X-Men: How Mutant Characters Including Rogue, Storm, and Namor Could Join The MCU – Part 1
Over the past several months there have been rumors and fan theories about when the X-Men will enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe – not as a team, but individually. I’ll be honest. The idea of mutants being inserted into the MCU without the existence of the X-Men has always been offensive to me. But Why?
Would it really be that big of a deal if we had mutant characters before the X-Mansion opened for business? I’m starting to accept the concept… mostly because it appears that I don’t have a choice in the matter. It seems to be going in that direction, and there’s not a darn thing any of us can do about it.
Rumor has it that there’s a Gambit series in development for Disney Plus. Captain Marvel 2 may or may not have a mutant antagonist, and the fan-wishes for Storm to be Black Panther’s love interest just won’t go away.
Lastly, Thor: The Dark World managed to seed an X-Men Easter Egg even before Marvel was even legally allowed to.
Related: The 10 Best X-Men for Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe
Thinking about it more, if it’s done correctly, it’s really not a horrible compromise. For one, if all these rumors are true, then Kevin Feige has already planned to introduce these characters as fully-formed people. At some point between the WandaVision series and Captain Marvel 2 – mutants will appear.
The exact ‘how’ is still up in the air, but I’d assume by the altering of reality or perhaps through a retrovirus of some sort – similar to how mutants came to be in Ultimate X-Men (read more about that here).
There’s a lot to cover, so we’ll be breaking it up into two parts. Check back for the second half of this list. With that, let’s rationalize a few of these grand entrances together.
Black Panther 2
Storm
Unlike most of the other characters we’ll be discussing, bringing Ororo Munroe into the fold may be the easiest. Of course, this would be through Black Panther’s second movie. In the comics, Ororo had no relation to Wakanda until it was retconned into existence.
Originally, after arriving in Africa by way of Harlem, NY – Ororo spent her early childhood in Cairo as a servant of the Shadow King following her parent’s deaths. There, she encountered Professor Xavier who defeated the Shadow King and freed her from his influence.
Related: What Kind of Storm Are We Getting in the MCU’s X-Men?
After her mutant ability to manipulate the weather catalyzed, she came to be worshiped as a goddess by one or more villages up until adulthood. In an attempt to pull in a more African-America demographic (because you know, black love) – Marvel haphazardly worked in an encounter with a young T’Challa.
There are conflicting accounts of how they first met – due to being an unnecessary retcon – but in either case, the encounter ultimately led to them falling in love (among other things) around the age of 12 or 13 before being separated. This is what was used as a basis for their mid-’00s marriage.
As forced as it came off as in the books – it might actually be worse if they attempt something similar on-screen. T’Challa has already established himself over four movies. By the end of Black Panther, he also cemented his relationship with another character – Nakia.
If the end credit scene suggested what I believe it did – he and Nakia are either married or engaged to be. That doesn’t mean Ororo still can’t be inserted into the situation as a competing love interest. Whether she’ll have powers or not prior to this happening isn’t as important as the ‘how’ she arrives in Wakanda.
For all we know, Feige and co. have plans to introduce Ororo as a born and raised citizen of Wakanda. It’s a huge city with a large population. I could buy that they’d never met. Using another option, Wakanda has probably begun to accept refugees – especially after Thanos’ snap. Ororo could just be a new transplant.
There’s another idea that could be interesting, while also maintaining some of her comic book roots. She could have connections to the War Dog network. Similar to what we saw with Killmonger, one or more of her parents could have been Wakandan spies living in America. Ororo’s arrival could be Wakanda trying to correct some of their past missteps.
Related: Rumor: Meghan Markle Seeking Superhero Role In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Anyway, I’m not a proponent for forcing T’Challa and Ororo together for the sake of shippers. There’s already an established narrative in place, and I personally do not think it’d serve either character well to shoe-horn this in. Nevertheless, a failed romance could create a reason for Ororo to excuse herself from this particular franchise.
Namor
Another potential debut by way of Black Panther – Namor is a character comic fans have been salivating for. In no small part due to existing tensions between Atlantis and Wakanda. If you didn’t know – in the books, the two city-states are not on good terms. Like, at all.
