Wolverine is about to feel the full fury of Department H, as his first team, Alpha Flight, returns to kill his son. The Fall of X is nearly here, and in the aftermath, Wolverine must contend with his former superhero team: Alpha Flight, who has seemingly thrown their lot in with the anti-mutant extremists the Orchis. Now, a new Alpha Flight is taking care of the mutant menace–starting with Fang, Wolverine’s son.
Marvel has released more information on Alpha Flight’s first two issues and a look at various covers, shared below. Vindicator, the leader of Alpha Flight, has allied himself with the Orchis, betraying mutantkind in the process. A new, Earth-based Alpha Flight team, including stalwarts Puck, Guardian, and Shaman, set their sights on their mutant former teammates Northstar, Aurora, Nemesis, and Wolverine’s son Fang. Issue two refers to the mutants as “the Rebel Alliance,” as they fight against their former allies. However, Department H is calling in the big guns to take out the mutants, including the Box Sentinels. Two of the variant covers reference other iconic covers, including John Byrne’s Alpha Flight #1 and Uncanny X-Men #100. Marvel has promised this new Alpha Flight will either “soar to new heights” or fail miserably under the weight of an “impossible mission.”
Wolverine Has A Long History with Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight is Canada’s premiere superhero team. Answering to Department H, the branch of the Canadian government responsible for superhuman activities, Alpha Flight has been a staunch ally of Earth’s mutants since their inception, even if their bosses were not. Department H was an early employer of Wolverine, and he has since clashed with them on several occasions. After leaving Alpha Flight to join the X-Men, Wolverine would come back into conflict with Department H. The Department tried multiple times to retrieve Wolverine, to no avail. Department H, and Alpha Flight, have come and gone over the years, but now the team has returned, with original members–and a deadly new mission that will bring them back into contact with Wolverine.
The new book spins out of the Fall of X, which will see the Orchis unleash hell on Krakoa, presumably scattering the mutants once again to the four winds. Whatever happens during Fall of X, it will force Department H to seemingly declare open season on mutants, sending a reformed Alpha Flight after some of its former members. Mutants Northstar and Aurora were founding members of the original Alpha Flight, so drama is bound to ensue when former comrades-in-arms go against each other.
Alpha Flight Has Betrayed The Mutants – And Wolverine
Whatever Department H’s reasons are, they will make a grave mistake by trying to kill Wolverine’s son. Fang, who used to go by Daken, was a viciously dangerous villain, but he has recently undergone a heroic change. Wolverine already has a contentious relationship with Department H, and seeing his son in danger will no doubt add fuel to the fire. The new Alpha Flight, their former heroic mutant members, and possibly Wolverine will all clash in Marvel’s new exciting Alpha Flight series, debuting on August 16, 2023.
