Whatever happened to that new Pyro?

When the X-Men moved to Krakoa and introduced mutant resurrection, one of the most prominent characters brought back from the dead was the classic X-Men villain Pyro. He’s an all-star member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, and died a tragic death from the legacy virus way back in the ancient year of 2000. When he returned in the Krakoa-era, Pyro was one of the main characters in the new Marauders series. He’s been a prominent player ever since.

But his return seems to have kicked out a new Pyro introduced shortly before Krakoa.

X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold were one of the last major status quo shifts before Marvel completely upended the X-Men. Classic team designations, new characters and prominent storylines saw the X-Men franchise take one last, desperate gasp at being normal before writer Jonathan Hickman changed everything. And the new Pyro was a medium player in X-Men: Gold.

So why hasn’t he been welcomed in the new mutant nation of Krakoa? Join me after the jump to learn more about this guy!

Who is he?

Simon Lasker is a mutant with the power to generate and control fire, which puts him one up on classic Pyro, who couldn’t generate the fire and had to famously wear a flamethrower everywhere. Lasker ended up burning down his entire high school and killing everyone inside, making him a prime candidate to be mind-controlled by the villain Mesmero into joining a new Brotherhood of mutants.

Pyro, and a new Avalanche, for that matter, battled the X-Men a couple of times with this new Brotherhood before he eventually learned they were being funded by an anti-mutant activist. Pyro took his leave and went directly to the X-Men, where he gave them all the intel and joined the team. He even got a new X-themed costume!

Pyro was with the X-Men: Gold for the rest of their run, even hooking up with Iceman. But then he disappeared at the end of the book, with the series claiming he was going to take care of his mother instead of being a member of the X-Men.

I guess he’s continued to look after his mother even as all of mutantdom has set up shop on Krakoa, because he hasn’t been seen in the new era whatsoever.

Why should you care?

I’m as big a fan of classic Pyro as the next guy. And there’s no reason why the two Pyros couldn’t co-exist on Krakoa. Simon Lasker is a new LGBTQ+ character with a neat backstory and some X-Men bonafides.

He could be a permanent boyfriend for Iceman, playing up that whole fire/ice thing. There could be a fun moment where classic Pyro meets new Pyro. There could be a moment where Simon picks a new costume and identity. Everybody loves that sort of thing.

The Krakoa-era plans were probably already being thought up when X-Men: Gold was coming out and new Pyro was introduced. So he was probably only ever going to be temporary. But he needn’t be. Fire is a cool super-power, and the X-Men have this fire dude just waiting in the wings. Bring him to Krakoa! Have more gay mutants! Let new Pyro shine!

Except stars don’t shine…they burn!

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