Originally, Fabian Nicieza had meant for Reignfire to be a time traveling, slightly older, more mentally disturbed version of Sunspot.

Before doing so, Reignfire says Cable's real name,[volume & issue needed] a big foreshadowing technique in Nicieza's original plan.

[volume & issue needed] Later, Sunspot goes to visit his friend and former New Mutants teammate Skids in Colorado when the pair is attacked by none other than Locus and Reignfire.

Once shackled to the wall, Reignfire begins to tell the story of his "real" origin: he was not an evil Sunspot, which many had believed, but a clone of him created from his cellular material.

With a set of genetic material to duplicate, the protoplasmic goo began to pattern itself on the DNA sample given to it and thus shared Sunspot's appearance and powers.