The MCU has covered a lot of ground in the last 14 years, but there has been an element of Marvel that has been noticeably missing in all that time. Where are the mutants?
Slowly, The MCU is starting to address the X-Men’s absence. and the lack of mutant characters. Between the confirmation that Tenoch Huerta’s Namor is a mutant and Hugh Jackman reprising his role as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, the floodgates are finally starting to open.
How many mutants are there in the MCU? We’re going to break down the ones we know of, along with a handful of possible candidates. We will continue to update this list as more major reveals occur.
Professor Xavier
It seems logical that the first confirmed mutant character in the MCU also be one of the most recognizable cinematic X-Men. Patrick Stewart reprized his role as Professor Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This version of Xavier is not the one from the Fox X-Men movies, but one inspired by X-Men: The Animated Series. This Xavier hails from Earth-838 and is a member of the Illuminati of that world. Or he was, at least. Xavier and the rest of the Illuminati met their end fighting the Scarlet Witch of Earth-616, leading to a death scene that is very reminiscent of the classic X-Men movies.
Ms. Marvel
Although Professor X may be the first mutant character to appear in a MCU movie, it would take several more months for fans to meet the first confirmed mutant of Earth-616. The first season of Ms. Marvel ends with a very unexpected reveal. Kamala Khan not only has family ties to the Noor Dimension, but also is a carrier of the mutant gene. The fact that his friend Bruno doesn’t seem to understand his discoveries suggests that the MCU hasn’t really started dealing with mutants yet.
This revelation means a big change from the comics, in which Kamala is depicted as an Inhuman whose powers were activated by exposure to the Terrigen Mists. Given the frigid reception of the Inhumans TV series, Marvel Studios seems to have little desire to deal with those characters again.
Mister Immortal?
She-Hulk: Lawyer She-Hulk introduces another possible mutant sighting in episode 6. In it we meet Mister Immortal, a man whose healing factor has made him completely indestructible. The series does not explain how Craig Hollis acquired the power from him, but in the comics he appears as a mutant. Now that Ms. Marvel has opened the door for mutants in the MCU, we like to think that origin story carries over here.
Namor
Namor is often called “Marvel’s first mutant”. He may not be as ancient as ancients like Selene and Apocalypse, but he has the distinction of being the first mutant character to actually appear in a comic. Since Namor was conceived by a human father and an Atlantean mother, he is a carrier of the mutant gene and the special abilities that come with it.
Actor Tenoch Huerta has confirmed that his version of Namor is indeed a mutant. We’ll see if that fact is directly acknowledged in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But even if it doesn’t, he’s a safe bet that Namor Will Play A Role In Marvel’s Future X-Men Plans.
Wolverine
Patrick Stewart isn’t the only X-Men veteran who will get a chance to play in the MCU sandbox. The long-awaited Deadpool 3 will bring back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. It is clear that Jackman will not play the version of Wolverine that appears in Loganfrom 2017, but it remains to be seen if it is the Wolverine from the main X-Men saga or a new version.
Whatever world this Wolverine comes from, it is almost certain that Marvel will change the role when the time comes to introduce the X-Men of Earth-616. In fact, an episode of She-Hulk features a cameo that suggests the MCU’s Wolverine is already making his presence known.
Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool is a bit of a strange case. Traditionally, Deadpool isn’t a mutant, but simply a mercenary who gains an accelerated healing factor after being experimented on by Weapon X. However, Fox’s X-Men movies have moved away from that portrayal. The Deadpool from X-Men Origins: Wolverine clearly has superhuman reflexes even before he was transformed into Weapon XI, and the Deadpool from 2016 suggests that Wade Wilson has a latent mutant gene which is activated after being tortured by Ajax. So with Reynolds returning to headline a third Deadpool movie in 2024, we’ll go ahead and file him in the mutant category.
Other Fox X-Men
Deadpool 3 will feature the union between Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine that we’ve all craved for years, but what about the rest of the cast of the X-Men movies? We know that they exist somewhere in the Marvel multiverse. It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to assume that they won’t be the only two X-Men actors to return, especially since Deadpool 3 is set, at least in part, in the Fox universe.
As minimum, We look forward to seeing the return of the old Deadpool cast., including Zazie Beetz’s Domino, Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teen Warhead, and Stefan Kapičić’s Colossus. Plus, we can only imagine the comedic potential of bringing Josh Brolin’s Cable back and acknowledging Brolin’s run as Thanos. There’s also room for actors from the classic X-Men trilogy and the First Class series to stop by. If not in Deadpool 3, definitely in 2025’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
¿Ursa Major?
The MCU could have sneaked the appearance of a mutant already in 2021’s Black Widow. Actor Olivier Richters plays Mikhail Ursus, a Russian prison inmate who sustains a nasty injury in an arm wrestling match against David Harbour’s Red Guardian. In the comics, Ursus is a mutant who can transform into a super-strong bear called Ursa Major. However, there is no indication in the film that Ursus is a mutant or that he has any powers, so this is more of an honorable mention.
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch?
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have always been caught between two worlds. They started out as members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants before reforming and joining the Avengers. Marvel had no choice but to remove Wanda and Pietro’s mutant heritage. and his connection to Magneto when the characters were introduced to the MCU in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. In fact, even the comics followed suit by reconfiguring the two characters so they were no longer mutants or children of Magneto.
Now that Disney has bought 21st Century Fox and acquired all the rights to X-Men, many fans are wondering if the opposite could happen in the MCU. Scarlet Witch and Vision already revealed that Wanda had innate magical abilities before she was exposed to Hydra’s mind stone. Will we know that she has always been a mutant and didn’t know it? For now, all we know is that Wanda’s story is far from over, despite her apparent death in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
If you want to know more about the future of the mutant-laden MCU, check out the burning questions we have about Jackman’s return as Wolverine and learn the secrets behind the Deadpool 3 sneak peek.
