Hero Profile: Archangel

Something interesting and weird that I’ve heard over the last few months is that the next X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, will include Angel and Jubilee in the cast list. That in and of itself isn’t what is odd, I look forward to seeing both. The thing is, the previous movies have established both characters as being young adults in the 2000s, which begs the question how could they exist in the 1980s when Apocalypse is going to take place. And don’t give me the BS about Wolverine resetting the timeline. Somehow changing events in the past caused two characters to be conceived at minimum two decades early? How does that compute? I’ll see the movie and enjoy it regardless, fingers crossed, but that’s going to bug me.  If that was a somewhat rambling introduction, I apologize. Opening paragraphs get tricky after doing so many in a row. Now, on with the show. Today’s character Warren Worthington III, the Avenging Archangel. I just combined three different codenames. Odd.

Like Warren needs bright yellow to stand out.

Warren Worthington III started out life as your pretty generic trust fund kid. Father, Warren Worthington Jr., was a billionaire industrialist, like Warren Worthington Sr., so Warren III is kind of stupid rich. As such he attended the finest schools in New York State. Warren was charming, good looking, and, again, stupid rich, so he did very well for himself. That is until he reached adolescence and his powers started to manifest. And unlike many other Mutants, his powers were a little more difficult to hide. Giant bird wings are kind of hard to miss. Warren’s immediate feelings about his Mutation, utter disgusted and feeling like a freak, were quickly washed away when he found his wings weren’t just for show, he could actually fly with them. And, furthermore, he could use this flight to help others. His first go at the whole superhero thing was when his dormitory caught fire. Thinking ahead, Warren snuck into the schools drama department, threw together a mask and costume, and helped airlift his classmates to safety. He did such rescues a few times, going by the alias the Avenging Angel. Warren’s actions eventually caught the eye of Charles Xavier, who found the young mutant and offered him a spot on the X-Men.

Warren accepted and shortens his codename to Angel. Though, given his initial attitude, I wonder why he joined. Warren is kind of a jerk, fulfilling all of the stereotypes of the wealthy playboy. He also has a problem with authority figures, be they field commander Cyclops or Prof. X himself.  Heck, more than once he'd fly off while Xavier is giving the team a lesson. Basically he’s Tony Stark but with bird wings.  The fact he also had a thing for Jean (whom had a crush on Scott) didn’t make things easier, either. Are normal people's relationships so complicated? I haven't personally seen a love triangle in the real world. Is my experience atypical? Enough digression. They worked things out, but there always seemed to be tension with these three.

From his Avenging Angel days.

After being an X-man for a while, Warren chose to publically reveal that he is a Mutant. (His wings are pretty damn flexible, so he essentially just kept them under a trench coat up until this point.) This is due in part to reveal his Uncle Burt was the gangster Dazzler, and had murdered Warren’s parents to seize control of the Worthington fortune. Dick. Things get worse after the incident on the evil sentient island Krakoa. For those just joining, X-Men get stuck on the island, Xavier puts together a new team to save them, old team leaves when the new team decide they want to keep being X-Men. Warren and good buddy Iceman go to LA and form a team called the Champions with Hercules, Black Widow and Ghost Rider. He then rejoins the X-Men for a bit after Jean Grey’s supposed death and Cyclops quitting, but leaves again after butting heads with Wolverine one too many times. He helps create the New Defenders with Beast and Iceman, but that team falls apart after one of it’s members, Moondragon, gets possessed and kills most of the team. Warren just doesn’t seem to have any luck with the whole team thing. He creates X-Factor, a team comprised of the original X-Men, basically to impress a recently returned Jean. Which works, due in no small part to the fact that Cyclops is at the time still married, albeit estranged, to Madelyn Pryor. Not sure if that's a hollow victory or not... He appoints an old prep school friend, Cameron Hodge, to help him run the team. Unfortunately for Warren, Cameron is as much his friend as Roman Sionis was Bruce Wayne’s friend. Again, for those just joining us, is a friend to our hero in public, despises Warren and plots his downfall in private.

