X-Men Forgot One Movie Mutant Is the Ultimate Anti-Sentinel Weapon
A member of the X-Men–who was on the original team in the movies–proved to have the perfect anti-Sentinel attack, too bad the X-Men forgot about it.
Even though the X-Men movies weren’t the most well-received by audiences, they did manage to bring to life one mutant in particular who has one perfect anti-Sentinel power that would actually prove incredibly useful in the current age of X-Men comics–and that mutant hero is Banshee.
Sean Cassidy aka Banshee made his live-action debut in X-Men: First Class as one of the original X-Men members to make up the team alongside the likes of Mystique, Beast, and Havok. In the movie, Banshee learned how to control his sonic scream power with the help of Charles Xavier. By the end of the film, Banshee had so much control over his mutant ability that he could direct his sonic screams towards enemies with astounding accuracy and precision as well as even use his power to fly. As incredible as Banshee became, there was one ability present in the comics that he never tapped into in the movies–and one that even the comic books themselves have forgotten about.
In Amazing X-Men #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert, the X-Men are fighting for their lives within the war-torn world of the Age of Apocalypse–except, they’re not fighting Apocalypse or his minions, they’re fighting Sentinels. The Age of Apocalypse essentially has the world split in two: the former United States is ruled by Apocalypse and his mutant-supremacist regime while Europe and parts of Asia and Africa are still under human control. In an effort to combat Apocalypse and his forces, humanity developed Sentinels–though unfortunately, given that it’s wartime, the Sentinels can’t tell the difference between ‘good’ mutants who are fighting for humanity, like the X-Men, and ‘bad’ ones who follow Apocalypse. While this is an annoyance for the X-Men, given that they have to waste time technically fighting their own side by occasionally battling Sentinels, they have a secret weapon that can take down Sentinels swiftly and efficiently: Banshee’s sonic scream–at least, at a certain frequency.
Banshee Can Destroy Sentinel Systems with the Silent Sound of His Voice
As made clear in this issue, Banshee can create a sonic scream pitched at such a high frequency that the Sentinels’ internal electrical systems essentially get fried. Not only that, but none of Banshee’s fellow X-Men can hear the scream as the pitch is too high, so they aren’t negatively impacted by his power as they might have been if he simply let out a normal sonic scream near them. This makes Banshee’s Sentinel-killing power doubly effective as it takes them out without harming his teammates–and this is a power the X-Men need to weaponize in the current continuity. Since the Dawn of X (with Moira’s very explicit warning in House of X/Powers of X), Sentinels are the greatest threat facing both mutant and humankind. In every potential future, Sentinels take over the world and end all life on the planet (beyond synthetic)–meaning that they need to go, no matter the cost. The X-Men are very aware of this fact, and their efforts to squash any and all Sentinel programs are ongoing, but they’re not using their greatest asset: Banshee.
This issue of Amazing X-Men proves that Banshee can create a sonic scream that no one can hear while destroying Sentinels like it’s nothing–proving to be the perfect ability for covert-op missions. Unfortunately, this power has been completely forgotten by the X-Men, and this mutant–who was able to shine in the movies–will likely never be the ultimate anti-Sentinel weapon he once was.
