I am far from the first person to say that 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1 changed the game. Len Wein and Dave Cockrum introduced some of the X-Men’s biggest mainstays, including Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus (a minor Hulk character by the name of Wolverine also made his way onto the team). These All-New, All-Different X-Men have defined the franchise to this day. Storm, Nightcrawler and especially Wolverine have thrived in comics and beyond. Yet, despite the success of his comrades, poor Colossus has been left behind. Perhaps with the exception of Banshee, Colossus has existed to suffer more than anyone else on the All-New, All-Different team.
Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin was a pivotal member of the X-Men throughout the ’70s and ’80s, just as important as Rogue, Kitty Pryde or any of his other teammates. But ever since the ’90s, it seems as if no one has known what direction to take the character. As a result, Colossus has gone down a dark and seemingly aimless path.
The misery started in 1992, as the X-office killed off Colossus’ family one by one within the span of about a year. First, his cosmonaut brother, Mikhail, is revealed to be alive, only to seemingly die by suicide in Uncanny X-Men #293. Then, his parents are killed by the Russian government in X-Men Vol. 2 #18. Finally, Piotr’s sister, Illyana, dies of the Legacy Virus in Uncanny X-Men #303. All of this presents an interesting challenge to the character: What would happen to a family man like Colossus if he lost his family?
The answer ends up being Piotr’s disillusionment with Charles Xavier’s dream and the mission of the X-Men. In 1993’s “Fatal Attractions” crossover, Colossus defects to Magneto’s Acolytes. Admittedly, this could have made for a good character arc. It’s common to see old enemies redeem themselves and become X-Men, but it’s rarer to see friends become enemies. Yet Piotr’s defection is less of a character beat and more of a way to sideline Colossus altogether. For one thing, Magneto is almost immediately mind-wiped by Professor X and put into a catatonic state. It also is revealed that Colossus was suffering from severe head trauma when he joined the Acolytes, taking away a lot of Piotr’s agency in his decision. Still, Colossus decides to stay with the Acolytes after his injuries heal. But it isn’t long after that the Acolytes’ base, Avalon, falls to Earth in 1995’s X-Men Vol. 2 #43, ending his brief tenure on the villain team.
It’s unfortunate that Colossus’ time on the Acolytes is not fully explored. It would have been interesting to see him have a stint as a “Magneto was right” figure, even if it didn’t last. As it turned out, however, Piotr jumped on a sinking ship.
In his next major appearance, Colossus reverts to a lovesick puppy pining after Kitty Pryde. Moreover, he becomes incredibly possessive and violent when he finds out Kitty is dating ex-spy Pete Wisdom. Excalibur #92 sees Colossus brutally beat Wisdom before the rest of the team stops him. This embarrassing display portrays Piotr as little more than a jealous ex-boyfriend, when he and Kitty had not been a romantic item for a decade at this point. This was probably Colossus at his worst, which is saying something since he had already betrayed the X-Men for Magneto.
During his time on Excalibur, Colossus also ends up coming between Captain Britain and his fiancee, Meggan. Piotr spends time with Meggan while Brian Braddock is on sabbatical from the team. The two even go to Paris together in 1997’s Colossus one-shot. It gets to the point where Meggan develops a crush on Colossus, shortly before her wedding to Brian. While nothing really happens between the two, Piotr does come dangerously close to being a homewrecker.
By the dawn of the new millennium, Colossus’ character arc comes to a close. In Uncanny X-Men #390, Piotr sacrifices himself to cure the Legacy Virus, bringing things full circle after the death of his sister. This is a beautiful and noble end to the character.
Of course, this being an X-Men comic, it was not the end.
Colossus’ resurrection in 2004’s Astonishing X-Men #4 is kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it leads to some really cool moments: The big reveal of Colossus’ return, his beatdown of Ord of the Breakworld, and one of the most iconic fastball specials are just a few of the great moments of this series. Plus, John Cassaday’s artwork is gorgeous. Yet once again, Colossus reverts to being Kitty’s love interest. That’s a relationship best left in the past. Every time it’s reintroduced, it reverts both characters to the angst-ridden teenagers they were in the early ’80s.
