X-Men's Kitty Pryde Debuts Her Darkest Redesign Of All Time

Marvel reveals Kitty Pryde's darkest design to date, with a visual overhaul that overshadows the new X-Men by turning their most innocent hero into a horror movie monster. Kitty Pryde has changed far more than her costume throughout her Marvel Comics history, and each new phase has reflected a different idea of who she wants to become. She entered the X-Men as a gifted but inexperienced teenager, but her years with Excalibur gave her a more adventurous identity, and her time as a spacefarer pushed her into cosmic territory. More recently, she has developed a ninja-inspired combat style and developed her leadership skills.

Kitty Pryde's succession of names reflects the same search for identity: Sprite, Ariel, Shadowcat, Kate, and eventually simply Kitty Pryde have each accompanied different stages of her life. She has been a pirate-like Marauder, and her stint with the Guardians of the Galaxy made her an official Star-Lord. Kitty's ninja-like redesign in Fall of X came with the moniker "Shadowkat," and in Marvel's original Ultimate Universe, she briefly fought crime as the mysterious Shroud, as well as none other than Spider-Man's girlfriend, Spider-Girl.

After becoming an X-Man, a pirate, a cosmic adventurer, a ninja, a vigilante, and a Spider-Girl, it was only a matter of time until Kitty Pryde experienced her horror phase, though not willingly this time.

Kitty Pryde Is A Full-Fledged Horror Movie Ghost

X-Men United #6; Written By Evan Narcisse & Eve L. Ewing; Art By Eduardo Pansica, Tiago Palma, And Brian Reber

In X-Men United #6, the titular heroes find themselves stuck in the dark dimension of Penumbra, where they meet face to face with their demonic counterparts. As the entity imitating Emma Frost explains, the X-Men are seeing the reflections of their biggest sins and regrets. The X-Men's "shadow selves" are meant to turn the heroes' betrayals against themselves, represented by horrific embodiments of their mutant powers. One of these dark X-Men is a ghost-like version of Kitty Pryde, who sports long hair covering her pale face similarly to The Ring's Samara Morgan, and a combo of large fangs and claw-like fingers, similarly to Left 4 Dead's iconic Witch.

This isn't the first time the X-Men have had to fight themselves, so they quickly adjust their strategy by not fighting their respective dark mirrors. Still, the real Kitty attempts to fight her shadow self in vain, as her kicks phase through her dark counterpart. It's only until Nightcrawler catches Kitty's shadow self off guard that she can shake the demon off. Later on, the evil Emma Frost reveals that Kitty Pryde's shadow self embodies her "mercurial abandonment," and the real Emma arrives to save her teammates, though the threat is far from gone, as Blade and Wither later confirm.

Kitty Pryde Would Be A Terrifying Villain

Kitty Could Do A Lot Of Damage If She Weren't A Hero

As a villain, Kitty Pryde could turn her phasing abilities into psychological terror. An evil Shadowcat could walk through a target's walls without making a sound and destroy their insides before they have a chance to react, but not before tormenting them as if she were a paranormal spirit. Kitty could spend days making someone question whether their home is actually secure, appearing at impossible locations and disappearing before they can respond. And unlike typical horror movie ghosts, she can't be fought through supernatural means, as spiritual protections would mean nothing to her.

If she simply chose a life of crime, Kitty Pryde could bypass virtually any conventional security system, infiltrate restricted facilities without leaving obvious evidence of forced entry, steal objects from protected locations, sabotage machinery from within, and escape confinement that would hold any other criminal. Iron Man's villain Ghost possesses similar abilities, but Kitty's ability to transfer her phasing to objects and other people, plus her extensive fighting experience, would make her an even more dangerous criminal. Thankfully, Kitty Pryde is one of the X-Men's most pure-hearted heroes.

Would you like to see a permanent version of an evil Kitty Pryde?

X-Men United #6 is now available from Marvel Comics