Warren Worthington returns to his friends in X-Factor #25, but he does not return to the life he had before Apocalypse. His blue skin and metal wings make that immediately visib…

Warren Worthington returns to his friends in X-Factor #25, but he does not return to the life he had before Apocalypse. His blue skin and metal wings make that immediately visible. The wings can cut and fire blades, turning the power once associated with graceful flight into something frighteningly lethal. His break with Apocalypse comes through a personal shock. Warren believes he has killed Iceman, only to discover that Bobby used an ice duplicate. The realization brings Warren back to his friends’ side. It does not remove the physical changes or resolve the anger that Apocalypse has exploited. That distinction shapes the following stories. While X-Factor becomes publicly celebrated, Warren searches for Candy Southern and the truth behind what happened to him. In #34, the search takes him into the Right’s headquarters and into another confrontation with Cameron Hodge. Finding Candy does not allow him to save her. The team consequently has a member whose return is also a continuing bereavement. Death, Angel and eventually Archangel are names around the same person, not separate recruits who should be counted as a changing roster. His friends are dealing with Warren, even when Warren himself is struggling with what he has become. He can still use flight to save people. In #43, he goes after Jean when she breaks through Ship’s protective field into space. The altered body is not only an instrument of vengeance; it can carry him toward someone who needs help. Later scenes with Charlotte Jones and her son in #59 give him room for gentleness and connection. They do not undo the earlier violence. They show that the man living with these wings still has relationships to build beyond the identity Apocalypse chose for him.