Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Emma Frost & The Hellfire Club Needs More Characters
I think it’s time we take a look at one Affiliation that could really use some more attention. It’s Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club.
Long time readers know I’ve talked about the Hellfire Club before. Well, that was mostly me poking the bear that is AMG about the Hellfire Club not really being a “playable” Affiliation. I mean, sure, you could use Emma Frost’s old card to convert a bunch of folks over. But that was kinda lazy. Well, to AMG’s credit, they did something about it! They updated the faction and it’s actually pretty solid right now:
In the past I would have been satisfied with this change. However, Marvel Rivals is releasing a new season tomorrow and Emma Frost is front and center.
While I know the goons out there are interested in her for obvious reasons, her powers in Rivals got me to think about her in MCP. And that made me re-evaluate the Hellfire Club, too. That’s when I came to the conclusion that I still think the Affiliation could use some work.
While I like that Emma Frost has a Team Tactic Card she can drop on this one to become the leader and do her thing, I still think we could really up the game for this faction. So here’s a few things I’d change-up.
Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club
First things first, I think this Affiliation needs a Leader that doesn’t need to use a Team Tactic Card slot. I know, I know…that’s an obvious fix. But who would I choose?
I’d probably go with a Sebastian Shaw. I think that’s that easiest answer from the comics. He’s another Mutant that possesses the powers to absorb energy and then that can be used to increase his own strength. It’s also established that he’s the leader of the New York Branch of the Hellfire Club (at least when he’s first introduced — it’s gone through a lot of changes).
While he certainly has a particular style, I think he’d be a good fit. But he would require a new miniature…And if we’re doing that we could also get a new Emma Frost as the leader. But that could be an issue with the existing Team Tactic Card…so we’ll just table that for now.
Hellfire Club Roster Expansion
While the Hellfire Club does has a solid roster now I still think it’s kind of a weird mix. I suppose it also depends on when in the timeline you’re looking at the members. But the point is that there’s some room for expansion here, too.
After adding Sebastian Shaw another area I’d want to explore are the Hellfire Club goons. I honestly don’t know what they are called (I legit think they are just the Hellfire Club Guards). But I think they would be a perfect new Grunt option for the club. I think Grunts are a really under utilized unit/character type in MCP. Mostly for my own enjoyment of taking them out on the tabletop. But having these Hellfire Pawns for them to use would be another great addition.
While I could also go down the list of members there’s a few that really stand out to me. These are characters that aren’t currently in the game but could be added eventually. As an example, I know Storm is a member at one point but she’s in the game and I won’t be counting her here. Also, we need a more powerful version of Storm…that’s another topic though. Anyhow, I’m just going to toss out two more characters. First up, is Azazel:
Now, casual Marvel Comics fans might know him better from the X-Men movies. And, that’s fair…but he’s also a member of the Hellfire Club and I think he’d be another cool addition. Obviously we already have Nightcrawler in the game so I’d hope Azazel has a different enough powerset to warrant him being added.
The next character is Madelyne Pryor. She’s the clone of Jean Grey and also has quite a history in Marvel. Her Goblin Queen persona in particular is pretty messed-up. Anyhow, we have a Jean Grey in MCP already. And the Phoenix is coming soon. So why not complete the trifecta! I would also lean into some of her other powers that maybe Jean Grey doesn’t represent with her current iteration, too — just to change it up.
The Hellfire Gala Connection
The final thing I want to bring up is the Hellfire Gala. This is typically a big bash hosted by the Hellfire Club and it’s a very fancy, formal thing. In recent years, during the Krakoan Era, it was an event when the “new roster” of active X-Men were also revealed. I’m not going to get into all that here — especially with the end of the Krakoan Age having happened fairly recently.
I bring all of this up because I think having a Hellfire Gala Crisis Card Pack for one of the upcoming “Seasons” for MCP would be awesome. How would it work and what story line would it follow? That’s a great question! That would all depend on when AMG would want to set the event. There’s some very different implications depending on that. If it was during the Clarmont run, you’d definitely want Sebastian Shaw around for that one. And if was set in the Krakoan Era (specifically at the end), you’d need a certain Mutant Hunter around…
ANYHOW, I’m just going to leave that out there for you all to speculate about. The Hellfire Club really could be a fantastic direction to expand for MCP.
Emma Frost, White Queen alternate version when?
