“A new generation of mutants is emerging, that much is certain.”
-Charles Xavier
Since the acquisition of 20th Century Fox in March 2019, many fans have been wondering exactly how Disney plans to manage the former’s film properties, more specifically, how Marvel Studios will manage the X-Men and Fantastic Four properties within the context of the MCU. We know that Marvel Studios already has many ideas and stories that they have been “thinking about…for years”, as stated by Kevin Feige in an interview last year.
While I can say with certainty that we are still YEARS away from seeing either of these properties in the MCU, if you were to ask me what property I think would be introduced first between the X-Men and F4, I personally believe that mutants could be implemented into MCU in a more straightforward manner than the Fantastic Four because we already have the base for them to be introduced.
As of where we stand right now, I have pinpointed 4 possible origins for how Marvel Studios can introduce mutants into the MCU.
**It is important to note that the theories discussed in this article are simply just that. Pure theory and speculation on my part.
With this being said, let us begin:
1) “THE VIRUS THEORY”:
Oh the irony of this. Relax, it has nothing to do with COVID-19 I can assure you. But the premise in this theory is certainly a very interesting one to discuss. So let’s set the scene.
Madripoor (Comic vs Live-Action [Exclusive Set Pictures from Murphy’s Multiverse]).
The Setting: We have Madripoor (a location very popular in the X-Men lore). This fictional island is going to be one of the settings that will show up in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. (You can read more about it in Charles’ article here.) Now, while I can’t say for certain that this is going to be Ground Zero for the origin of Mutantkind, I do find particularly interesting the fact that Marvel would choose this location for this series, considering its history in the comics.
The Plot: Now the official synopsis for the show says: “Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson/Falcon and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities — and their patience — in Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.” Something that I find interesting for this show is this plotline involving a “virus/pandemic”. Many different sources, (including my own from the time the show was planning on filming in PR before tremors and earthquakes forced production to shut down), referred to the production as “Pandemic Productions LLC.” (Now, I am aware that rumors have surfaced about possible reshoots that remove the virus/pandemic storyline. I personally don’t think they will remove it, at least not entirely).
Baron Zemo in the upcoming Disney+ Series: “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier”.
Special Facts: If anyone saw the Deleted Scene from the “Infinity Saga Box Set” where Zemo was at the Auction House, you’d see that Zemo managed to kill a bunch of businessmen with a sort of gas he concocted, so we can chalk up a bit of chemistry to his military background, and it was deleted for a reason. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to base some sort of storyline specifically involving that scene.
The Theory: What if the reason why Sam & Bucky are going to Madripoor is that Zemo is planning on unleashing this “virus” meant to hurt hundreds upon millions of innocents, and Madripoor is just one of his testing grounds. The creation of this “virus” would have required the use of human genetic material through clinical trials, which in theory, could create a “virus” that doesn’t necessarily succeed as Zemo intends, and actually has an end result which provides humans with mutant abilities (a storyline which is already being explored in the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game.)
2) “THE REALITY THEORY”:
This theory bases itself on information from the upcoming Disney+ show “WandaVision”, the upcoming MCU film “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and the comic storyline “House of M”.
People that know me personally know how hyped I am for WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. These two projects from all I’ve heard are giving me incredibly powerful “House of M” vibes and I’m all for it. I have multiple theories on both of these projects but that’s for another article. For now, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite witch: Wanda Maximoff.
Wanda Maximoff with Vision in Avengers: Infinity War.
Background Info: Since her debut back in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff has gone through a lot of different changes over the last few MCU films (and I don’t just mean her accent.) She has shown growth in both characterization and power, but that growth has been marked by a great amount of pain and suffering that she has had to go through in her life:
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- Her parents died when she was very young, long before the events of AoU.
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- She and her brother Quicksilver were experimented on by HYDRA with the mind stone, which developed eventually developed their powers.
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- Her brother Quicksilver died during the Battle of Sokovia.
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- Thousands of her people in Sokovia died.
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- Her home country was destroyed.
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- The people of the world hold her accountable for the deaths of dozens of citizens in Lagos, which triggered the Sokovia Accords and thus the events of Captain America: Civil War.
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- The outcome of the previous point forced her into hiding for 2 years until the events of Infinity War took place where she was forced to sacrifice Vision to save the universe, only to watch him be brought back so she could see him die a second time.
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- And then she herself died at the hands of Thanos’ snap.
So, her life really hasn’t been that easy.
Wanda Maximoff in Avengers: Endgame.
Where we stand right now: The last time we saw Wanda Maximoff in action was during the final battle at Avengers: Endgame and let me tell you something straight off the bat: that scene where she took on Thanos ON HER OWN, was so personally satisfying because I knew right then and there that we were about to get the Scarlet Witch in the MCU.
WandaVision Keyframe by Andy Park.
The Plot: Now the official synopsis for the show says: “Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision” blends the style of classic sitcoms with the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany)—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.” Straight off the bat, as soon as I read this synopsis, I started brushing up on “House of M“.
The Scarlet Witch in House of M.
Source Material: So a quick recap of “House of M” if you have not read it. In the comics, Wanda gives birth to twins with Vision using her magical abilities but it only exists in this reality that she created in her head to avoid losing control. Wanda’s memories of the twins end up being erased by another witch named Agatha Harkness. Eventually, as the comic run develops, a multitude of events occur, which leads to Wanda being labeled a threat to the world and many heroes contemplate whether they should kill Wanda before she becomes too powerful to stop. Wanda breaks down, loses control, and reshapes reality so the world was run by mutants. When that reality fails and it results in the death of her brother, she redid reality again, but this time, with most of the mutant population losing their powers. Caught up? Good. (Author’s Note: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BRUSHING UP ON THIS STORYLINE. Whether or not the storyline becomes relevant in this show, it is a fantastic comic run and it marked a very important part of my childhood, so please read it.)
