Juggernaut – No Stopping Now (2021)

Writer – Fabian Nicieza

Artist – Ron Garney

When searching Hoopla for something to read, you never know what you will find. I stumbled across Juggernaut – No Stopping Now and binged it over the course of two days. The Juggernaut is one of my favorite X-Men villains, so this was definitely a no-brainer.

When I reviewed Taskmaster: The Rubicon Trigger awhile back, I spoke about how the mini-series should be a template for handling supervillains and their place in the Marvel Universe and Nicieza, no stranger to the world of the X-Men, does a great job bringing The Juggernaut to the forefront in his very own solo limited series.

Cain Marko is using his power and strength to help Damage Control with demolition jobs across New York City. Things are going well for him until he is tasked with removing teenaged squatters from a building that is dangerously close to collapsing. He meets his match in the form of D-Cel, a superpowered teen that tries to protect her and her friends from the Juggernaut’s wrath. As they go toe to toe, their face-off ends in a stalemate with The Juggernaut a little worse for wear and D-Cel spirited off to a hospital for observation. Cain watches over D-Cel as she recuperates. They talk and discuss how Juggernaut can use his talents to stop those individuals that have used their own powers for nefarious purposes. His first opponent – The Immortal Hulk!

This five-issue mini-series delves into the past of Cain Marko as he seeks his place in the world and a chance to find redemption for the misdeeds he perpetrated as the avatar of the god Cyttorak. Much like the Taskmaster miniseries, Nicieza uses some Marvel characters that don’t normally get featured. There are two villains The Juggernaut faces off against that I haven’ t heard or seen about beforehand. Both of the villains Juggy squares up against are formidable in their own way and Garney does a great job bringing these slobber knockers to life, to quote good ol’ JR, Jim Ross. The inclusion of the Immortal Hulk seems out of place but is a nice callback to some of their previous dustup. The introduction of D-Cel and her interactions with Juggernaut reminds me of Jubilee and Wolverine in some respects: both characters are a bit annoying in their own way but a perfect counterbalance to their gruff and grouchy mentors.

Cain Marko will be playing a supporting role in the new X-Men series Legion of X. If you have a vested interest in The Juggernaut like I do, No Stopping Now is a nice standalone series about one of the X-men’s oldest villains and how Cain tries to atone for his past mistakes and seemingly unforgiveable sins. If you are looking to see how he fits into the ever-expanding world of Krakoa and its mutant inhabitants, this is the perfect primer to see Cain and Charles’s sibling rivalry renewed as they try to make amends with one another for good before The Juggernaut tags alongside Charles’ son Legion in Marvel Comics latest spinoff.