Meet Saturnyne, the White Witch of Otherworld

The Marvel Multiverse can be a chaotic place, but Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne has kept it all in order. From commanding the Captain Britain Corps to stopping Omniverse-level threats, Saturnyne has served as the Multiverse's first line of defense with ruthless efficiency. 

Even though she has overseen an infinite number of parallel worlds, Saturnyne has taken a particular interest in the mutants of the Marvel Universe, namely the X-Men and their longtime ally Captain Britain (Brian Braddock). From her perch in the Starlight Citadel on Otherworld, Saturnyne even judged the X OF SWORDS tournament, a conflict that forever changed the status of mutants in the Marvel Universe.  

However, the power of the Omniversal Majestrix is not what it used to be. Now, let's take a closer look at Saturnyne as she sets her sights on a group of mutants trapped within the mystical realm Vanheim in REALM OF X (2023) #2 by Torunn Grønbekk, Diógenes Neves, Rain Beredo, and VC's Clayton Cowles.

WHO IS SATURNYNE?

As the Omniversal Majestrix, Saturnyne is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Omniverse and its many alternate realities. Given the existential importance of her duties, Saturnyne can be a ruthless, manipulative, and cunning operator who does whatever is necessary to maintain the Multiverse. 

Although Saturnyne originally served Merlyn and his daughter Roma, the Omniversal Majestrix later took their responsibilities for herself. Based in the high-tech Hub and the mystical realm Otherworld, Saturnyne is a powerful reality warper and magic user, and she has access to the infinite technology of the Multiverse. 

Although Saturnyne is nearly omnipotent and has formidable psychic abilities, she frequently acts through her agents in the Captain Britain Corps and the Avant Guard. Saturnyne debuted in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (UK) #380, where she appeared in a UK-exclusive Captain Britain story by Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis. As she became part of Captain Britain's world, Saturnyne developed a long-standing attraction to the main Marvel Universe's Brian Braddock, which remains unreciprocated. 

Across the Multiverse, there are two other noteworthy variants of Saturnyne. In the main Marvel Universe, Earth-616's Courtney Ross led a relatively normal life after dating Brian in college. Meanwhile, Sat-Yr-9—the twisted dictator of Earth-794—enacted several plans against Captain Britain and his team Excalibur on Earth-616, even killing and replacing Courtney Ross.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND JASPERS WARP

Recruiting agents from across the Multiverse, the Captain Britain Corps are empowered by mystical energies to protect the Omniverse from threats to its stability. After growing up on Earth-9, Saturnyne began watching over the Corps for the Dimensional Development Court. She then teamed up with Brian for the first time to contain a Multiversal threat on Earth-238, the Crooked World. 

This universe was home to the reality-warping Mad Jim Jaspers, a politician who outlawed super heroes and built an endlessly adaptable hero-hunting "cybiote" called the Fury. To neutralize the Multiversal threat posed by all of this, Saturnyne tried to kickstart an evolutionary process called "the Push." However, Jaspers responded to Saturnyne's efforts by creating the Jaspers Warp, a vast display of chaotic power that threatened the foundations of reality and drove those within it insane.   

For her failure to contain the situation on Earth-238, Saturnyne was replaced by Lord Mandragon, who promptly destroyed Earth-238 to keep the Jaspers' Warp from spreading. But when Captain Britain and the Fury resurfaced in the Marvel Universe, Earth-616's Jim Jaspers came into power. 

After Braddock rescued her from the DDC, Saturnyne played a crucial role in inspiring Captain UK—the Captain Britain of the lost Earth-238—to keep fighting the Fury. The Fury seemingly killed Merlyn and Jaspers, but the machine was ultimately destroyed by Captain UK and Captain Britain. Saturnyne's position was restored, and the Omniversal Majestrix began serving under Roma, Merlyn's daughter.

SATURNYNE AND THE X-MEN

Saturnyne was responsible for the formation of Excalibur in EXCALIBUR: THE SWORD IS DRAWN (1988) #1 by Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, Paul Neary, and Mark Farmer. On the orders of Roma, the Omniversal Majestrix sent Technet—a group of extra-dimensional bounty hunters—after Rachel Summers, an alternate reality Phoenix host who stayed in the Marvel Universe. After Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Lockheed saved Rachel, the group decided to stay together as Excalibur. Although Saturnyne's evil variant Sat-Yr-9 fought Excalibur numerous times, Saturnyne was primarily concerned with limiting the amount of chaos the team caused through their dimension-hopping adventures. 

When the Scarlet Witch created the HOUSE OF M timeline on Earth-616, Saturnyne wanted to erase Earth-616's universe before the effects of the reality warp could spread to the rest of the Multiverse. However, Captain Britain and Meggan returned to their home reality to contain the threat in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #462 by Claremont, Davis, and Farmer. 

While Meggan seemingly perished to save the Multiverse from HOUSE OF M's effects, the reality warp resurrected Earth-616's Jaspers, who now shared a body with the Fury. With the help of a crazed Merlyn, Jaspers attacked Otherworld and transformed several Captain Britain Corps members into versions of the Fury in X-MEN: DIE BY THE SWORD (2007) #1 by Claremont, Juan Santacruz, and Raul Fernandez. After Saturnyne failed to kill Jaspers, the combined efforts of the reality-hopping Exiles and Captain Britain's Excalibur team ultimately saved the day.

