Warning: Spoilers for Sentinels #5The X-Men franchise is no stranger to cyborgs and giant robots, and now one of Marvel’s most underrated cyborg heroes is getting the upgrade they deserve. In the early 2000s, Marvel introduced a young hero who took a chance to transform the epitome of anti-mutant hysteria into a force of good. Now, the character has returned from his decade-long near-death state with a new power to control old enemies.

In Sentinels #5 by Alex Paknadel and Justin Mason, Lawrence Trask's Sentinel Program continues to face growing complications as his Sentinel nanotech soldiers defy his orders. Hidden in the recesses of the Graymalkin Prison, the Sentinel cyborgs Voivod and Sawtooth discover the source behind their nanotech augmentations: Juston Seyfert.

Before his imprisonment, Juston once commanded a reprogrammed Sentinel as an ally before being brutally slaughtered in Arcade’s Murderworld. Now, Juston has returned with a terrifying new power to override all Sentinels with his nanites, changing the course of the ongoing war against the X-Men.

Meet Juston Syfert, the Boy With a Pet Sentinel

First Appearance: Sentinel #1 by Sean McKeever, Scott Hepburn, Joe Vriens, Eric Vedder, UDON, and Cory Petit

Juston Seyfert was first introduced in 2003's Sentinel #1 by Sean McKeever and Joe Vriens as a low-income kid in a broken family. Juston grew up in the family’s junkyard, where he developed a ion for giving new purpose to old and discarded things. One day, while exploring the junkyard, Juston discovers a damaged microchip which, unbeknownst to the young boy, is a control chip for a broken and discarded Sentinel robot. Due to Juston’s meddling, the mutant-hunting machine reawakened and began to repair its basic functions. Seeing yet another opportunity to make something new, Juston began reprogramming the Sentinel.

While the boy couldn’t remove the “Kill All Mutants” directive from the Sentinel’s programming, he managed to override it with new code that conflicted with and buried the primary directive while asserting a new permanent order to the Sentinel: never abandon Juston. Of course, Juston couldn’t keep his gargantuan pet robot a secret for too long, and the world soon discovered the existence of a Sentinel commanded by a child. Juston soon enrolled in the Avengers Academy to avoid threats and public backlash. Despite the X-Men’s protest, Juston and his Sentinel remained students until they were later kidnapped by Arcade.

12 Years After His "Death," Juston Has Returned to Marvel Lore with New Powers

He and His Sentinel Are Now One

In Arcade’s Murderworld, popularly referred to as “Avengers Arena,” Juston and a handful of other young heroes had become subjects of Arcade’s sick version of amusement. Forced to face each other in a Battle Royal to the death, Juston and his Sentinel chose to escape the combat and hide until the others found a way to escape. Tragically, Juston was quickly targeted by the technopath Apex, who shattered his spine; she then returned to snap the boy’s neck, killing him instantly. For over a decade, Juston was considered dead, only now returning in the current Sentinels series.

After Juston’s death and his Sentinel’s destruction, what lingering “life” was left in the machine continued to cling to its prime directive: never abandon Juston.

In Sentinels #4, it’s revealed that, after Juston’s death and his Sentinel’s destruction, what lingering “life” was left in the machine continued to cling to its prime directive: never abandon Juston. The Sentinel deconstructed and reformed into a flood of nanites, infesting Juston’s dying body. To save its best friend and master, the Sentinel transformed Juston into the world’s newest human-Sentinel hybrid. However, some time after Juston’s resurrection, he was kidnapped by Lawrence Trask and reconstituted as the source from which Trask’s new Sentinel Program would arise. Now, Juston has returned with a set of never-before-seen powers.

Juston Possesses the Power to Control All Sentinels

Sentinels #5 by Alex Paknadel, Justin Mason, Federico Blee, and Travis Lanham

Since his assumed death, Juston has grown considerably in the years of cruel isolation that Trask made the now-young adult endure. He is neither completely Juston nor his Sentinel. Instead, they are a new being coexisting as one person. With Juston’s Sentinel grafted throughout his body, so too has his Sentinel’s prime directive. Now, all of Trask’s human-Sentinel hybrids, each created from Juston’s techno-organic flesh, share this directive as well. With little more than the force of his willpower, Juston overrides his fellow hybrids, both liberating them from Trask’s influence and enforcing his own instead.

However, the hero’s power extends beyond just the hybrids. Using his nanites, Juston can assume control over any Sentinel, transforming them into an upgraded version of his original robotic friend. In a world that still relishes the subjugation and extermination of mutants, this power could steer the course of history. Besides her mind-controlled mutants and Avian psychic, Scurvy, Dr. Corina Ellis’s greatest asset against mutantkind is her Sentinel Program. However, Juston’s very existence threatens to override everything the villain has done. With this upgrade, once-forgotten Juston has transformed into the X-Men’s greatest asset.

Marvel Proves That Forgotten Characters Can Still Be Entertaining

Hopefully Juston Becomes a Recurring Character in Today's Comics

The X-Men and mutantkind as a whole are facing a new, modern wave of global distrust. Following the collapse of Krakoa, the world’s mutants have been forced to reintegrate with the human world, causing increased tensions around new mutant communities. People like Trask and Dr. Ellis are still hellbent on eviscerating what is left of mutantkind and have been given the authority to do so. The X-Men don’t have many allies, especially non-mutant ones, so Juston could easily become the team’s greatest asset. Soon, the X-Men could have their own army of Sentinels, free from their “Kill All Mutants” programming.

As Cyclops and his team of Alaskan X-Men continue to settle into their Sentinel factory-turned-headquarters, Juston would serve as the perfect ally for the team. Thanks to Trask and Ellis, the Sentinels have long evolved past a mutant-specific threat, now posing an even greater risk to humanity. Dr. Ellis does not care what lives she must spend to destroy mutantkind, and some parts of humanity, like the human-Sentinel hybrids, are taking notice. However, what’s most exciting about Juston’s return and subsequent upgrades is what Marvel has proven through his resurrection.

While relying on well-established characters is an easier task, unexplored characters, like Juston, have much more to bring to the table.

Marvel has a rich stockpile of characters who have long been forgotten. Characters like Juston are given a single series to succeed, and if they flop, the characters are lost to obscurity. But an unpopular or forgotten character is only as interesting as a creator makes them. While relying on well-established characters is an easier task, unexplored characters, like Juston, have much more to bring to the table. Rogue characters like him have the power to change old and familiar patterns into something fresh and vibrant. Thanks to Juston’s grand upgrade, the X-Men’s most iconic enemies have become powerful allies.

Sentinels #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.