WARNING: The following contains spoilers for X-Factor #7 by Leah Williams, David Baldeon, Israel Silva & VC's Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
The X-Men have been trying to solidify their new place in the Marvel Universe with their nation Krakoa, and they've been met with decidedly mixed results. Entire nations have been turned against them, even prompting some members of the team to take dedicated action towards bringing the X-Men back to a heroic standard. But there have been some friendlier relations as well, including one young romance that could help finalize a critical alliance.
In X-Factor #7, Speed just got an open invitation to return to Krakoa from Northstar, setting up the Young Avenger and newly introduced figure from WandaVision to potentially become a more important ally to the X-Men than he realizes.
Tommy Shepherd -- otherwise known as Speed of the Young Avengers -- is one of the two reincarnations of Wanda Maximoff's magically created twins. Capable of achieving super-speed like his "uncle" Quicksilver, Speed has established himself as a major member of the group. During his time with the Young Avengers, Speed forged a sweet romance with one of the newer additions to the group, David Alleyne, the X-Men's Prodigy. Even now that Prodigy has been reborn with his powers intact and has taken a position with Krakoa's X-Factor, the relationship continues to flourish.
With his speedster abilities, Speed is able to visit Krakoa with ease of his own power, without relying on the Krakoa Gates. This allows for an impromptu meeting between the two so Speed can update Prodigy on the mysterious circumstances of his death, as well as enjoy a brief romantic rendevous. Before he leaves though, the pair bump into Northstar, Prodigy's boss and the leader of X-Factor. Speed is quickly blown away by Northstar's mastery of super-speed and generally fanboys out over him. It's an endearing moment for Speed, and one that Northstar even takes notice of. Northstar even invites Speed to return to the island whenever he wants, giving the Young Avenger a relatively rare open invitation to visit Krakoa.
Although Speed is considered a mutant, this is still a big deal for the Young Avenger -- especially given the rocky relationship the mutant population has had with the rest of the Marvel heroes as of late. But it's especially impactful because of the family connections Speed has. Speed is nominally the twin brother of Wiccan, who is married to their Young Avenger teammate Hulking, Hulking recently took on a huge step up in terms of importance within the Marvel Universe by becoming the King of the Kree/Skrull Alliance. The X-Men have been working to cement relations with the empire, but have been hindered by the quiet contempt that most of Krakoa has for Wiccan's mother, the Scarlet Witch.
However, if Tommy were to become a more prominent figure on Krakoa -- especially if the romance between him and Prodigy continued -- then that could impact Teddy's views of Krakoa. This could help quietly further Krakoan interests in the galaxy and could be seen as a serious boon for Abigail Brand and the rest of the newly restructured S.W.O.R.D. Even beyond that romance, Northstar taking a liking to Speed could set up the Young Avenger to possibly train or learn from the mutant, allowing Speed's open invitation to the island continues to be a factor outside of any romance. It's another example of the X-Men embracing the modern generation of young heroes, and a good indicator of how the X-Men could continue to positively gain influence in the greater Marvel Universe.
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