Meet the X-Cutioner, an Anti-Mutant Crusader

No matter how many times the X-Men have saved the world, mutants are still hated and feared by many residents of the Marvel Universe. Although powerful machines like Nimrod and the Sentinels may give anti-mutant sentiment a cold and mechanical face, some of the most dangerous mutant haters are human as can be—including the X-Cutioner.

Wielding an arsenal of deadly weapons, X-Cutioner uses his twisted sense of justice to justify his vile crusade against mutants. Inspired by the Punisher's war on crime, government agent Carl Denti armed himself with lethal weapons and launched a one-man war on mutant criminals before setting his sights on mutantkind as a whole.  

Now, let's take a closer look at the X-Cutioner and how this mutant-hating menace made life difficult for the X-Men and Marvel's other mutants. We'll also break down how the X-Cutioner's legacy inspired another dangerous mutant hunter.

WHO IS THE X-CUTIONER?

Before Carl Denti became the X-Cutioner, he was an agent with the F.B.I. As a child, Denti's father, a soldier, was killed by "friendly fire" in combat under mysterious circumstances. To find out what really happened to his father, Denti joined the F.B.I. and found a mentor in Agent Fred Duncan, the head of the F.B.I.'s Superhuman Investigation Team. 

During the X-Men's earliest years, Agent Duncan befriended Charles Xavier and served as the X-Men's liaison with the government, even collecting some of the alien weaponry the team encountered. While working with Duncan, Denti learned his father was killed after executing the troops under his command for not carrying out his brutal orders, as revealed in GAMBIT (1999) #5 by Fabian Nicieza and Steve Skroce. 

Shortly after this revelation, Agent Duncan became obsessed with the idea of justice, only to be killed in a mysterious incident involving mutants. When he was promoted to Duncan's position, Denti discovered his mentor's cache of exotic weaponry and secret files on the X-Men. Believing that criminal mutants needed to be brought to justice, Denti became the X-Cutioner and vowed to destroy killer mutants who (he believed) had escaped the law. 

The X-Cutioner's primary weapon is a Shi'ar lance that can project psionic energy, which he pairs with a super-durable Shi'ar battle armor that grants him some enhanced strength. The X-Cutioner also wields an alien Z'nox weapon capable of blasting through Colossus' organic steel armor and claws that can produce dizzying nero-charges. 

In addition to a force field taken from the defunct criminal group Factor Three, the X-Cutioner has experimental Sentinel propulsion systems in his boots. Under his Culthan alien prison guard mask, the X-Cutioner also has access to alien teleportation technology that rivals Cable's futuristic tech.

X-CUTIONER VS. THE X-MEN

The X-Cutioner came face-to-face with the X-Men and a few of their enemies as his mutant-hunting crusade began. Having tracked the size-changing Tower to El Salvador, the X-Cutioner confronted the former Alliance of Evil member and incinerated him in X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) #17 by Scott Lobdell and Jason Pearson. He then targeted the illusion-casting Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), who had contracted a mutant plague called the Legacy Virus. 

While Mastermind was under the X-Men's care on Muir Island, the X-Cutioner encountered Archangel and Colossus as they guarded the dying villain. Denti seriously wounded Colossus and left Archangel unconscious in the ensuing battle. However, the X-Cutioner teleported away when a lightning bolt from Storm threatened to overload his force field, just as the Mastermind succumbed to the Legacy Virus. 

The X-Cutioner then turned his attention to the White Queen, Emma Frost, in UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) #310 by Lobdell and John Romita Jr. When Duncan's files revealed Frost's history with the Hellfire Club to him, the X-Cutioner targeted the White Queen for her failure to save the lives of the Hellions, a group of her mutant students, from a time-traveling serial killer named Trevor Fitzroy. 

After Fitzroy's attack left her in a coma, Frost recovered at the X-Mansion under the watchful eyes of the X-Men. When Cable teleported to the X-Mansion, the X-Cutioner copied his signal and crept through the compound's defenses. Thanks to a warning from an imprisoned Sabretooth, Cyclops and Cable forced the X-Cutioner to quickly retreat. 

Following that defeat, the X-Cutioner targeted Rogue for her role in the supposed death of Cody Robbins, her childhood sweetheart, in X-MAN (1995) #11 by John Ostrander and Steve Skroce. However, Rogue and X-Man (Nate Grey), an alternate reality version of Cable, beat the villain and crushed several of his weapons.