The Scarlet Witch: Now let’s talk about Wanda’s powers. We don’t know exactly how powerful Wanda is or what is the extent of her powers. We can set a starting point that she is powerful enough to destroy the Mind Stone and by the looks of this upcoming show, she might grow powerful enough to alter reality itself. This is why I usually separate Wanda Maximoff from The Scarlet Witch because we have yet to see the Scarlet Witch in her full potential. Her comic counterpart was already powerful to do many of the abilities previously stated as seen in the “House of M” storyline, so it will be interesting to see how the MCU counterpart will size up when the time comes.
The Theory: So my second theory states that the events of both this show and DS2 won’t just mess with repercussions in the Multiverse, but it will affect the current reality in which the MCU is set in and could potentially pave the way for multiple mutants to come in through Wanda’s abilities, thus bringing to life a very important part of the “House of M” storyline to the MCU.
3) “THE ETERNALS THEORY”:
The Theory: I can’t talk about mutants without mentioning the Eternals. While admittedly, the Eternals comic lore is one of my weak points as it was not something I have analyzed as heavily as other source materials, since the announcement of their film at SDCC, I started to brush up on the Eternals and found some very interesting information. The Eternals in Marvel lore are “the first mutants” since the comics explain that their origins are based on how Celestials experimented on the first humans many millennia ago long before the establishment of civilization. During their history, the Deviant gene begins to generate amongst them, which leads to what we know as mutants. At this time, there is very little known about the Eternals and how they will play out in the MCU but they could certainly be a viable candidate for the origin of Mutants.
4) “THE TERRIGEN THEORY”:
The Theory: Lastly, I’d like to discuss one more theory which also has lurked in the back of my mind since it’s similar to “The Virus Theory” and was brought to my attention following my beta gameplay of Marvel’s Avengers this weekend. In Marvel lore (and Marvel TV), there is this substance known as Terrigen Mist, which is able to alter the biology of individuals with Inhuman genes (such as Kamala Khan). While in the lore, the mists cause mutations to those with Inhuman genes, it is not really confirmed that humans can achieve mutant powers without having that Inhuman gene in them. The reason why I do not mention this theory as much is that this theory can easily combine with “The Virus Theory” above and can easily be interchanged.
The MCU has already been around for 12 years our time. By Avengers: Endgame, we’re already in 2023…
SO WHY ARE THESE THEORIES IMPORTANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MCU?
Many fans believe that in the MCU, many of their favorite mutants won’t have the origin they deserve because the timeline won’t make sense, given that the MCU is currently in the year 2023. Say we keep the origin story of Magneto and Charles Xavier the same (Magneto being born in the late 1920s and Xavier being born in the ’30s). They would both be in their 90s, nearly 100 years old by the time Endgame rolls around. While mutant genes can affect the genetic composition of humans, I don’t think either of their powers has any sort of effect on the life longevity of their anatomical systems. Plus, fans like myself might start to question those origins with questions like:
- Mutants existed since before the Avengers?
- How did they hide for so many years from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s radar?
- How did they hide from HYDRA’s?
- How did Zola’s algorithm not account for the possibility of mutants ever arising, considering HYDRA was already doing genetic experimentation as shown by the post-credit scene of Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron?
Something that makes all of these theories is how they can each operate outside the time constraint set by the comics. Let me elaborate. By having any of these theories be the origin point for mutants, they all allow Marvel Studios to actually write in the mutants they’re interested in having in the MCU WITHOUT the need to use any sort of chronological connection to the original source material from the comics because their origin would be established at another point of time in the MCU’s history. This would allow for new stories to be told within the context of the MCU. This would not be the first time Marvel Studios has retconned many of their characters’ origins in the MCU to make them differ from their comic counterparts (I.E. Wanda and Quicksilver having different parents, Ultron’s origin story, Star-Lord’s Father, etc.)
Whatever theory you choose and wish to believe in, one thing’s for certain. The mutants are coming to the MCU.
This leak includes multiple emotes that differ from the rest. Each existing playable character has the emote structure “AV#_Emote_Character_#” while War Machine’s naming is longer and includes different categories. These include celebration, social, intro, or victory. All of them are the rarity of “Legendary” and just have a placeholder description. This is rather strange, as characters like Thor, Iron Man, or Kamala all follow the same structure. There is a good chance that they just added placeholders to update once the character is finalized. Yet, there are no emotes added for Clint or Peter Parker as the only confirmed DLC characters.This opens up a very interesting can of worms. If we go by what is available, this would point out to War Machine being the first available character post-launch. Now, if we follow the logic of what was stated in the reveal for Hawkeye, he will be the first official DLC character. This could mean that War Machine and She-Hulk might already be available through playing the main story missions. It would make for a great surprise while playing the game to get access to variations of the main heroes with their own unique abilities.
There is just one thing going against this theory. If that were the case, She-Hulk would also have some emotes available in the Beta code. It would at least hint at her being further down in development. Most of these codes seem like placeholders, as they are in some step of development. There is a good chance that they are added as unlockable characters in the expansion of the story missions. They already titled a sequel to the main storyline as Avengers Initiative in the July War Table. The clone characters are probably easier to program so they can keep a consistent output post-launch. This way they can avoid long wait times between full-fledged DLC characters.Just an interesting addition. While playing the Beta, you tend to recycle through two or three different takedown actions. At one point, these would get rather tiring to watch consistently. Luckily, it seems that one can actually purchase or unlock up to five different takedowns in the game. This is a great sign that base characters won’t be left behind as some DLC characters are added throughout the game.
