Nightcrawler has long been a fan-favorite character for many Christian fans of Marvel comics.
Despite inheriting a mutation that makes him look like a demon, Nightcrawler -- also known as Kurt Wagner -- joined the Catholic faith, an interesting dichotomy that drew many readers to the character following his 1975 debut.
Throughout Wagner's early appearances in the comics and other media, his faith was highlighted as a key aspect of his character. Just take a look at the following clip from the hit-'90s show "X-Men: The Animated Series":
Now that X-Men is trending, reminder that the 90s Animated show was openly Pro Christian pic.twitter.com/7xHaia6ioG
— Carlos That Notices Things (@QuetzalPhoenix) February 17, 2024
Of course, Marvel's current editorial lineup of far-left political activists couldn't let that stand.
After all, there are few things the far-left hates more than the Christian faith and its traditional moral convictions -- especially those concerning sexual ethics.
So, in an upcoming comic book due in May, they'll be having the X-Men character performing a lesbian wedding.
'X-Men: The Wedding Special' celebrates Mystique and Destiny for 'Marvel's Voices: Pride!' See the happy couple on @Janbazaldua67’s cover, coming this May: https://t.co/KsTKecgMVd pic.twitter.com/6HxTbjTp9h
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) February 21, 2024
Few critics of the move were as vocal as science fiction author Jon Del Arroz, who wrote simply "Marvel Comics hates Christians" in response to the move.
Marvel Comics hates Christians. #XMen https://t.co/V7heL2MSFX
— Jon Del Arroz (@jondelarroz) February 23, 2024
The writer expanded on his thoughts in an article for Fandom Pulse published Friday, writing: "...the most insulting part of the cover revealed is the image of Nightcrawler officiating the mockery of a wedding. Nightcrawler is a Catholic priest, and according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sexual activity between members of the same sex is considered to be a grave sin against chastity, and homosexual attraction is considered to be objectively disordered."
"Therefore, it is wholly against Nightcrawler’s vows as a Catholic priest to uphold God’s law to perform such a ceremony. It would be out of character for a Christian character," he continued.
"Still, Marvel Comics never seems to be able to portray Christian characters or give them adequate representation as they do for groups of certain skin colors or sexual fetishes. The solicitation is further anti-Christian bigotry by Marvel Comics."
Perhaps even worse than Nightcrawler performing the wedding is who's getting married -- his two "moms." And that's not to say they're his adoptive mothers.
Marvel recently retconned the mutant's origin, replacing the previously established history of his parentage (which included, as all parentages do, a female mother and a male father) with quite a twisted story, one that saw the shapeshifting female character Mystique turn into a man to become his biological father.
These sorts of drastic character retcons have become all too common in today's comics.
And, in this writer's opinion, every one of these changes serves the same purpose -- it gives activists something to point to and say "See, it's in the source material. [Insert random character] was always [insert random left-wing stance or LGBT identity]. If you have a problem with a movie or game portraying him or her that way, that's because you're not a real fan of the source material."
Take long-time Spider-Man love interest Black Cat as another example.
In 2021, a writer turned Black Cat -- a character who had existed in Marvel comics for decades -- bisexual. Because of this, when the character was later portrayed as bisexual in the 2023 video game "Spider-Man 2," fans who complained about the change were mocked on social media for not being "real" comic fans.
The examples of this pattern -- retconning characters then gaslighting fans who don't like those retcons -- are endless nowadays.
Of course, exacerbating the situation is the media, which should be holding comic publishers accountable but has instead taken on the role of cheering on the turning of decades-old stories into overt propaganda.
For example, this 2022 from Screen Rant applauded how a semi-recent comic run turned Wagner into a hypocrite by having him sleep around while judging others for not upholding traditional sexual values.
If only people who actually loved comics were writing and covering them.
Until that day comes, we're likely to see many more beloved Marvel characters twisted and subverted in order to push a certain set of political views.
