesting and given a choice of jail or military service. He chose service and was accordingly conscripted into Project: Rebirth. While recruited to a short-lived covert team of enhanced soldiers, he died from complications of PTSD and an exaggerated thyroid.
With an emotional signature locked, the X-Men are able to teleport to an old house in Philadelphia. They confront an elderly man who appears to be Maurice Canfield. However, the team is suddenly scattered across time, with Captain American facing a superpowered Canfield in the modern day. The issue ends on this cliffhanger, with no indication of whether Canfield’s powers are a delayed result of the Super-Soldier Serum. Regardless, it would seem his fate in Truth: Red, White and Black has been retconned.
X-Men United #2 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
