The teleporter named Gateway is one of the X-Men's most mysterious allies – and his powers are remarkably similar to Doctor Strange's sling rings. Created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri, Gateway is an enigmatic figure whose true agenda has never been revealed. He allied with the X-Men during their time in the Australian outback and proved an invaluable help. Since then, he's apparently trained several key mutants – including Monet St. Croix and Manifold, whose power dwarfs Gateway's own – and he appears to have made his home with the mutant community of Krakoa.
Gateway possesses an unusual ability; he carries a bullroarer that he spins over his head in order to create portals. These gateways can transport people through both space and time, and indeed during the Onslaught saga, he proved able to use the bullroarer to open portals to the astral plane. Gateway does not appear to grow tired when he uses his ability, even when his portals travel a great distance, transcend time, or reach distant planes of reality. Most mutants have a limit on their abilities, one shaped by their own physical endurance, but that does not seem to be the case for Gateway.
Curiously, there is a marked similarity between Gateway's abilities and the sling ring used by Doctor Strange. In the MCU, the Masters of the Mystic Arts spin a sling ring in a circle in the same way Gateway uses his bullroarer, and they too open portals. Most viewers assume the sling ring can only transport people through space, but that is not the case; as Mordo explained to Doctor Strange when he was training him in the use of the sling ring, "they allow us to travel throughout the Multiverse." They can, therefore, be used to navigate the dimensions; in theory a sorcerer should be able to use a sling ring to access the Quantum Realm, meaning Doctor Strange doesn't need the Time Stone to time travel. Though they debuted in the MCU, Marvel comic book writers have incorporated the sling ring into their stories, meaning these are now part of comic book continuity as well.
This has some fascinating implications. Gateway has always been presented as something of a mystic, raising the intriguing possibility his teleportation abilities are not a mutant power at all – but rather are simply mystical abilities he has mastered. While it is true Gateway is a mutant – enough comics have demonstrated he has an active X-gene – it is possible his mutant power is actually something readers haven't seen yet.
This would be perfectly in keeping with Gateway's mysterious and enigmatic character; he has always seemed to prefer keeping his business a closely guarded secret, and the only person who has ever had any insight into his motivation was Rogue, who briefly absorbed his powers. But Rogue's absorption power is not limited to mutant abilities, and she gains the mastery and knowledge of those she touches as well, which means this shouldn't be taken as evidence either way. With this surprising connection to Doctor Strange, the X-Men's Gateway might be even more mysterious and complex than anyone had realized.
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April 19, 2021 at 05:12AM