Cameron is very much anti-Mutant, which should have been apparent when he portrayed X-Factor as Mutant Hunters for hire. Not Hunters who are Mutants, but Hunters that hunt Mutants. Still, they try to roll with it and help Mutant's on the down low.The situation is further complicated when Mystique exposed Warren as the financial backer for X-Factor. Mutant funding "Mutant Hunters." PR nightmare, am I right? Things go even further into the realm of sucking when Warren is badly injured during an event known as the Mutant Massacre. Basically a group known as the Marauders, who work for Mr. Sinister, were slaughtering a group of sewer dwelling Mutant’s known as the Morlocks. Warren’s wings are badly broken, and he’s even crucified. Wow, real imaginative torture, Marauders. He’s saved by the timely arrival of Thor. Warren’s wings contract gangrene, and Cameron signs the paperwork to have Warren’s wings amputated, against Warren’s wishes. Be careful whom you give your Power of Attorney to folks. Losing his wings is a major psychological blow to Warren, which put him into a deep depression. He somehow escapes his hospital, and commandeers his private jet. Most likely in an ill-conceived attempt to recapture the feeling of flight. And unfortunately for Warren, Cameron Hodge expected this and sabotaged the plane, attempting to kill Warren and make it look like a suicide.

Every bargain has it's price. Try to avoid it being
your soul.

Thankfully, Warren was saved. Hooray. By Apocalypse. Less hooray. The ancient super-mutant offers to restore Warren’s wings, so long as he agrees to serve Apocalypse. Depressed, vulnerable, psychologically scarred, do I need to say what Warren chose? Apocalypse put Warren through several painful and extensive genetic alternations. The process turned Warren’s skin blue, (what is it with X-Men and blue?) and restored his wings. But not as they were. His feathery bird’s wings were replaced by wings of organic metal. They’re now sharper than most blades, and can be launched from Warren’s wings like throwing knives. Warren is made Death, leader of the Horsemen of Apocalypse. His first mission is against X-Factor, whom he thoroughly trounces. Death had the psychological advantage, his friends were stunned to see him alive, let alone alongside Apocalypse. After beating his friends to a pulp, Warren leads an attack on Manhattan. X-Factor regroups and follows. Old buddy Iceman is able to break through to Warren when he tricks the fallen angel into destroying an Iceman lookalike. He rejoins his team just long enough to beat back Apocalypse.

Warren goes solo for a short time. He’d lost much of his vigor, having lost not only his fortune but also his good looks. That plus the emotional scars of the ordeal, it’s kind of amazing he could still function. He decides to look up an old girlfriend, Candy Southern, in an attempt to reconnect with his past. Unfortunately he discovers that Candy had been kidnapped and lobotomized by Cameron Hodge. (Girl in the Fridge, it's a really rampant trope, isn't it?) Apparently she’d found out and confronted Cameron about the Worthington funds he’d been embezzling. Cameron kills the braindead Candy during his confrontation with Warren. Warren, in retaliation, cuts his head off. Damn, Warren, that was dark. But… I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same in that situation. The much darker and depressed Warren reveals his return to the public, reclaims control of his family fortune and business, and takes on the name Archangel. What a troubled road it’s been.

He found his way back from the darkness in his
own soul. Nice combination of costumes.

Over the years Warren has made strides towards recovery. He’s regained, and lost again, his feathered wings. He’s lead his own group of X-Men several times, and formed relationships with various teammates. The dude’s a serial workplace dater. After M-Day he was a Mutant that kept his powers, but faked losing them to track down a serial killer named Ghoul who was targeting powerless Mutants. He temporarily rejoins the Champions to stop a rampaging Hulk, and loses several million dollars in the incident. Eh, it’s like a drop in the bucket to Warren. For a short time the darker aspects of his personality, helped along by the remaining bits of Apocalypse’s reprogramming, tried to assert control and become the new Apocalypse. This is stopped by the X-Men, and one of his Ex’s Psylocke.

Most recently, the dying Beast brought the younger versions of the original X-Men to the Future in an attempt to make the rogue Cyclops see the error of his ways. During this time, Archangel Warren meets Angel Warren. The younger Warren is disturbed to see modern Warren’s metal wings, and grows more and more frustrated with being stuck in the future upon learning what will come next. Eventually he defects to Cyclops’ rogue X-Men. Kind of the opposite of what Hank intended. Oh well, the best laid plans.

