The great and powerful Apocalypse, perhaps the most infamousX-Menvillain in history, has never succeeded in his plans for world supremacy on Earth-616, besides his time as ruler ofthe alteredAge of Apocalypsereality. Now, in a shocking twist seen inTimeslide#1, En Sabah Nur’s heir -the kind and gentle X-Men hero Cypher- has successfully taken over the world in Marvel’s future, with the terrible Revelation ruling planet Earth.
Cypher wastransformed into Revelationat the conclusion ofHeir of Apocalypse, which sawthe peaceful mutant emerge victorious as En Sabah Nur’s successor, with his best friend Warlock and wife Bei the Blood Moon becoming his first Horsemen.
Timeslide#1, a one-shot from writer Steve Foxe with artist Ivan Fiorelli, followsX-Men warriors Bishop and Cableas they travel across Marvel’s timeline in an attempt to save mutantkind from the Children of the Vault, where they discover thatRevelation has “finished the job” that Apocalypse beganmillennia ago.
The Age of Revelation Looms In Marvel’s Future
Revelation Has Succeeded Where Apocalypse Could Not
After the tragic fall of Krakoa the great Apocalypse was lost and he had accepted that his “might is right” approach to mutant evolution would never work out. To ensure that his legacy lived on, Apocalypse selected 12 potential mutant allies to go through a challenging gauntlet, with the winner becoming the successor to Apocalypse, and gaining Celestial power as his heir. No one expected the quiet and shy Douglas Ramsey to win the competition, especially when up against such iconic X-Men like Emma Frost, Cable, and Forge, but in the end the young Cypher took home the prize. Not only wasCypher elevated via Apocalypse’s infamous Celestial technology, but he also chose a new name: Revelation.
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Apocalypse has officially chosen his heir, and it is none other than Doug Ramsey, who undergoes a major (and divisive) transformation into Revelation.
Doug was convinced that he could listen to the needs of mutantkind, and shepherd them into their future without resorting to violence. Unfortunately, it appears that no matter how “peaceful” Revelation’s intentions were for planet Earth, he ended up just as much of a despot and tyrant as Apocalypse before him. When Cable and Bishop travel into the future they are almost immediately captured and killed by an advanced “War-Lock,” before Bronze - a new mutant introduced inExceptional X-Men- destroys the creature, saving them. She tells the time-traveling heroes thatRevelation “finished the job” of Apocalypse, before revealing that the “Age of Revelation” is the era she currently lives in. Unfortunately for Bronze, and the future, Cable and Bishop are on a critical mission, and were forced to abandon the Age of Revelation to save all of mutantkind.
Doug Ramsey Has Turned His Best Friend Into A Weapon
Warlock always preferred peace and friendship over violence
One interesting part of Revelation’s rise to power is his use of his best friend Warlock as an army, which is counterintuitive to the techno-organic alien’s history. While Warlock has been violent in the past, he generally hates to harm living things, so it is fascinating that Cypher would ask Warlock to form the “War-Locks,” a group of weaponized Warlock drones that patrol Revelation’s newly emerged world. Now, the biggest questions that remain are:Where is Doug’s wife, Bei the Blood Moon, and who are Revelation’s final two Horsemen?
SinceTimeslidewas used to show future Marvel events, happening through 2025 and 2026, we can only hope that the Age of Revelation will be revised, so readers can get a clearer picture of how exactly Revelation succeeded where Apocalypse previously failed.
