This article contains spoilers for X-Terminators #5.The Jubilee could really be Marvel's most underrated mutant, capable of triggering nuclear explosions at will.
X-Terminators #5, by Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez, sees Jubilee finally cut loose. She's dropped in as a human atom bomb to take on the immortal being known as the Collector, and he's initially amused.
"See, I've always wanted to try this," she tells him. "But never had an arena large enough to practice in! Until now!" With that said, Jubilee triggers a nuclear explosion that destroys the Collector's spaceship. She's rescued from death herself by the teleporting mutant Magik.
Just How Powerful Is The X-Men's Jubilee?
Jubilee's power typically manifests in blasts of plasma she calls "fireworks," a name that really does explain why people tend to overlook Jubilee's truly badass powers. In the past, she's itted she tended to be restrained simply because she feared cutting loose, aware of the destruction that could cause. Jubilee has clearly relaxed in the Krakoan era, learning to embrace her true potential. It helps, of course, that there is only one person who could get caught up in the atom bomb blast she triggers in X-Terminators #5 - the Collector.
What is striking, though, is the fact Jubilee actually survives this atom bomb blast. Her clothes and hair are blasted away, but her body is apparently uninjured - which fits with the fact Jubilee has never burned herself with her fireworks before. It's actually possible Jubilee has a second secret power, an ability to resist energy discharges, one that's never been explicitly discussed in the comics. This could potentially make Jubilee even more formidable, because it would give her a natural resistance to powers such as Cyclops' optic blasts or Storm's lightning.
Hopefully Jubilee will decide to continue experimenting with her powers. For now, though, X-Men readers can delight in the fact she's demonstrating her true explosive potential at last - proving Emma Frost was right to identify the theoretical upper limits of Jubilee's powers. It will be great to see what comes next for the X-Men's firecracker turned atom bomb.
X-Terminators #5 is available now from Marvel Comics.