Warren’s apparent Mutation is the large feathered wings that have grown from his shoulder blades. These wings are incredibly strong and flexible, capable of carrying him and at least one passenger as well as being able to fold against his back. But, his Mutation is a bit more…extreme. In a way very similar to Beast, Warren is essentially a mix of human and animal, in this case a bird of prey. His bones are hollow and lightweight, which helps him fly. He also processes food faster and more effectively, making it almost impossible for him to store it as fat. He also has above average strength, speed, flexibility, endurance, coordination, and senses than your average human. His eyes and lungs have adapted to function better at high altitudes. He can fly nonstop for about twelve hours. Over the years he’s also developed a healing factor, allowing him to recover very quickly, and his blood has been shown to have healing powers. So, so long as your blood types match, he can fix what ails ya.

Get this man an X to stick on his costume
We have a theme, darn it.

After his wings were replaced by Apocalypse, he gained a few new powers. His metal wings are made of a similar ‘organic steel’ to Colossus’s metal form. The wings are stronger than he feathered wings, and allow him to fly faster. Less wind resistance or something. He’s able to launch the metal feathers from his wings as projectile weapons. The feathers a razor sharp, and are coated in neural inhibiting chemical that causes temporary paralysis. So… don’t get cut.

Warren Worthington has appeared in a few X-Men series, under his various aliases. Of the original five he is one of the lesser used characters. Which is a shame, but I’ll get to that more in the end.

He’s in X-Men: The Last Stand. His appearance is minimal and I don’t recommend watching it. He is set to appear in X-Men Apocalypse. Here’s hoping they don’t screw up this time.

He appears a few times in X-Men: The Animated Series. In it, he’s introduced as just a Mutant that wants to lose his wings. Apparently this version apparently never appreciated his wings. He’s lured to Muir Island by the promise of a cure. Instead, he gets morphed into Death by Apocalypse. He’s brainwashed but then cured by Rogue who…sucks out the evil? It’s weird. He spends the rest of the series trying to get vengeance on Apocalypse. He’s a minor recurring character, only appearing six times, but they are at least important episodes.

He appeared as the Avenging Angel in X-Men: Evolution. In it, he’s a rather reclusive millionaire whom flies around New York saving folks. His good deeds are threatened by Magneto, whom starts a riot against the winged Mutant after using his own powers to throw a kid off the bridge and claim Angel’s wings did it. He’s saved from Magneto’s machinations by Rogue and Cyclops whom were in the area. They were the ones that had no families to visit on Christmas, sad. Warren doesn’t join the X-Men but is an ally from then on. He’s one of the various “Non-X-Men” that are recruited to help the main X-Men stop Apocalypse in the series finale “Ascension.”

Amazing design. I love this game.

Warren appears as both Angel and Archangel in X-Men: Legends 2. He's first introduced as the X-Men's scout in the first few levels. By the fourth "act" of the game he's kidnapped on mission and given the extensive modifications transforming him into Archangel. His first few lines after becoming Archangel were quiet chilling.  The epicness of the fight with him his taken down slightly by him constantly shouting tips. "STAY AWAY FROM THE TELEPORTER" of course I'm not going to do that after you say it.

He also appeared on Wolverine and the X-Men. Warren had to take a back seat to heroing in this series because of his father’s threat to cut him off if he was seen consorting with Mutants. Warren was the financial backer for the beginning part of the show. He eventually joins the X-Men full time again when it’s revealed how big a threat the Master Mold and the Sentinels are. In the episode “Guardian Angel” Warren is grievously in a fight with the Mutant Response Division. His father rather callously has the doctors have Warren’s wings removed, rather than look into other options. The distraught Warren approached by Mr. Sinister who promises to restore his wings. Different snake, same venom. Transformed into Archangel, Warren is now little more that Mr. Sinister’s prized attack dog, lashing out at whomever Sinister commands him to. The series finished after the first season, but I’d like to think that had the show continued they’d have recovered Warren.

Whatever you want to call him, Warren/Angel/Archangel, is an interesting character. His transformation from playboy stereotype to the broken Angel trying to recover is one of the most interesting stories of the X-Men. I thought he was done a major disservice in X3, being reduced to messenger and only appearing in the climax to save his father. BS. They took one of the most complex X-Men and reduced him to…well, something only slightly above the Juggernaut parody they also had in that movie. I hope that we get to see more of Warren Worthington in years to come, and that his positon in the X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t suck. Fingers crossed folks. He’s Avenging, yet Afflicted Archangel. Next time, ice pun about Iceman. He’s the third or fourth Ice guy I’ve done, you think of a good pun.

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