X-Men Exposed the Horrifying Reason Teleportation Is Such a Rare Power
Content warning: This story contains discussion of the Holocaust
Nightcrawler's teleportation ability has always made him stand out among the X-Mencharacters. In a series where telepathy, super strength, healing factors, and energy beams are frequently reused and repackaged for different heroes, Nightcrawler remains one of the very few teleporters in the bunch. In a 2005 comic by filmmaker Kevin Smith, it’s revealed why Nightcrawler’s powers are so rare among mutants, and the reason is horrifying.
Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do — written by Smith with art by Terry Dodson — follows its titular heroes as they investigate a drug dealer who teleports heroin into the user’s veins. This is a service for high-profile clientele who don’t want visible evidence of their usage on their body, such as models and athletes. To get a better understanding of teleporters, Spider-Man and Daredevil summon Nightcrawler for a rooftop chat on the subject in the series' fifth issue. Nightcrawler delivers a brief lesson to the pair that connects teleporting mutants to one of the worst events in real-world history.
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Nightcrawler explains that During World War II the Nazis notoriously experimented on human test subjects, one of the many incalculable horrors of the Holocaust. In the Marvel Universe these experiments extended to mutants, expanding the allegory of mutants as oppressed people. Nightcrawler describes an event called the Lebengebrochennacht, or the «Night of Broken Lives» where mutants under Nazi occupation were rounded up and experimented on by real-life monster and SS officer Josef Mengle, also known as he “Angel of Death.” Teleporters were specifically targeted
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