The following contains spoilers for mrs wonder Episode 6, “Not Normal”, now available on Disney+.
the Marvel Cinematic Universe It has had many heroes and villains with spectacular powers, but it has been missing one key ingredient: mutants. The X-Men remained absent from the MCU, given that Fox held their film rights. However, with Disney’s acquisition of that company, Marvel’s merry mutants are finally home, and now they’re being introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe proper.
the events of the mrs wonder The television series confirmed that the titular heroine is the first official mutant in this world. But that makes one wonder where the other mutants are and how the X-Gene didn’t materialize sooner. Well, according to Reddit, the answer may involve the multiverse and one particularly sinister X-Men villain.
A Multiversal Mr. Sinister Suppressed The X-Gene In The MCU
A theory introduced by Redditor Hanbanana666 states that mutants have always existed in the MCU, but their powers remained suppressed. Part of the evidence presented is that according to the book The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond, the country of Sokovia was full of people with interesting genetic abnormalities. That made Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch perfect for Hydra’s genetic experimentation, with the Mind Stone activating her superpowers. Note that these two were, for most of their publication history, written as mutants in the comics.
Similarly, the recently introduced Ms. Marvel gained mysterious powers after wearing a bracelet of mysterious origins. As revealed in the season finale, it wasn’t the bracelet that empowered Kamala Khan, but her own unique genetic mutation that was triggered. Reddit’s theory suggests that this is another example of an MCU mutant needing external radiation to activate his powers. He also states that the reason mutants need these activators is due to the machinations of the MCU version of Mr. Sinister.
in the fox X MenSinister, aka Nathaniel Essex, was meant to be played by Jon Hamm, his Essex Corporation being the largest parent company of the Alkali-Transigen company. As shown in the dark future of the film. Logan, this company had started to implement all sorts of genetic experiments on the food and water supply that completely eradicated the mutants and gene X from the gene pool. That was an adaptation of the Legacy Virus, but it could also carry over into the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Sinister of this world would have done the same thing he did in the Fox movies, with the multiversal events of Deadpool 3 possibly making Cable realize this when he sees that there are no mutants in this world.
The X-Gen Being Suppressed In The MCU Could Ruin The X-Men
Of course, if Gen-X really has been suppressed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that could have drastically negative implications for the X-Men’s mythology. On the one hand, it would be impossible for Erik Lensherr will be the Magneto of this world, with other older mutants like Apocalypse equally incongruous. Similarly, it would also take a wave of radiation to cover the entire Earth for the mutants to increase in number. One way to explain this would be that Blip did exactly that to Earth’s population, with the “radiation” released from this event triggering all of the dormant X-Genes. But if that’s the case, why does Kamala still need the bracelets to activate her powers?
Linking the X-Men and mutants too much to the multiverse and cosmic energy could also detract from what makes them so relatable. Mutants are amorphous allegories for minorities in the real world, and one of the strengths of the Fox movies was avoiding a lot of the more ridiculous elements of the comics to better show this. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is here focus too much on the multiverse Y incredibly powerful cosmic concepts, which removes any sense of scale from the universe and turns it into a mindless mix of space and time shenanigans. Although Reddit’s theory is the best idea yet for why mutants are only now found in the MCU, it looks like Marvel Studios will have a lot of work to do to make the concept really work.