Artificial Evolution Achieved, Used to Kill Mutants and Not Cure Cancer

Dark Reign: The List - Wolverine #1, cover by Esaad Ribic

A recent appearance of "The World" in the Dark Reign- The List: Wolverine reminded me of some misgivings I've had since "The World" was introduced in Grant Morrison's New X-Men run.

To explain, "The World" is a dome structure created by the Weapon Plus Program (the original program Weapon X is derived from) to achieve artificial evolution. Within the confines the The World's dome, Weapon Plus scientists are able to move time forward at an extremely accelerated rate. Based on this, the scientists in Weapon X are able to artificially manipulate the course of evolution and directly change the course of how organisms develop. They can selectively breed individuals to create new strains of DNA as they see fit. These are the kind of things that can be achieved when you are a secret evil organization with no concerns about morality.

Now I just think it's interesting that with all this technology at their disposal, Weapon Plus decided to create a mutant-killing superhero team as their goal. This seems somewhat natural since mutant extinction is the entire goal of the program. Weapon Plus wants to create super-soldiers and murder mutants. But this seems somewhat short-sighted since artificial evolution has billions of uses. They could examine disease resistances, the origin of genetic disorders and traits, and cure every ailment that humanity has ever suffered.

But what does Weapon Plus actually use artificial evolution to do? Why, the decide to make an anti-mutant superhero team which will eventually murder mutants live on a reality TV show. Thank you writer Grant Morrison. At least the fine people at Weapon Plus decide they will use their discovery to make money (the action figure rights alone to a real life superhero team would be incredibly lucrative).

Ultimaton, one of the super-soldiers artificially evolved by Weapon Plus, art by Chris Bachalo

Furthermore, The Dark Reign: The List one-shot seems to suggest that since the X-Men last busted up the plans of Weapon Plus, "The World" has been sitting by unutilized by any forces. That's right, not only has mankind achieved artificial evolution, they forgot they achieved it. Apparently an artificial biosphere has been sitting somewhere in the continental United States for the last 5 years and no-one thought to check up on it. Somewhere there is a scientific discovery with boundless possibilities for the future and it is being treated like a broken refridgerator.

Bravo Weapon Plus. Bravo. Someone needs to manage their assets a wee bit better.