Many might be feeling the weight of superhero fatigue. The quantity of superhero films is exceeding the quality of those movies. Out of all the heroes, the only one that seems exempt from that feeling is Deadpool 3, now officially titled Deadpool & Wolverine. Fans are extremely excited about the return of the Merc with the Mouth. We will get to see Ryan Reynolds back in Deadpool’s iconic red suit. Not to mention it will also be the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (in a comic book-accurate costume!) It will also be the official entry of the X-Men (and all the other beloved mutants) into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s a lot to be excited about.
Now that Deadpool & Wolverine has a trailer out and several minutes of footage screened at CinemaCon 2024, details have started to come out about the film, including its villain. We know that Deadpool and Wolverine will team up to help save the multiverse from a threat, and Emma Corrin (The Crown, My Policeman) is reportedly playing the role of the villainous Cassandra Nova. Cassandra is a majorly powerful villain in the X-Men comic books, with a complicated history and a wicked personality.
Here’s everything we know about Cassandra Nova!
Who is Cassandra Nova?
Created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, Cassandra Nova first appeared in New X-Men #114 (2001). Cassandra is called a “Mummudrai” by the Shi’ar. This means she is the exact equal and polar opposite of another person. In her case, Cassandra’s opposite is her twin brother—the ultra-powerful Professor Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men. Yes, Charles Xavier was a twin. And it just gets weirder from there! Even as a fetus, Xavier was apparently so powerful that he had consciousness and thought. In the womb, he felt the evil of his twin and tried to kill her with his psychic powers.
The battle caused early labor (!?) and the doctors believed Cassandra to be stillborn. But this is the comic book universe where no one ever truly dies, so Cassandra used her mental powers to rebuild her cells until her body was restored. After she was whole, Cassandra used her abilities to seek revenge against her brother and anyone else who crosses her path. Being the antithesis of Charles Xavier without his compassion sets her up to be a great villain for the MCU. Besides her powers, her convoluted and strange origins are something that only Deadpool could make work.
In the story arc of the limited X-Men Red (2018) series, Cassandra is featured as the main villain. Tapping into racist hate breeding online, Cassandra builds a “hate machine” to make her more powerful. Although the series can be a little heavy-handed at times, it is one of my favorites. Everything Jean Grey and her team through at her doesn’t seem to work. They finally defeat her by injecting her with empathy, so she can feel the pain of the world rather than fuel the anger. Laura and Gabrielle Kinney (my favorite Wolverine clones) play a major part in taking down Cassandra. Cassandra’s plan in X-Men Red would fit well in Deadpool & Wolverine, using real-world drama, but ratcheted it up for an over-the-top supervillain. And maybe that means Wolverine’s clone kids will be entering the MCU right alongside their “dad.”
Has Cassandra already entered the MCU?
With X-Men ’97 currently streaming on Disney+, there has been speculation that Cassandra is already in the MCU—but not onscreen quite yet.
Episode 5 of X-Men ’97, “Remember It,” adapts a storyline from the comics in which the mutant nation of Genosha is destroyed by sentinels. In the comics, Cassandra is the one pulling the strings and ensuring Genosha’s demise. Could the same be true in X-Men ’97? If so, could Cassandra’s appearance in the series pave the way for her live-action debut in Deadpool & Wolverine?
We’ll have to wait and see!
(featured image: Marvel)
