5 Ridiculously Weird X-Men Powers We Need to See in the MCU

The X-Men have begun their invasion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Jean Grey appearing in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the FoX-Men showing up in Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel Studios has announced the release date of their first X-Men movie and have begun casting numerous roles. Fans have waited years for this moment; there’s an idea that the MCU was more comic accurate than other superhero movie franchise (it isn’t, they’re all equally bad at comic accuracy, although today the DCU is doing a better job than the MCU ever did) and many comic readers wanted to see what the House of Ideas would do if they were in control of an X-Men movie.

The X-Men basically have their own corner of the Marvel Universe, with fans excited to see their favorite mutants on the big screen. One of the coolest things about mutant superheroes is just how strange their powers can be. While the team has a lot of members with pretty common powers, there are some out there who have much stranger abilities, ones that would be fantastic on the silver screen. These five X-Men have the weirdest powers, ones that fans want to see in the MCU.

5) Marrow

Many X-Men have been villains at times. The team is honestly pretty good at redeeming people, something that would be put to the test in the ’90s with Marrow. A young Morlock named Sarah, she was saved from the Marauders by Gambit and survived in the tunnels until Mikhail Rasputin transported them to another dimension where time ran differently. Eventually, she would escape back to Earth with a group of other young Morlocks to fight against human bigotry as the Gene Nation. She took the name Marrow because of her powers, which caused her bones to grown uncontrollably, allowing her to pull them through her skin and use them as weapons, usually being either blunt or sharp. Marrow would join the team after being “killed” and became the latest mouthy loner, but she never caught on as a character (although I loved her). Her powers, though, have always been cool and it would be great to see her show up on the big screen, using her bones in battle.

4) Beak

New X-Men is a fantastic part of X-Men history, with writer Grant Morrison creating numerous cool characters. Morrison has always been known for bringing the weird and they did that perfectly with Beak. We’ve seen various mutants who were based on animals, including plenty of birds, but never anyone like him. Barnell Bohusk’s mutation made him into a chicken, and not a cool-looking one like a rooster or hen. He barely had any feathers, looking like a hatchling. As far as what powers this gave him, he can sort of fly and has talons but that’s about it. On the one hand, those powers are pretty boring but on the other hand we need to see mutants like him. Mutants aren’t just pretty people with great powers; sometimes, they look like hideous monsters, their appearance being anything but human. Marvel Studios often ignores the uglier parts of Marvel superheroes and that’s something that you really can’t do with the X-Men. Beak would show that they’re going to show us what mutants can be, warts and all.

3) Lifeguard

Chris Claremont is the greatest X-Men writer ever. He gave readers some of the greatest superhero stories ever people by brilliant characters, many of which he created himself. Some of the coolest X-Men ever were Claremont creations, but the characters he made in later years, especially after his first 16-year run with the group ended, weren’t as great as what came before. That said, there are a few very cool ones from those later years, including Lifeguard. I think one of the best ways to describe her powers is that she’s basically Darwin if her powers only worked to save other people. Basically, she could become anything she needed to be to save lives. This is one of the most interesting power sets in comic history, but Lifeguard has fallen through the cracks. It would be so cool to see her on the big screen, her powers changing her to make her the ultimate, well, lifeguard. Fans have never seen powers like this before, which is reason enough to put them in the movies.

2) Maggot

Maggot was introduced in the mid ’90s, during the build-up to “Operation: Zero Tolerance”. First created to be an Aboriginal Australian, he was changed to a South African basically between issues and would end up joining the X-Men after they defeated Bastion and the Prime Sentinels. His powers gave him two techno-organic maggots that could eat through anything, whom he named Eeny and Meeny. It was revealed that his maggots were his digestive system come to life, eating everything in front of them and returning to his body to give him nutrition. He’d gain superhuman strength and durability until he got hungry again, letting the maggots loose for another meal. While the character has never really been popular whatsoever, his powers have always been kind of rad and it would be perfect to see them in the MCU. Maggot is a weird character with bizarre powers and Marvel Studios would do well remembering him. He’d add something unique to the group, plus they can make toys of his maggots. He’s got built-in merchandising potential, which Disney’s Marvel Studios loves.

1) Eyeboy

There are lots of mutants with powers that can seem pretty useless and Eyeboy is the king of that. He first started appearing in the background of shots, a young mutant with eyes all over his body. I get the feeling that he was just a bizarre little character to put in the back of scenes, his body full of eyes giving him something of a body horror visual. Eventually, he would start getting some spotlight and how his powers worked would be explained. To begin with, he can see in all directions, which is honestly really interesting if a little boring. It was soon revealed that he could see every spectrum of light and beyond, even able to see energy trails from various superpowers. While it’s mostly a passive power, it could used in very cool ways. Plus, as another “ugly” mutant, Eyeboy will show that Marvel Studios isn’t afraid of the more bizarre aspects of the X-Men.

10 Best X-Men Stories for Non-X-Men Fans