Recap / Ultimate X Men: The Tomorrow People

Everything starts here!

"The Tomorrow People" is the first arc of Ultimate X Men, and the introduction of mutants in the Ultimate Marvel universe. It was written by Mark Millar, and has arts by Adam Kubert and Andy Kubert.

Magneto had created a terrorist group, the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, with the goal to kill all humans. The US government reacted by releasing Sentinels, giant robots that kill mutants on sight. Charles Xavier and his first students, Jean Grey and Scott Summers, recruit mutants and create the X-Men. Magneto sends a mole to the team, Wolverine.

The X-Men save the daughter of the president from the Brotherhood, and negotiated to take the Sentinels out of the streets. Scott, however, leaves the team when Beast almost died in that operation. The US government tracked him, and thus discovered Magneto's secret base in the Savage Land. They send an army of Sentinels, but Magneto captures them and overrides their codes. With an army of Sentinels under his control, he heads to Washington D.C., to kill the president and establish a new world order. The X-men manage to defeat him, and he dies in an explosion.

Tropes

• All Love Is Unrequited: In this early stages, at least. Mastermind can not get the Scarlet Witch to treat him like anything but dirt, the Scarlet Witch can not get Cyclops to even notice her, Cyclops is too shy to ask Jean to go on a date, and Beast is too shy to open to Storm. Wolverine managed to score with Jean, but ruined their relation forever when he confessed his mission within the X-Men.
• Are You Sure You Want to Do That?: Xavier reminded the president that, if he attacks Magneto at his base with the Sentinels, he may survive and counter-attack, which could a danger for everyone.
• Beleaguered Boss: Realizing that Cyclops is a very valuable recruit, Magneto puts him in charge of the next operation, and accepts to do it respecting his "Thou Shalt Not Kill" rule, so the people in the building receive a warning and have 15 minutes to flee. But his new underlings did not care, rushed the explosion, and many people died as they initially intended. Cyclops is then angry with them, for not following his orders.
• Blatant Lies: Xavier asked Wolverine why is he staying with them, instead of going his own way. He remembers Magneto hiring him to kill Xavier, and says "The scenery, bub. The scenery".
• Bulletproof Vest: Cyclops was shot, but fortunately he was wearing one of those.
• Bullying a Dragon: A guy in the pub insults Beast because he looks weird and must be a mutant. It turns out that he is a mutant, and kicks him in the face.
• But Not Too Evil: Cyclops left the X-Men and joined the Brotherhood, accepts to take part in terrorist acts, but he's still adamant about killing people. He wants to give warning that a building will be blown up and let people escape... and then Quicksilver blows them up anyway.
• The Cameo: Xavier is seen talking with Condolezza Rice.
• The Casanova: Magneto gave Wolverine many missions of infiltration and killing in the past. He has an habit of holding the kill (and then escaping) when he meets a girl that he was wants to have sex with.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: Jean asked the X-Men for help, because Wolverine was killing Cyclops in the garden. They couldn't get there before he killed both of them. Fortunately, it was just a Danger Room simulation.
• Come with Me If You Want to Live: The daughter of the president has been kidnapped by the Brotherhood. She is terrified. Then, a second group of mutants kidnaps her as well. She's still terrified.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Quicksilver thinks that they don't need to hire Wolverine, he can kill Xavier himself. Magneto rejects it, Xavier may close his mind before he reaches him.
• Crazy-Prepared: Cyclops activates his laser beam by touching a button in his visor, but holding his arms does not stop him. He has another button in his hand.
• Creator Cameo: There is a guy in the airport with a sign for "Millar".
• Deadly Euphemism
  • "The professor ain't the one who's gonna be feedin' any worms tonight"
  • "Goodbye, old friend. Give my regards to the dodo"
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Xavier's plan is going well, as he has negotiated an halt to the Sentinel initiative and a human-mutant summit. He is pleased with it. Cyclops, however, wants equal rights, now. Xavier points that this usually a juvenile attitude, and as an adult he knows patience, seeing the bigger picture and taking slow but secure steps intead of rushed ones.
• Didn't Think This Through
  Magneto: Chromium machines to kill a master of magnetism? No wonder we call ourselves Homo Superior.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The Sentinels kill any mutant they find, either if it is a terrorist with dangerous powers, or just a guy with 6 fingers having a walk with his dog.
• The Dog Bites Back
  • Bolivar Trask describes the Sentinel program this way. Humanity has feared mutants for a long time; now they can fight back.
  • Quicksilver finally got tired of his father's arrogance and took his helmet off him, allowing Xavier to defeat him.
• The Dreaded: Cyclops and Jean were very afraid when they heared that they had to rescue Wolverine. The others never heard of him, so more info dump.
• Dynamic Entry: Wolverine did one with a motorbike.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: In the mainstream continuity, Magneto is an Holocaust survivor. He mentions it here as well. This aspect of the character was abandoned later and never mentioned or suggested again, as he was turn into a complete villain with no redeeming qualities.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Magneto reacted to all the attacks with disdain, until his helmet (that prevents mind attacks on him) was removed by Quicksilver. His son, the one he always treated like dirt.
• Evil Welcomes Defectors: Cyclops got tired with the slow pace of Xavier's methods, so he left the X-Men and joined the Brotherhood. He had some concerns about the unneeded slaughter of civilians, but stayed on board. But, when Magneto takes control of an army of Sentinels, and head to Washington DC to raze the city, that was too much and he returned to the X-Men... convincing Quicksilver to betray his father in the meantime.
