Looking past the wall of muscle, Juggernaut shows a surprising amount of self-awareness and inner strength in facing down one of his darkest defeats.
Warning: spoilers for Legion of X #3 ahead!
One can imagine that life isn’t that complicated for the Juggernaut; with his unstoppable strength, there are few problems Cain Marko cannot simply barrel through. However, Marko is far from just a simple meathead, and recent events have shown a surprising level of introspection and self-awareness for such a straightforward character. When faced with adversity beyond mere physical strength, Juggernaut shows a profound awareness of his strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities that not many would expect.
While Juggernaut’s bond with the Cyttorak entity grants him unstoppable strength, he is not invulnerable. During a conflict with a body-hopping mutant on Krakoa, Juggernaut is briefly possessed and shunted to a dark corner of his mind while the mutant, Devon Alomar, attempts to use his body to get away. Although the possession is brief and Devon is forced to relinquish his control over Marko’s body, the experience leaves the normally unflappable Juggernaut feeling weak.
In Legion of X #3, by Si Spurrier, Jan Bazaldua, and Federico Blee, Juggernaut is left to deal with the fallout from the encounter. Speaking with Legion, he expresses the helplessness he felt at that moment, tearfully describing himself as “broken.” Acknowledging that he isn’t one of the smartest members of the team, he nevertheless expresses his desire to grapple with what has happened to him rather than allow Charles Xavier to simply psychically excise the experience from his mind. Legion, in turn, is able to provide Marko with validation over his trauma and desires, offering the aid of the Altar dimension’s hive consciousness in processing his feelings.
Juggernaut is, quite frankly, not the first Marvel character one turns to when picturing mental health, but his response to trauma is surprisingly mature. Few depictions have looked much further than Juggernaut’s massive power, but this snapshot into Marko’s psyche shows that he’s far more than just dumb muscle. Rather than simply have Xavier delete the trauma from his mind, he understands that he needs help and is able to reach out to Legion. He acknowledges his limitations, unlike self-professed geniuses such as Mister Sinister, and later expresses the desire to try and be better than who he has been in the past. For all his vast mind, Xavier’s methods are the mental equivalent of stagnation; Juggernaut, on the other hand, seeks growth.
Mental health is often a thorny issue in comics, where “insanity” has been a catch-all excuse for villainy and some of the most toxic character traits have been perpetuated. That’s why seeing such self-awareness means so much coming from Marko; it’s a reminder that even a Juggernaut has crushing fears, heartbreak, and inner struggles. In not shying away from his trauma and confronting it head-on, Juggernaut proves he has the strength to ask for help, the strength to heal, and a more complicated and better developed inner self than most fans realize.
Legion of X #3 is now available from Marvel Comics.
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