NO MORE MUTANTS
Let's face it True Believers, the absence of mutants in the official Marvel Cinematic Universe has left an Ego the Living Planet sized hole to fill. Not only from the lack of many mainstay fan-favorite characters like Wolverine, Deadpool, Phoenix, Magneto, Professor X and the rest of the x-genes but also from the MCU'S legal inability to use the word "mutant" itself. In case somebody out there in the Nerd Wasteland doesn't know, way back when Marvel sold the movie rights to the X-men library they also gave 20th Century Fox exclusive rights to use the word "mutant" in movies. Now before you start cursing Marvel remember, at the time they sold the movie rights they were struggling for money and saw this as a great way to make some cash while expanding their overall brand. At the time Marvel really had no way to bankroll and produce their own movies. This was before the entertainment titan known as Disney bought out Marvel Comics.
Well, that was then. This is today...
The MCU has become a massive hulking box office smashing machine. With blockbuster movies like Iron Man, Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel have taken Hollywood by storm. One thing, however, continues to leave a Galactus-sized hole in their cinematic universe. There are no mutants.
Many had suspected that the MCU was going to use the Extremis technology, as introduced in Iron Man 3, as their way of developing and introducing their cinematic version of mutants. Well, as the Great Grognard predicted last year, this was not the case. Unfortunately, the Extremis Project is far too elaborate and dangerous to use as the MCU'S jumping off point to introduce mutant-like individuals. The tech is flawed and the process is unstable. It's also a one-trick pony in the sense that everyone gets the same package... to put it in Mutants & Masterminds Second Edition perspective the template would be about 5 ranks of Enhanced Strength, 2-3 ranks of Super Strength, 5-8 ranks of Heat Control, and about 20-30 ranks of regeneration. This is much too limiting to use as a way to compensate for a cinematic shared world in need of its mutant population. Extremis was never intended to be Marvel’s answer. They have bigger plans.
The initial thing that came to this old fan boy's mind was the Evolutionary Wars.
This was a massive story that crossed over into eleven of Marvel’s biggest titles back in 1988. In fact it was the first time a major cross-over event occurred exclusively in annuals. It involved a villain known as the High Evolutionary and his attempts to evolve humans to their genetic peak potential, thereby raising humans to be supreme to all other species in the universe. However, since the Mighty Marvel Creative Crews have no plans of introducing the High Evolutionary to the MCU that only leaves one logical world-shaking evolutionary event.
A Terrigen Bomb. Or some use of the Terrigen Mists.
The Inhumans were first introduced to the Marvel Comic Book Universe waaaaaaaay back in 1965 In Fantastic Four volume 1 #45. The story and history of the Incomparable Inhumans and the Terrigen Mists was later expanded upon in 1967 in Thor volume 1 #146.
These mists, which come from Terrigen Crystals, are what gave the Inhuman Royal Family their powers, and in some cases their physical deformities. Marvel wisely, and with great foresight, never included the Inhumans - or Terrigen Mist - in the package they sold with the Fantastic Four movie rights.
I'm quite sure that everyone reading this blog is well aware of the Inhumans movie to be released in November 2018. I'd also hazard a guess that many of you have surmised that the first direct MCU reference to the Inhumans is coming in the discovery of the lost city of Attila in Marvel's agents of Shield. Considering the Inhumans' movie is still 4 years away I guarantee you the TV show will not be introducing any of the Inhuman Royal Family members. (As a side note don't be surprised that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are either Inhumans or humans mutated by the Terrigen Mists/Inhuman technology). Now, the best bet is that the lost city is abandoned. At least of Inhumans. Technology maybe left behind, maybe even a body. But what's important will be the Terrigen Mist/Bomb.
Why is the idea of the Terrigen Bomb so important to the MCU? Two reasons.
First, as mentioned earlier it gives the MCU a way to get around not have cinematic license to use their mutants or the word, "mutant". With the use of a Terrigen Mist or bomb the MCU will finally give birth to mutant-like characters - people who are superhuman on a biological, genetic level. So far MCU heroes basically come from two templates; created by science like Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Ant-Man, and the Vision. The other super origin being intensive combat training like Hawkeye, Black Widow and Batroc. We can consider Thor a combination of warrior training and Asgardian tech. Using the Terrigen Mists and/or bomb will open up the hereto legally banned use of mutants.
This also happens to mirror the historic evolution of heroes in comic books.
