Things are beginning to heat up all over the digital realm of true believers as Fox hit television series Legion prepares for its second season.
Last season, we got a glimpse of one of the true monsters of the Marvel Universe as The Shadow King manifested himself for the first time as a little girl named Lenny Busker. While we collectively we quaked at the thought of Thanos causing the gleaming spires of Wakanda to become engulfed in flames, there are many horrible things gleaned from the pages of Marvel Comics that go bump in the night, of which The Shadow King sits near the top of the pantheon.
Legion | Season 2: Official Trailer [HD] | FX
What’s the last thing you remember? Watch the OFFICIAL TRAILER for the all-new season of Legion. Premieres April 3 on FX. Subscribe now for more Legion clips: http://bit.ly/SubscribeFX Legion follows the story of “David Haller,” a man who believed he was schizophrenic but discovered he might be the most powerful mutant in the world.
This season, The Shadow King will take his traditional form as Amahi Farouk on Foxs Legion. Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, The Shadow King first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #117 (released January 1979). Like so many dozens of times before, Professor Charles Xavier is grieving the apparent deaths of his prized, gifted team.
The X-Men would eventually be okay. However, their apparent demise is the device for a flashback for Charles Xavier, one that predates the formation of the team itself. The flashback takes us to Cairo, Egypt where a young street urchin named Ororo Munroe would pick his pocket. Professor X casually uses his world-class telepathy to get his wallet back from the girl but is suddenly locked in a psychic attack with a then-unknown assailant.
“Storm is Possessed by the Shadow King” – X-Men 1/2
I OWN NOTHING. BELONGS TO RESPECTFUL OWNERS.ONLY USED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES.
Charles follows the trail of his telepathic adversary to a small, secluded caf and approaches a seemingly inconspicuous, portly, fez-wearing gentleman sitting at a table. However, Charles Xavier immediately recognizes this person as the one who assaulted him. Though it would be retconned later, this battle with The Shadow King was once considered Charles first life or death battle with a telepath whose abilities rivaled his own.
Professor X would defeat Ahmad Farouk that day, but the Shadow King would continue to haunt the X-Men and the entire Marvel comic book canon for decades afterward. The Shadow King is considered an Omega-level telepath. Meaning hes on the same level as Charles Xavier and Kid Omega. He also is powerful enough to control other strong telepaths, including Psylocke and Jean Grey.
“Storm is Possessed by the Shadow King” – X-Men 2/2
I OWN NOTHING. BELONGS TO RESPECTFUL OWNERS.ONLY USED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES.
The Shadow King requires a nexus between the physical and astral planes and often selects telepaths or psychics to become his hosts in order to obscure his true self from other powerful telepaths, some of which are powerful enough to destroy him. The Shadow King is called the manifestation of the dark side of human consciousness, allegedly created from the visceral horror of mankinds very first nightmare.
Amahi Farouk, believed to have worked for Baron Von Strucker during World War II, was born a mutant. However, The Shadow King itself is immortal. After Farouks apparent death at the hands of Charles Xavier, The Shadow King would reemerge in an attempt to exact revenge on Professor X or his gifted students again and again.
The Shadow King usually is manifested as a grossly overweight individual and it is said this is due to his inability to control his own appetites, psychic or physical. Oftentimes, his undoing is his appetite, hedonism, ego, gluttony and the all-encompassing need for pleasure and satisfaction.
