Yesterday was the release of House of X #5, or, part nine of twelve for the House and Powers mini series. It was a red highlighted issue so we knew we were going to get a bomb—and a bomb we got.

We knew the eight mutants that perished on the Orchis mission would have to return. After all, the majority of them are featured on covers for the Dawn of X titles for crying out loud! What we didn’t know was just HOW they were going to return. Well… We got our answer this week…

The nation of Krakoa has assembled five special mutants that individually have great abilities, but together are quite literally God defying. Gold Balls (yes, that’s his name), can produce unviable eggs. Proteus can warp reality to make those eggs viable. Elixir can use his ability to make the mutant DNA begin the resurrection process, and Eva Bell can use her time warping abilities to accelerate the maturation of the body (“husk” as referred to in the book) to the desired age, and Hope can enhance everyone’s powers so there’s no F*** ups(?).

Now, though the body is an exact replica of a dead mutant the body does not contain that mutant’s consciousness. This is where it gets wonky.

Apparently Cerebro is not just a mutant detection machine, but can harbor the memories, thought patterns, and very identity of a mutant much like a backup file on an external hard drive. Once the husk is ready, Xavier can upload the backup “soul” into the husk and thus we allegedly have mutant resurrection. Yeah, no.

I have several issues with this, and I’m not sure if Hickman did this intentionally and it will play a part moving forward or if we are just supposed to take it as fact and move on.

1: Scott’s First Question: As soon as Scott is “brought back” he asks Xavier if they did it; did they succeed on their mission? Hm. Well, obviously Xavier had the backup file for  Scott updated just until he and the team took off for space. Everything that happened after they took off was not kept in the archive mind. This explains why he needed to ask Xavier if the mission worked.

To me this means this is NOT Scott Summers. This is not Cyclops. Yes, it is an exact physical copy, and yes he has the memories and identity of the original, but he indeed is just a copy. What about the soul?

Those eight mutants DID die up in space and if these resurrected versions were TRULY the same mutants then they would have memory of their horrific deaths. Yet, they do not.

2: Nightcrawler, Any Thoughts?: Nightcrawler and Wolverine share one of the most emotional pages in House of X #4  just before giving their lives to destroy the Mother Mold. Of course, Nightcrawler in the face of death, turns to his faith. He tells Wolverine that he will look for him in the afterlife.

Those souls are gone. Kurt and Logan did indeed die. The Kurt and Logan nude in Krakoa are just perfect replicas. If Nightcrawler indeed is the copy of the original, I am curious to know how he would feel about this resurrection process. In many ways it’s cheating death! Will these eight, and any mutants brought back, sit with the thought that they are really new creations; mere clones of their originals?

Is Hickman also trying to state that the mind IS the soul? That how we think, how we engage, our habits, our tendencies- all this information stored as a backup-equals the very soul and essence of a being?

3: Wolverine, how do Your Bones Feel?: If these resurrections recreate the biological matter of a deceased mutant, then that means this Wolverine does not have an adamantium skeleton. Even non-comic fans know that he received his claws through a scientific experiment. Will this be the case?

4: The Next Stage in Human Evolution: Overall, I am impressed that Hickman has created a uniform logic for how any and all mutants to die in future stories can and will be brought back to life. In some ways, I think this plays into the theme of evolution; the purpose of evolving is to become a stronger organism for the sake of survival and to thrive. If mutants are indeed the next stage in human evolution then something like this would be logical; mutants would be the species to discover the method to cheat death.

5: Moira X or Moira XI?: The biggest test to this resurrection theory is Moira herself. Her soul literally returns to her mother’s womb in order to start her life anew. If Sinister contains genetic material of Moira and Moira were to die then what would that mean for Moira XI?

Would the soul of Moira indeed go back to restart to her mother’s womb or would she pop out of Gold Balls’ egg? That is the truth yet investigated in regards to this reincarnation that the Five claim to be able to do.

I have a feeling this is a question Hickman intends to answer before the miniseries wraps.