The X-Men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Studios has no small task ahead of them in making sure that the iconic team can lead the franchise in Phase 7 and beyond. Marvel Studios is also sure to make every effort to separate their adaptation of the team(s) from what came before. To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve decided to put together a list of which characters might play a key role and how Marvel Studios can ensure nobody will confuse them with their Fox counterparts.
The Firecracker
Though she appeared in four of X-Men films (X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Apocalypse), you’d be excused for not being able to remember what Jubilee did in those movies. If one had to guess, one might think that Bryan Singer threw a bright yellow jacket on Katrina Florence because he watched X-Men: The Animated Series and thought Jubilee was cool. In that regard, Singer wasn’t wrong. Jubilee is cool but Singer never figured out what to do with the character other than make her recognizable. Thankfully, it shouldn’t be hard for Marvel Studios to do better.
Jubilation Lee, like Kitty Pryde, joined Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters at an incredibly young age. Following the death of her parents, Jubilation made her way to the X-Men’s hideout in the Australian outback (it was a weird time in the comics) ended up helping the team and, eventually, joining the school. For all intents and purposes, Jubilee is EXACTLY the kind of kid Xavier’s school should be trying to help and that’s why she could make for a perfect candidate to be a key part of the mutants’ future in the MCU.
Though she lost her parents at an early age, Jubilee is truly a great representation of what it means to be a teenager. Full of life and ready to take on the world (“with me every day’s a celebration”), she often found herself walking headlong into dangerous situations she wasn’t quite ready for. The character was featured a member of the X-Men’s Blue team for years, but there are a couple of other possibilities that offer intriguing options for her portrayal in the MCU. As a young, orphaned teenager in a dangerous world, Jubilee formed a wonderful relationship with Wolverine, who served as a surrogate father for her. For over thirty issues of Larry Hama‘s run on Wolverine, Jubilee was the Robin to Logan’s Batman, serving as his sidekick. After establishing the X-Men and then Wolverine, a Wolverine and Jubilee series could provide some great moments. Another fantastic option outside of the mainstream X-Men films/series would be to put Jubilee on another one of the X-Men’s many spinoff teams: Generation X. A teen team whose adventures (if done right) found them going up against dangerous foes such as Omega Red and Juggernaut, Gen X could really be a great D+ series that could capture all the things that DC’s Titans missed. A Gen X team of Jubilee, Husk, M, Chamber and Synch, under the tutelage of Emma Frost, would provide the right mix of powers and identities to create the perfect formula for a teen action-dramadey. Marvel Studios is sure to spread the wealth and Generation X series seems to good to pass up.
