Contains spoilers for New Mutants #28
Every Marvel hero has its unique set of villains that help define them, but the Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey also known as the Goblin Queen.
Madelyne is a clone of Jean created by Mister Sinister, who believed that a union between Scott Summers and Jean Grey would produce a powerful mutant that he could control. Sinister manipulated events so that Scott and Madelyne fell in love, but Cyclops abandoned her after Jean's return from death. Madelyne gave in to her dark side, becoming the Goblin Queen and a recurring foe of the X-Men. When Krakoa was founded, however, Madelyne did not receive an invitation and the amnesty that was granted even to her deranged creator, Sinister. After her latest death, the Quiet Council even initially refused to resurrect her, due to the laws forbidding the presence of clones on Krakoa, but Emma Frost was able to overturn the decision. Feeling unwelcome in the most welcoming place in the world, Madelyne bargained with Magik to obtain her crown as the Queen of Limbo and start a new life in the demonic dimension.
However, in New Mutants #28 by Vita Ayala and Rod Reis, Magik's fellow New Mutants question the decision of letting Madelyne obtain rulership over Limbo. When they do, the Goblin Queen answers with a speech that perfectly explains the complexities of being a villain in the Marvel Universe and even more in the X-Men franchise, especially after Krakoa's amnesty. Madelyne points out that everyone expects she will always make the worst decision, even if she has been under Sinister's control most of her life. However, even though she is now free of it (having been reborn through the Resurrection Protocols), nobody on Krakoa is willing to grant her the same trust they are giving to the monster who created her, who sits on the Quiet Council. Even worse, most of the so-called heroes have had moments when they lost their minds or made terrible mistakes, and yet they always get another chance, while Madelyne has to fight and bargain for one in Limbo.
It is true that the Krakoan amnesty is very questionable from a moral point of view. Genocidal criminals like Cassandra Nova, mass murderers like Magneto, and even the deranged and soulless Mister Sinister were pardoned, all in the name of mutant unity, while Madelyne was forgotten or scorned. The reasoning given that she is a clone does not hold, as Mister Sinister has cloned himself so many times that it's impossible to know who is the real Nathaniel Essex. In fact, the villain was not even a mutant to begin with, but became one through twisted science. It seems that once someone is allowed in the ranks of "heroes," morals and ethics do not apply anymore, and it's not just an X-Man problem. Iron Man, for example, is a very dangerous "hero" who keeps making the same mistakes, and yet is always forgiven both by his peers and by the public.
Madelyne's speech proves that the Marvel Universe has long moved away from the traditional definitions of "good" and "evil" that defined its characters. However, there is still a clear divide between who society perceives as "heroes" and the so-called "villains" who are often judged with very different standards. In this context, the X-Men's complex and nuanced villains stand out as the most interesting ones.