SECRET WARS

Saturnyne and her allies played key roles when multiple crises faced the Omniverse. For instance, when Morlun and the Inheritors started hunting down Spider-People across the Multiverse, Spider-UK—a Spider-Man and member of the Captain Britain Corps from Earth-833—approached Saturnyne and Roma in an AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2014) #7 story by Dan Slott, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Cam Smith. While Saturnyne focused more on other matters, Roma gave Spider-UK a device that allowed him to use the Web of Life and Destiny. She also tasked him with investigating the issue and saving his counterparts in the lead-up to SPIDER-VERSE.

Around the same time, Incursions started devastating the Omniverse as parallel realities began collapsing into each other. While Saturnyne and the Captain Britain Corps were among the first to notice the Incursions, they were also among the first to be wiped out by the Ivory Kings, the Beyonders responsible for the Multiversal destruction, in NEW AVENGERS (2013) #30 by Jonathan Hickman and Dalibor Talajic. 

After the Captain Britain Corps captured and studied one of the Beyonders' world-destroying Mapmakers, the Beyonders sent an army to obliterate the Corps and their Starlight Citadel on Otherworld. In her apparent final moments, Saturnyne gave Earth-616's Captain Britain the Corps' secrets and sent him back to the Marvel Universe. 

But Saturnyne didn't die. Instead, she took the Mapmaker's body and tumbled through several dead realities, as revealed in EXCALIBUR (2019) #26 by Tini Howard and Marcus To. Merlyn and Roma eventually found Saturnyne, who used the Mapmaker to kill both mystical powerhouses. While Merlyn and Roma were reborn in weaker positions, Saturnyne inherited Roma's role as the Omniversal Guardian, who ruled Otherworld and commanded the Captain Britain Corps.

X OF SWORDS 

Now presenting herself as the White Witch of Otherworld, Saturnyne faced several challenges when mutantkind came together to form the nation of Krakoa. After Brian fell under the sway of Morgan Le Fay, Betsy Braddock—the hero formerly known as Psylocke—replaced her brother as Earth-616's Captain Britain. Around the same time, Apocalypse took a keen interest in mutant mysticism and planned to use Otherworld to reconnect with his lost family, who languished in the hellish Amenth dimension.

When Apocalypse reunited with his wife and his children, they betrayed him and tried to invade Krakoa by going through Otherworld. To spare Otherworld from the ravages of a war between Krakoa and Arakko, Saturnyne organized a tournament between the champions of each faction in X OF SWORDS: CREATION (2020) #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, and Pepe Larraz.  

To turn Brian into Captain Britain again, Saturnyne forged the Starlight Sword, which contained the magic of the Starlight Citadel, in EXCALIBUR (2019) #13 by Hickman, Howard, and R.B. Silva. However, Betsy ended up with the Starlight Sword, and Brian took the Sword of Might to become Captain Avalon, the protector of an Otherworld realm ruled by the Braddocks' reality-warping brother Jamie. 

In the Otherworld tournament, Saturnyne put the champions through several competitions, ranging from physical combat to a trial by marriage. Despite her fixation on Brian, Saturnyne unwittingly used Betsy as the template for a new Captain Britain Corps, which she summoned to help the X-Men save Otherworld in X OF SWORDS: DESTRUCTION (2020) #1 by Hickman, Howard, and Larraz. By the end of the conflict, Saturnyne declared Krakoa the official winner of the tournament, and the mutants of Arakko peacefully migrated to the Marvel Universe.

SATURNYNE'S OTHERWORLD WAR

With the Captain Britain Corps restored, Saturnyne and the new Captain Britain forged a reluctant working relationship. Soon after, an insurgent Merlyn attacked Otherworld and the Starlight Citadel to reclaim his lost power. Despite the best efforts of Excalibur and the Corps, Merlyn was successful, and Saturnyne was forced into hiding in Roma's Floating Kingdom. 

Ultimately, Captain Britain successfully led the Corps and Krakoa's mutants against Merlyn and his forces in KNIGHTS OF X (2022) #5 by Tini Howard and Robert Quinn. With the last of the Starlight Citadel's magic contained within the Starlight Sword, Captain Britain told Saturnyne and Roma that the Corps would not serve either of them. Instead, the Captain Britain Corps assembled behind Betsy, who vowed to protect the Multiverse with guidance from her partner Rachel Summers. 

Now a ruler without a kingdom, Saturnyne has resurfaced in Vanaheim, one of the World Tree's Ten Realms that is filled with magic. As revealed in REALM OF X (2023) #1, the X-Men's FALL OF X, Magik, Dani Moonstar, Marrow, Dust, and Typhoid Mary were mysteriously transported there during an attack on the Hellfire Gala, along with the chaotic young mutant Curse. While her plans are unclear, Saturnyne has taken a particular interest in Curse as she looks to rebuild her once-infinite power.

Discover Saturnyne's plans for Curse in REALM OF X #2, on sale this Wednesday, September 27!

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