X-CUTIONER AND THE PUNISHER

After his encounters with the X-Men, the X-Cutioner began having doubts about his vigilante mission. When the X-Cutioner targeted Skin, the young mutant evaded his attacks and pointed out the flaws in his philosophy in GENERATION X (1994) #17 by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. As a stunned Denti grappled with his doubt and whether he threw away his career for a lethal whim, Skin knocked him out with one of his own weapons and escaped.

As the X-Cutioner refocused his mission on actual mutant criminals, Agent Denti was assigned to the protection detail of Reverend William Connover, who began publicly defending mutants in THE PUNISHER (1995) #12 by John Ostrander and Tom Lyle. While working as a freelance agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., the Punisher was also assigned to protect Connover, who had been publicly targeted for assassination by a group claiming to be the Mutant Liberation Front. 

As both the X-Cutioner and an F.B.I. agent, Denti helped the Punisher save Connover from multiple assassination attempts. When the Punisher discovered the X-Cutioner's true identity, he confronted Denti, who told Castle that he was his inspiration. As Denti insisted he did not hate mutants, the Punisher told him Connover was being targeted by anti-mutant terrorists who were merely posing as the MLF to give mutants a bad name. After Denti revealed that information to the public, he used his X-Cutioner alter ego tech to rescue Connover from a kidnapping.

GAMBIT AND X-CUTIONER

In both his civilian and vigilante lives, the X-Cutioner soon found his most personal rival—and an unlikely ally—in Gambit. While taking some time away from the X-Men, Remy LeBeau raided an archaeological site that Denti and the Elysian Guard had been tasked with guarding in GAMBIT (1999) #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Steve Skroce. Since his identity was still secret, Denti arranged for the X-Cutioner to be hired to protect the other relics from the site as they were being moved. Gambit overcame the X-Cutioner by spitting an explosive piece of gum in his face. 

With his pride wounded, the X-Cutioner and the other guards tried to get revenge on Gambit by luring him onto a space station with a captured Rogue. When Denti struggled to decide if he should arrest Gambit or kill him, the X-Man blasted him with his own energy lance in GAMBIT (1999) #5 by Nicieza and Skroce.

Dazed and confused by the attack, the X-Cutioner killed two of his guards in a tragic accident that echoed his father's final act. With his rationale completely shattered, Denti escaped and set his X-Cutioner persona aside as he struggled to reckon with his actions. 

By chance, Denti was assigned to guard Gambit from potential assassins in GAMBIT (1999) #17 by Nicieza and Yanick Paquette. Denti helped Gambit survive several costumed mercenaries, including a new X-Cutioner. Together, Denti and Gambit took down the imposter, who was really an alternate reality version of Gambit that had masterminded the plot against LeBeau.

X-CUTIONER RETURNS

Denti remained retired from his vigilante activities for several years. Then, a new, unidentified X-Cutioner began killing mutants in Marc Guggenheim and Ardian Syaf's X-MEN: GOLD (2017) #2 after his wife and son were killed in one of Magneto's attacks. When a Hydra-loyalist Steve Rogers took over the United States in SECRET EMPIRE (2017), this X-Cutioner took advantage of the chaos and attacked the Xavier Institute. Having set bombs around the campus, he fought Kate "Kitty" Pryde, who ultimately defeated him. 

When the X-Men and the other mutants of the world came together to form the mutant nation Krakoa, Denti resurfaced as the X-Cutioner in MARAUDERS (2019) #5 by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, and Lucas Werneck. The X-Cutioner joined Homines Verendi, a mutant-hating group formed by several young former members of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle. 

As part of an effort to poison mutant exports and enrich themselves, the X-Cutioner attacked the Marauder, a mutant refugee vessel captained by Pryde. Along with the Hate-Monger and Donald Pierce, Denti fought Pryde's team, but he and his teammates were ultimately left floating in the ocean after a brief battle. 

The X-Cutioner resurfaced at a music awards show where Dazzler, a pop star and veteran X-Men member, was being honored in X-MEN UNLIMITED INFINITY COMIC (2021) #104 by Steve Foxe, Stephanie Williams, and Noemi Vettori. As the X-Cutioner launched into an anti-mutant screed, Dazzler beat him by using her powers and the award she had just won. Despite that embarrassing defeat, the X-Cutioner still lingers as one of the most dangerous mutant hunters in the Marvel Universe.

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