But their relationship is cut short once Kitty sacrifices herself to phase a giant bullet through the Earth, seemingly lost forever, not unlike her boyfriend at the beginning of the series.
Colossus falls into the background after that, mainly pining after Kitty and being the team muscle. Even when Kitty returns in Uncanny X-Men #522, it’s too good to be true. Kitty can’t stop phasing, creating yet another source of drama for the doomed couple. By the time she is restored, Colossus is about to become the new avatar of Cyttorak, aka the Juggernaut, in Uncanny X-Men #543. This change only serves to isolate Piotr further, making him more destructive and solitary.
And just when you thought Colossus hadn’t suffered enough, during 2012’s Avengers vs. X-Men, he becomes one of the Phoenix Five, getting possessed by two entities back to back. In the aftermath, Illyana releases Colossus from Cyttorak, revealing she could have done so at any time. Magik had tricked Colossus into becoming the Juggernaut so she could teach him a lesson. Back-to-back possession is bad enough, but turning Colossus’ sister against him is just cruel. Colossus returns to the background for a while, joining Cable’s X-Force while he regains control of his powers.
The Inhumans vs. X-Men era of the mid-2010s was bad for pretty much everyone, so I’ll just say that Colossus becomes a Horseman of Apocalypse in Extraordinary X-Men #9 and leave it at that. He does lay the smackdown on the Inhuman Gorgon, which is a pretty great moment from Inhumans vs. X-Men #5. Following IvX, Piotr’s relationship with Kitty comes to a head. Kitty proposes and Piotr says yes, only for Kitty to leave him at the altar in 2018’s X-Men Gold #30.
The Krakoa era wasn’t great for Colossus either, which is wild, because it was pretty good for most mutants. Piotr’s time on the island begins with him getting critically wounded during a rescue mission in Russia, before settling down with his new girlfriend, Kayla, on a Krakoan flower farm in the Savage Land. Despite seeking a life of peace, Colossus only experiences more pain. Beast targets Colossus as a sleeper agent for Russia, parading him around Krakoa in chains. Piotr is then mind-controlled for most of the era, being used by Mikhail and his pawn the Chronicler to infiltrate X-Force and the Quiet Council. In 2021’s X-Force #24, Colossus is forced to murder Kayla as he screams internally to be free. To make matters worse, no one from the Quiet Council, including longtime friends Storm, Nightcrawler and Kitty — now going by Kate — realize what is wrong with him. The arc ends in a final trauma, with Colossus killing his brother in X-Force Vol. 6 #46.
In the current From the Ashes era, Colossus is barely featured at all. When he does show up, in alternate universes and alternate future stories like Ultimate Marvel or Wolverine: Revenge, he is depicted as a villain, and not even the main one.
Even in other media, Colossus is largely an afterthought. During the height of his popularity, he was a main character in the 1989 “Pryde of the X-Men” animated pilot. He was also featured in the classic 1992 X-Men arcade game, based on the same cartoon. Since then, however, Piotr has mainly existed on the periphery of X-Men media. Colossus guest-starred in just two episodes of the ’90s X-Men animated series, with so far only a cameo in X-Men ’97 (and it was really just Morph). By contrast, Nightcrawler was also a two-episode guest star on X-Men ’92 , but he was a regular cast member on X-Men ’97.
In the next animated series, X-Men: Evolution, which ran from 2000 to 2003, Colossus is a recurring character, as one of Magneto’s Acolytes. To be fair, Magneto threatened Piotr’s family to make him join, but this is still reflective of Colossus’ role in the ’90s comics. He only appears in a few episodes, and never joins the X-Men, outside of a flashforward in the series finale. The short-lived Wolverine and the X-Men, from 2009, only features Colossus briefly in the first episode. After that, it’s mentioned that Piotr returned to Russia to be with his family. For a show that only lasted one season, Wolverine and the X-Men has a pretty large cast of characters. Yet Colossus still didn’t make the cut.