In the early days we find that heroes were products of training, knowledge, action, and just a taste of luck. That gave way to science as an origin for the vast array of powers that imaginative writers came up for with their wondrous heroes and villains. Then the scene took a radical twist when the origins of these fantastic and inhuman abilities became birth itself. Yes, some people are just born with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man.
The evolution of the origin of super powers in the MCU mirrors how super origins evolved in the comics.
The second reason a Terrigen Mist / Terrigen Bomb incident benefits the MCU is that it solves a big problem for the upcoming Captain America: Civil War movie. With a planet-wide exposure to the Terrigen Mists we will see the biggest problem the world has ever seen. Yes, bigger than an alien invasion of New York City. Bigger than the uber-robot/program/AI known as Ultron trying to wipe out the human race. Even bigger than the Infinity War... ok, well maybe not bigger than the Infinity War. Think about the repercussions of an explosion of super-powered individuals and a planetary scale. For a moment consider what would happen if almost half the population is considered walking weapons and living WMDs.
In order for there to be a mandatory government (or world) superhuman registration act you need a large population of super powered individuals. Face it; if it's not a "population size" problem what we are left with is nothing more than a super slug-fest between Iron Man's pals and Captain America's friends. It just doesn't constitute a civil war in any way. No, to truly live up to something on the scale of a war you need armies, not gangs.
Here, let's run down the list of heroes and villains of the MCU (including upcoming movies/TV shows)... Iron Man
War Monger
War Machine/Iron Patriot
Black Widow
Whiplash
The Hulk
Abomination
Thor
Loki
Lady Sif
Fandral
Volstagg
Heimdall
Laufey
Odin
Frigga
The Leader
Red Skull
Arnim Zola
Thanos
Adrian Killian
The Mandarin
Malekith
Kurse
Tyr
The Winter Soldier
Falcon
Brock Rumlow (Crossbones)
Deathlok
Blackout
Absorbing Man
Mockingbird
Lorelei
Donny Gill
Scorch
Graviton
Star Lord
Gamora
Drax
Groot
Rocket Raccoon
Ronin the Accuser
Yondu
Nebula
Korath the Pursuer
The Nova Corp
The Collector
Quicksilver
Scarlet Witch
Vision
Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
Ant-Man
Wasp
Yellow Jacket
Doctor Strange
Black Panther
Klaw
Captain Marvel
Daredevil
Kingpin
Night Nurse
The Owl
Iron Fist
Luke Cage AKA Power Man
Jessica Jones AKA Jewel, Knightress, and Power Woman
At first glance you may think, “What are you talking about? There are TONS of supers in the MCU!”
Wrong.
If you examine this list and remove all the cosmic characters, all the dead supers, and all the gods/godly beings who are not on Earth the list becomes considerably smaller.
It actually leaves about thirty individuals, not all of whom actually have powers.
There were more members of the street gang the Gramercy Riffs in the Warriors.
So, where will the MCU get enough super powered pawns and cannon fodder for their cinematic take on the Civil War?
There’s one perfect answer…
Terrigen Mist released into the Earth's atmosphere.
Love it or loath it Marvel has done an outstanding job when it comes to making sure no one forgets that Agents of Shield is not just a TV show but a fixed point in the greater MCU. Last year we saw a tertiary tie-in with Thor: The Dark World and a major tie-in with Captain America: Winter Soldier. Even Samuel Jackson made three guest appearances as Shield Director Nick Fury. The events of the movies had a direct impact on the TV show. This year/next year I guarantee we will see this flip-flop. Events now unfolding in Agents of Shield will have a direct impact on the movies. This will happen with the discovery of the Terrigen Mist/Crystals/Bomb mcguffin.
Trust the Great Grognard when he tells you Marvel's Agents of Shield season 2 is setting up the birth of mutants/supers/wonders or whatever generic term they decide to use for genetically created/altered/born superheroes. Season 3 will see this explosion of super activity unbalancing the world. These events will lead directly into Captain America: Civil War Let's face it people, no matter how big you think the MCU is now, in reality it's still quite small. It needs to grow in leaps and bounds as fast as possible to be ready for Civil War.
Terrigen Mists. A world flooding of this mutagenic agent would solve the problem.
Folks, the MCU is about to get a whole lot bigger and it's going to start happening on Marvel's Agents of Shield.
- The Great Grognard
