Summary
- Jitter is a powerful new mutant with skills that would make Cyclops proud - a dream student with super-fast learning abilities.
- Rogue's Uncanny X-Men team must protect a group of young mutants, one of whom will become an extinction-level threat known as the 'Endling.'
- Jitter is just one member of the young group Marvel is calling the Outliers, alongside Calico (who has a psychic connection to her shapeshifting horse), Deathdream (a mutant who can tap into the afterlife, summoning ghosts) and Ransom (who has a black hole for a heart, allowing him to consume matter to grow stronger.)
As Cyclops' dreams. With the betrayal of Charles Xavier and the loss of his iconic school, the future of the X-Men has never been more uncertain, with heroes like Cyclops, Rogue and Emma Frost fighting to establish their own visions of what's next for mutants. As ever, that includes educating, training and protecting those who are only just discovering their mutant powers.
In Uncanny X-Men #1, Rogue's new Uncanny X-Men team encounter a group of four young mutants begging for their protection. While the comic doesn't reveal anything but their appearances, Marvel just released information about each hero. While each is a fascinating addition to X-Men lore, new mutant Jitter - aka Sofia Young - is Cyclops' dream student.
Jitter has the power to learn at a wildly accelerated rate, allowing her to develop talents in moments that would otherwise take a lifetime to master. While overusing her powers is dangerous, Jitter does as much as she can, even refusing to sleep to better use her abilities. Jitter is just one member of the young group Marvel is calling the Outliers, alongside Calico (who has a psychic connection to her shapeshifting horse), Deathdream (a mutant who can tap into the afterlife, summoning ghosts) and Ransom (who has a black hole for a heart, allowing him to consume matter to grow stronger.)
Uncanny X-Men #1 (2024) |
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I Think We Just Learned Which Comics Era the MCU Will Base Its X-Men On
As Marvel moves key characters and themes into place, it's becoming clear the publisher sees a specific X-Men era as the future.
Jitter's Hyper-Focus Power Is Cyclops' Dream
Rogue's New Uncanny X-Men Students Each Have a Creative Power
While each of these mutants brings something new to the franchise, Jitter is particularly interesting because of how versatile her powers are. For years, Cyclops has been depicted as Marvel's ultimate tactician - someone so prepared for every form of combat that Beast (who has served on both the X-Men and Avengers) considers him a more capable field leader than Captain America. Cyclops has dossiers full of prep notes for the X-Men - even when undead kaiju carried out a surprise attack in Immortal X-Men, fans learned that Cyclops had protocols for this, including addenda for if the kaiju are supernatural, robotic, or "specifically an atomic lizard."
A mutant who can learn any skill in seconds is Cyclops' dream teammate - someone who doesn't just fly or fire lasers, but instead can rapidly adjust to any given threat or challenge. However, it's for this exact reason that it's good that Cyclops won't be training Jitter. Scott Summers has a habit of treating the children under his care as soldiers, repeating how Charles Xavier raised him and acknowledging that mutants are in a constant fight for survival where no-one can be left on the bench. If Jitter was put under Cyclops' care, he'd see the ultimate mutant fighter and strategist, and then train her accordingly. In contrast, Rogue is far more committed to letting mutant kids be kids, while helping them to control and make peace with their abilities.
Cyclops' habit of looking for every angle is part of his mutant power. As well as shooting beams of kinetic energy, Cyclops can instinctively judge trajectories, allowing him to make impossible shots and spot potential weak points.
Is Jitter Uncanny X-Men's New "Endling" Threat?
One of the X-Men's New Students Will Doom Mutantkind
A complicating factor in Jitter's appearance is that the X-Men have been told by numerous sources that one of the Outliers is a threat known as the 'Endling.' Rogue's team know precious little about the Endling threat so far - only that it's coming for all mutants. A young precognitive tells the team in Uncanny X-Men #1 that one of their four new charges is the Endling, but exactly who is still a mystery.
With such versatile, impressive abilities and a commitment to honing them that borders on the fanatical, it's easy to see how Jitter could end up being the Endling. However, prophecies are never quite what they seem in Marvel lore, and whatever the future holds, the Uncanny X-Men just recruited Cyclops' ideal mutant hero.
Uncanny X-Men #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