• Foreshadowing: Xavier has info about a mutant detained by the military. He clarified that it's not Magneto: "Magneto would have leveled half the city before they managed to bring him down"
• Godzilla Threshold: The US government agreed to cease using Sentinels, but gave them a last mission. Magneto's base was finally found, and that's too good an oportunity to pass.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Xavier, a wise and fatherly figure, smokes in a pipe. Wolverine smokes cigars and fills the room with smoke, just because he's so jerkass.
• Great Offscreen War: The Brotherhood bombed the Capitol in Washington DC a week before the action starts.
• Heel–Face Turn: Wolverine fell in love with Jean and dropped his mission to kill Xavier, becoming an X-Man for real.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Jean told this to Wolverine when he was about to kill Wraith. Wolverine did not care.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: Cyclops, who loves Jean, does not even notice the Scarlet Witch's explicit advances on him. She's hugging and caressing him, talking about hearthbeats... and he's still talking about the way the last mission ended.
• Info Dump: The first issue uses a TV news program format in the first pages to establish what was going on.
• Jedi Mind Trick: Jean uses her mind powers to trick the police officer into thinking that she's a policeman with a higher rank, so she could get Storm out of prison.
• Kick the Dog
  • Wraith and the Weapon X guys enjoy to shoot Wolverine in his cell, because with his healing factor he always gets better. They had once doused him with gasoline and set him alight, and he was still combat ready for an operation two days later.
  • Magneto wants Cyclops to call him "father" when they are near Quicksilver.
• Manipulative Bastard: Magneto sent Wolverine to kill Xavier and, at the same time, denounced that he would show up in the airport. He knew that the X-Men would go and rescue him... allowing him to infiltrate the team without raising suspicions.
• Mouthing the Profanity
  Cyclops: Can you read what I'm thinking now, professor?
  Xavier: Language like that betrays a limited vocabulary, Cyclops
• Mundane Utility: Xavier and Jean are not surgeons, but thanks to their telepathy they can "borrow" the expertise of nearby surgeons and treat Beast by themselves.
• My Suit Is Also Super: The black suits work as cloaking devices, preventing the Sentinels from detecting those who wear them.
• Neck Snap: Wolverine killed Cyclops with one of those, inside the Danger Room.
• New Era Speech: Magneto made one of those speeches with a naked president Bush helpless at his feet.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cyclops left the team and, with the Blackbird, joined the Brotherhood in the Savage Land. The US was tracking him, and did not understand why did he land near a rock formation in the middle of nowhere. Then they looked a bit closer and noticed that it was a complex hologram hiding Magneto's base.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Iceman saved the people from the falling of a defeated Sentinel, by freezing it in its place. The people started throwing things at them. Mutant scum!
• Non-Answer: How can Wolverine, with an adamantium skeleton, pass in the airport without turning on all the metal detectors? "Three words, bub: I'm a professional".
• Not His Sled: Beast was treated with an experimental procedure. It has not been tested in humans yet, but it gave good results in apes, except for a pair that turned blue. If you were expecting this to kickstart Beast's blue mutation, keep waiting, it just made his head hair blue.
• Oh, Crap!
  • The guy that bullied Beast for being a mutant, when he realizes his mistake.
  • Also the mafia guy that tried to kill Collosus.
  • And then Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch when the Sentinels show up in the Savage Land.
• Our Presidents Are Different: George Bush is in the "President Target" variety.
• Politically Incorrect Villain
  Magneto: Get out of my head, you stupid cripple!
• Proscenium Reveal: Wolverine, who has been hired to kill Xavier, is suddenly killing all the X-Men in the garden, and left Xavier for the end. But, as it turns out, he was just taking the new Danger Room too far.
• Power-Strain Blackout: In their first fight against Sentinels, Storm felled three ones with a single thunderbolt... and collapsed.
• Relationship Upgrade: After an eternity of Wolverine being the loser in the Cyclops-Jean-Wolverine triangle, here he kisses Jean, and has sex with her.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: A guy bought weapons in the black market, and tried to kill Collosus instead of paying (he survives thanks to his metal skin). He is then killed by his superior, Magneto.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: The Sentinels are attacking Washington DC and killing people. Marvel Girl told Storm that this is not the moment for quipping.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Magneto gave a sppech about Mutant supremacy when the X-Men were taking Beast, who seemed to have been killed. They did not care at all about what he said.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Wraight had several soldiers shoot Wolverine with a strenght to demolish a building. Justified case, as with his healing factor it's the only way to take him down for some minutes. What a pity for his little friend...
• Torches and Pitchforks: The X-Men survivied their first fight against Sentinels, but then they were attacked by an angry mob.
• Understatement: When narrating his origin story, Xavier mentioned that he and Magneto had "something of a falling out". In the image we can see a lange stick nailed to Xavier's back, wich made him unable to walk.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Beast told Wolverine that he shouldn't be insulting the guys that are setting him free from Weapon X's jail. Wolverine insisted in the insults when the cage was opened, and escaped. Getting revenge on Wraith was above all else.
• Who Dares?: Who dares to interrupt the execution of Bush by Magneto?
• Wolverine Publicity
  • Wolverine appears in the cover of issue #1. He was just mentioned in the last scene.
  • Colossus appears in the cover of issue #5. He is just a background character with no lines.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Jean saved Wraith from Wolverine, but he should not even think for a moment to say "thank you", or she'll fill his brain with nightmares.