But what’s more interesting is the fact that Namor is not just a ‘young’ king, like T’Challa, but also a mutant. He possesses the X-gene thanks to his half surface-dwelling heritage. Unlike his Atlantis brethren, Namor can breathe air and is just as strong out of the water, as he is within it.
Related: Namor the Villain for Black Panther 2
It’d be easy to explain away why he never showed himself before. Say he couldn’t. Prior to whatever activates or creates the X-gene, he simply was forced to remain within the waters. What could be really interesting is what drives Wakanda and Atlantis to hostilities.
There’s no denying that Marvel Studios wants to utilize Michael B. Jordan again. That’ll be tough because they killed off his character. However, there are two ways around this. Firstly, he was a Wakandan king. T’Challa may be able to commune with him in the afterlife. However, that’d be more of a cameo.
Another, more robust route, would be for T’Challa to honor his cousin’s wish to be buried at sea. What if his body is found by the Atlanteans and then somehow reanimated? What stories could Killmonger fill their heads with? They’d suffer the effects of the snap like everyone else but would have no idea of the cause.
Killmonger could have easily spent the last half-decade stirring the pot. It’s not like there wasn’t a hint of this dropped in Endgame. Okoye reported an underwater earthquake in the Atlantic. A piece of info that outside of being an Easter Egg made no sense to include.
Listen, none of this has been suggested – I just think it’d be one of the more interesting possibilities.
Captain Marvel 2
Mystique
I know what you’re thinking. Where is this idea coming from? Well, it’s coming from the same place that suggests that Rogue will debut in Captain Marvel. Rumor has it that the main villain for the next installment of the franchise could be a mutant/X-Men character.
In my opinion, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be Rogue. I know, we all want it to be, partially because it’d signify that we’d finally be getting the “flying brick” version of the character that Fox never gave us. But with all that said – there’s just as much of a chance that Captain Marvel’s ‘big bad’ is Mystique.
Unlike Rogue who was coached and trained to be an outlaw – it’s the only incarnation that we know of the character. Mystique’s a terrorist, spy and a thief. With Captain Marvel’s return to Earth in Endgame, there’s a chance she decided to remain.
Danvers could justifiably be in pursuit of what she believes is a rogue Skrull but in fact, turns out to be Mystique. The movie could be something of a “cat and mouse” kind of story. Something that forces Danvers to ground herself, otherwise she’d just binary smash her way through everything.
Rogue
Just because Captain Marvel 2 may not just be Rogue’s entrance into the MCU, doesn’t mean she can’t share. Who’s to say that it’s not a family affair? If there’s room for Mystique, then why not Rogue as well? A fight between Captain Marvel and Mystique would end quickly.
That is unless Raven has something to bring Danvers down a peg or two. Just like in the comics, Rogue could be Raven’s ‘ace in the hole.’ Right when Danvers thinks she’s got it all wrapped up, then comes Rogue’s life-sucking hands.
One of the biggest issues with Captain Marvel in the movies is that she’s too damn powerful. For goodness sake, she one-womaned the Dark Aster and then managed to overpower Thanos while he had the complete Infinity Gauntlet. If Danvers is left a comatose heap, it would be anti-climactic – but what if they take a different route?
Instead of putting Danvers down, how about if the act halves her powers? Rogue would then be in possession of not just some of her abilities – namely flying and super strength – but also her skillsets. It’d make for an interesting and believable final act brawl ala Man of Steel.
Despite Rogue’s popularity, there isn’t much to the character outside of her relation to Mystique and her run-in with Danvers. She’s got tons of usage within the X-Men canon – but as an individual character, her background isn’t all that expansive. Giving her a supportive role may be what’s best.
Black Panther 2 and Captain Marvel 2 are still a couple of years out but are being lined up as tentpole events for the MCU. Chances are, they’ll also be instrumental to the introduction of mutants and eventually the X-Men. Perhaps, one more than the other. What did you think about Part 1? Let us know below and keep a lookout for Part 2.
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