Muir Island

Muir Island
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
In story information
Type	Laboratory

Muir Island is a small, fictional island off the northern coast of Scotland in the Marvel Comics universe. It plays a prominent role in the X-Men comics and its related series.

History

Muir Island's significance stems from the fact that it is the home of Earth's largest and most comprehensive mutant research complex, located to the north of Scotland, founded by Dr. Moira MacTaggert. Originally, she created the facility to help her son, Kevin (a.k.a. Proteus), an extremely powerful and destructive mutant.

Muir Island's facility holds a wealth of knowledge on various mutants, their abilities, and other mutant-related issues and concerns (such as the Legacy Virus). It was also once the home base of the X-Men's spin-off superhero team Excalibur. It was used by Professor X to store information on how to kill various X-Men if need be.

The island has sometimes been used to imprison mutants for various reasons, notably Spoor and Magneto.

The staff has included, at times, Rahne Sinclaire AKA Wolfsbane, Rory Campbell, Tom Corsi, Sharon Friedlander, Jamie Madrox and, seen in various comics, several un-named scientists.

The island and its research center have come under attack by many villains, including Magneto, the Acolytes, the Shadow King, Galactus, Phalanx, Reavers, Black Air,^[1] the Mutant Liberation Front, Spiral, Legion, Bastion and Proteus. The island's facilities were destroyed by Legion (who was, at the time, possessed by the Shadow King) during the Muir Island Saga. Although rebuilt, the Muir Island Genetic Research Center was partly destroyed again in an attack by Mystique and Sabretooth.

Several functioning buildings are seen in the X-Men: Deadly Genesis storyline. The X-Man Banshee retrieves several needed files from Muir and it is later revealed to be where Professor Xavier had been living after the events of House of M.

It was later refurbished for the Marauders to use during X-Men: Messiah Complex. Various X-Men invade and confront the Marauders. The complex appears to be now fully abandoned.

Alternate versions

The Age of Apocalypse

Muir Island's location on Earth-295 remains the same, but the nature of the complex located on it is different. Apocalypse had taken over the entirety of North America. As part of the opposition against him, Muir Island is turned into the Sentinel Processing Plants.

Ultimate Muir Island

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Muir Island's location remains the same, but the nature of the complex located on it is different; it is instead a hospital for sick mutants run by Moira MacTaggert. It was predominanatly featured early on, when the Ultimate incarnation of Proteus escaped the facility and the X-Men consequently travelled there to investigate.^[2]

Appearances in other media

Television

• Muir Island has made appearances in several episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series.

Film

• In the second X-Men movie, X2, Stryker's computer displays a desktop folder labeled "Muir Island".
• In a scene of the third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, Professor X shows a video of Moira MacTaggert on Muir Island. A scene after the credits also takes place on the island.

Video Games

• Muir Island appears in the X-Men Legends role playing game as a level map.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, after arriving in Attilan, the team is asked by Crystal where her sister might have gone to pick up the Ultimate Nullifier. The team asks around and then tells her that it's on Muir Island. When the team returns from the next level, they learn that Doctor Doom was waiting for her at Muir Island and used the powers he stole from Odin to corrupt her into an evil version of herself.

References

1. ^ "Excalibur (1st series) #96
2. ^ Ultimate X-Men Volume 1, #19-20 (Aug 2002)