Why Storm Should Be Marvel's Flagship Mutant in the MCU!

Marvel have been clear that both the Fantastic Four and the mutant team the X-Men will be appearing in the coming years to the MCU. Both teams fan eagerly anticipate, but the mutant race perhaps has more excitement to appear due to how they have always been representatives for groups excluded or shunned for simply being who they are. Originally the team were used to discuss racial discrimination, but as time has gone on their exclusion from society has resonated with many other groups including the LGBTQ+ community.

With Sony having held a successful X-Men film franchise for nearly two decades, it is safe to say that Wolverine was the lead mutant representative for the majority of those years. Hugh Jackman even entered the Guinness Book of World Records for is years of portraying the character. This is exactly why Marvel should stay away from Wolverine and look for a new mutant to be their poster mutant for the MCU. Fans still love Jackman's portrayal and a new Wolverine used to advertise the mutants for the MCU will only ever be compared to Jackman.

So, if not Wolverine, the who? Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Magneto and many other mutants and extremely popular with fans. However, very few give the diversity in story options as Wolverine did for Sony. When we get to those options, we are pretty much looking at Jean Grey, Magneto, Professor Xavier and Storm. These four characters along with Wolverine make up the five mutants with the most interesting powers, personalities, ambitions and stories within the comics.

Now that is not me saying other characters are not interesting, but when you consider the factors a character needs to anchor a series, you need more than just interesting. As mentioned earlier, Jackman's Wolverine was the poster mutant for Sony. Magneto and Professor Xavier were the anchors of the First-Class series of X-Men films. While Jean Grey had pivotal plots within both the first X-Men trilogy and the First-Class films. So, this leaves us with the weather wielding mutant Storm as the untapped mutant yet to truly get to take centre stage.

Why Storm?

Her Past

Prior to her becoming a world-famous heroine, Storm had a pretty tough start in life. Princess of a tribe in Kenya, born to N'Dare & David Munroe. Her parents were killed in the Suez Crisis leaving her orphaned. From her she took to a life of crime on the streets, picking pockets until being found and coerced by the Shadow King. But when she met Charles Xavier, he rescued her from her life and mentored her in mastering her abilities.

Prior to meeting Professor X, Storm also had a romance with a teenage T'Challa, to whom she lost her virginity to. This encounter in her youth would later play a major part in her adult life. But it is revealed T'Challa actually started helping Storm embrace her powers years before she met Charles Xavier.

Her Powers

One thing that is undeniable is her sheer power level. She is classed as an Omega Level mutant. This means her powers actually have no real upper limit to what they can do. Storm has clarified in many media that her powers actually entuned her to the Earth and she can sense abnormalities as a result. Her actual weather manipulation abilities are also on a level where she could whip out entire populations if she desired. Thankfully, she has always hailed on the side of good, meaning she won't be drowning any cities or striking down innocents with lightning any time soon.

She also has untapped magical potential. This is another aspect of her which has been touched on several time, with many alternate realities seeing a storm that has embraced these natural magical gifts. With the MCU heading more into their mystical realms and alternate realities, Storm does present and option for them to have some creative fun with. Oh, and did I mention, in some realities she has been shown to be Thor, Wonder Woman & even in one the Phoenix Force avatar. So, it is safe to say she could bring plenty of fire power to a fight to warrant Marvel giving her major attention.

But her powers are not all that makes her. She is also an expert in hand-to-hand combat and strategist. During one period in the comics, Storm was struck by a weapon that caused her to lose her powers. After some time adjusting, she found she could still aid the X-Men even without powers. This even came to an ultimate head of a battle, as she challenged a powered Cyclops to a fight. The winner would become the leader of the X-Men and without any powers Storm won the battle.

Her Leadership Skills

As mentioned above, Storm is also an accomplished leader. She has led the X-Men many times and is considered one of the better leaders the team has ever seen. But prior to this, she was also once worshipped as a goddess which saw her using her powers to aid people in Africa. However, her greatest title was when she married T'Challa and became Queen of Wakanda. With this title she took her leadership skills, compassion and kindness with the aim to help and improve as many lives as she could. After a few years, her and T'Challa naturally split, as well this is comics and how long do these things last? But returning to her mutant kin, she continues to this day to be a leader for the mutant community.

She is not Just About the X-Men

As stated above, Storm has used her powers for more than just being a mutant hero on the X-Men. Let's just say, she has been on MANY Marvel comic-based teams, be that for a long or short period. These include, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Lady Liberators, Morlocks, Hellfire Club, X-Force, The Crew, Horsemen of Salvation, The Twelve and many more. Given how the MCU is built on characters moving across various films and appearing in titles outside of just their own. Storm present an ideal candidate out of the X-Men for a mutant that could move through the MCU appearing all over the place. Wolverine is perhaps the only Mutant with more team affiliations as Storm.

The Message She Would Bring to the MCU

One thing is clear is that Storm has massive ties to T'Challa, but sadly this relationship will never be seen in the MCU with the passing of Chadwick Boseman. However, this does not mean Storm could not have still had her encounter with him in her youth and him playing a major part in her becoming the woman she does in the MCU. With the MCU Black Panther being a massive role model for many young viewers, Storm could be their new idol.

She brings representation and could making what Chadwick Boseman started only the first steps in the diversity needed. As Storm would also bring the female factor to the mix. Some may be saying they have Shuri to fill this space as potentially the new Black Panther. But the simple factor is, Shuri is interesting, but compared to her brother she is not as strong to lead audiences as Storm would be. If anything, the MCU could play it, that Storm becomes Shuri's mentor her in brother place.

What are your thought? Which mutant do you think the MCU should use as their mutant in the forefront the lead the mutant kin in the MCU?