The live-action X-Men movies didn’t do Colossus any favors either. Between X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, Colossus has only three lines of dialogue. It’s crazy that the Deadpool movies, in which Colossus is an entirely CGI creation voiced by Stefan Kapicic, portray him more prominently than the actual X-Men films.
This is all a stark contrast to the Colossus of the ’70s and ’80s, who is a staple of the X-Men. For example, Piotr is crucial in the X-Men’s classic battle against Proteus in Uncanny X-Men #128. As the last X-man standing, he makes the hard decision to kill Proteus to save Moira MacTaggert and all of Scotland. Piotr also fights valiantly against foes such as the Hellfire Club and Nimrod, and features in classic stories such as “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and “Days of Future Past.”
Colossus’ most defining era is in the stretch between “The Mutant Massacre” and “Inferno,” where he steps up to protect his friends and the rest of the world. “The Mutant Massacre” sees Colossus fight to avenge the Morlocks and protect the survivors from the Marauders. In one of his most shocking moments, Colossus kills the Marauder Riptide, screaming that Harpoon is next.
Despite sustaining severe injuries from these events, Colossus chooses to return to the X-Men during “The Fall of the Mutants,” a key decision that helps the X-Men defeat the Native American trickster demon the Adversary. When the X-Men seemingly sacrifice their lives in this battle, they are resurrected by the omniversal guardian, Roma. When Roma offers the X-Men a fresh start through the Siege Perilous, it is Colossus who speaks up, saying he still chooses to fight for Xavier’s dream. It’s moments like these that highlight Colossus as the heart and soul of the X-Men.
This is also true during “Inferno,” when Colossus is the only X-man not corrupted by the demonic invasion of New York. While the rest of the X-Men give in to their darker sides and fight their friends in X-Factor, Colossus resists this demonic influence and goes to save his sister.
Colossus has proven his importance as a character, and he continues to have so much potential. Piotr is defined by his love for his family, his country and his friends. He is filled with genuine kindness and warmth, making him the gentle giant of the X-Men. He’s also very much the everyman of the team, enjoying peaceful activities like painting and farming. Yet when he’s needed, Colossus will not hesitate to protect his friends and innocent bystanders. He will not stand by and allow injustice to occur, choosing to fight for what he believes is right.
It’s easy to say that Colossus is “boring,” since he’s a nice guy with pretty straightforward powers. And it’s true that Piotr is not as complex as his more popular sister. Even so, Colossus is still such a compelling character in his own right. It seems so much easier to make him suffer or put him through an edgier phase than to actually explore the character traits that have always been there.
For one thing, Colossus should reconnect with his closest friends. He should be alongside longtime teammates such as Storm, Nighcrawler and Wolverine. Colossus has not had much interaction with these characters since he was mind-controlled during Krakoa. He has been a mainstay of the X-Men, but it hasn’t felt that way for a while. Wolverine and Colossus barely spoke to each other while on the Krakoan X-Force together. Piotr does reunite with Wolverine and Nightcrawler during Fall of the House of X, which was nice to see. Unfortunately, this moment doesn’t last. Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Jubilee are all on a team together in Uncanny X-Men, but Colossus is nowhere to be seen, save for a chess-playing hand in one issue of the current volume of X-Men. He and Illyana should also spend more time together. Their bond as brother and sister is truly something special, and a defining part of Colossus’ character.
Colossus has so many potential stories worth telling, including his conflicting loyalties to the X-Men and his country. This story beat is often explored but never truly resolved. It would be interesting to see him reconcile his divided loyalties between his old family and his new one.
But for now, Colossus is once again sidelined. When he is featured, he exists only to be put through more physical and emotional turmoil. The worst part is that Piotr has no real agency in these stories. He is a passive player to his own torment.
If Marvel wants to put Colossus back at the forefront, they need to bring him back to his roots. Colossus should be known for his loyalty, his kindness and his strength, both physically and emotionally.
Nabeel Gaber
Nabeel Gaber is a writer and longtime comic book fan based in Boston. He graduated from Emerson College with a master's degree in publishing and writing. When he's not busy trying to make rent, he is the host of The Ultimate Comics Podcast with his longtime frenemy, Josh Kang.
