Just like I did with Doom, Wolverine/Storm, Gambit/Rogue, last year. I'm going to do the same with Archangel. This is just my vision of the character and why I love him so much.
Xx
I am very attached to Archangel and it took me several years to understand why. At the very beginning, when I was first introduced to the x-men, he still was Angel and I didn't care about him. He was yet another white billionaire, had wings which I found was very lame and a bland playboy personality which didn't make him memorable. I ignored him fiercely until someday, something terrible happened to him.
See, Angel was a good person at his very core. A little bit boy scout and a lot blander rich guy who's always with a hot babe in his arm. He was a golden boy to say the very least. He became interesting to me when he faced the biggest tragedy someone can ever face: He lost his identity. He lost his wings.
Warren always looked like the common representation people have of angels. He was blonde, he was pale, he had blue eyes. He was tall and well-built. Atheltic and a hero. He had feathered wings. He looked immaculate. He « acted » immaculate. He was true to his codename. A real Angel. Was he really? Not only was it traumatic and painful for the poor guy to lose his wings, but along with them, he lost his identity. He wasn't Angel anymore, he wasn't good to be an x-men according to himself, he wasn't « pretty » anymore, he wasn't « pure ». He became a Man and he rejected this version of himself he thought had less value than the feathered-winged mutant he used to be. When you think of it, to me, it appears that he rejected his very self. His core. His true-self if you will. Warren could have reinvented himself, he could have accepted and embraced a life without the power to fly he had (he still had his other secondary powers on). He would have survived because Warren wasn't just Angel. But he rejected it all. He considered himself done. It broke my heart when I read this issue because I honestly felt the very same way. I was supposed to be brainy, the straight upgrade A student and among my friends, the one they all came to for advises and who couldn't fail or desire anything. I was this person and this person wasn't who I really was. Yet, I was convinced to only be this. I thought my only value were my grades and the advises I gave others, so changing this, taking care of myself and listening to my very needs was already very alien to me and I was scared to do so. So I let things happen the way they did. I became a watcher of my very own life. So reading Warren going through the very same really reached out to me and I so strongly felt for him. But it became worse.
Incapable of making peace with what happened to him (UNLIKE STORM WHO AFTER BEING DEPRESSED DECIDED TO TAKE CONTROL OF HER LIFE AND TURNED INTO BEING EVEN MORE BADASS THEN WHEN SHE HAD POWERS. How interesting to see two characters deal differently with the same issues. I love you Storm! <3 ) He sought a quick solution to regain his wings back. He was desperate and obsessed you know? He was willing to do anything to be Angel again and fell into the very bad hands of Mr. Sinister. It rang a bell in me, years later after this issue came out, I realized that the very same thing happened to me, circa 2009/2010. I also fell into the wrong circle of « friends », something that led to yet another horrible and traumatic experience. He went to Mr. Sinister and underwent a traumatic and painful experiment that turned his skin blue, gave him metallic wings. His physical change was a beautiful symbolic way to show his internal change. How broken Warren became. How tainted he was. For someone who used to be the poster child for anything « pure and angelic, » he became a true demon. Unfortunately for him, he was being used as a pawn by Mr. Sinister and by extension Apocalypse who turned him into one of his Horsemen. Horseman Death!
I'm not going to analyze the ridiculously awesome (yet so very simple and at times cliché) comparison between Archangel/Angel who looked like an Angel but turned out to be a demon and Kurt/Nightcrawler who looked like a demon but actually was a true Angel. That alone deserves yet another full-blown commentary:D so I'm going to skip it and focus on Archangel.
Archangel was forced to do things he didn't want to do. He paid for his reckless and desperate decision to have himself « fixed ». He paid for not having been able to accept himself for who he really was and for using shortcuts. He really suffered. Forced to witness and being unable to stop his bloodthirsty rampage of violence, he killed, maimed, slaughtered innocent souls regardless of age, gender, sex, and the rest. He killed. He fell. If we were to talk about Angelic imagery, he became akin to Lucifer and fell into the pits of hell because he sinned (when he went to Mr. Sinister). Warren's soul was tormented and reading his suffering truly made my very own heart bleed. I wasn't confused, but I related to him, in my very own and less epic way. Way back in the days but even more today. I am so fond of my baby and I want to protect him and have him know better days. He did, back in the 90's/2000. He did when he was set free from Apocalypse and returned to the x-men but he was forever tainted by evil, forever struggling with what he did and his identity. Who was he today? Was he, Warren? Was he Archangel? Could he even be Angel again? Did he want to be Angel? His metallic wings embodied his new persona and new life. It was a constant reminder of his shame. Of his crimes. He tried his very best to turn his pain into something beautiful and at times succeeded, at times failed.
But his story kind of split in several small paths. In some of them, he succeeded in redeeming himself and returned to being Angel. I think it's beautiful if he was able to make peace with himself and in my headcanon, this would forever be my goals when writing him. Having him redeem himself from his past crimes, forgiving himself for these and embracing life once more. But there are in some others, the threat of him becoming once again Apocalypse Horseman. He would forever be tempted to return to his old ways, to carry once again the cross and burden of his old ways. To never seem to forgive himself and return to a life of grief, shame, and suffering. That is also in my headcanons. He could return at any moment to this state of mind, he's always on the verge of becoming Horseman Death but he's struggling like a Lion because he chose to move on. He chose to redeem himself.
Redemption. If I were to summarize in one word what Archangel means to me it is Redemption. He represents that part of myself who so desperately needs to forgive me for what happened in my past. Most of it wasn't my fault and I've yet to understand and accept that. Victim-blaming is still really strong and internalized in me but walking in Archangel's shoes, writing his stories truly helps me walk on the path of recovery. I am REALLY fond of the character and although my version of him might not be Chris Claremont's level. I really can't expect to have him cheapen out like he was in the movies. Give this kid the arc he deserves. Give this kid the story he deserves. About a fool who wasn't able to accept himself and because he was desperate fell into the wrong hands who turned him into a killing machine. Give ME the story of a man who's looking for a way to redeem himself and turn the horrible past he lived into something beautiful and positive. Give me the story of a man, who didn't want to just be a man but instead an image of himself he actually never truly was. (he never was an angel..never). Give me the story of a man who found peace and who forgive himself for his own weakness and old mindset.
I love you, Archie, you're going to be great I promise <3
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