The days of waiting for Marvel’s Mutants to enter the MCU are officially over, with Deadpool and Wolverine just the latest tease of what’s to come when the X-Men Join the shared movie universe with full force. As a huge fan of the MCU and the X-Men, there’s one thing I can’t wait to see in action and I can almost guarantee they’ll bring it with them: psychic rescue.
This power was first introduced in the Marvel filmNuff said event, in which all of the publisher’s writers were challenged to use no or very few letters during the entire month of comics released. The power has since reappeared in more recent stories, proving its effectiveness to be equally potent in Jonathan Hickman’s Krakoa or Jed MacKay’s current-era “From the Ashes.”
The X-Men’s Patented ‘Psychic Rescue’ Explained
‘Psychic Rescue’ is a power performed by two telepathic mutants, uniting to enter a person’s consciousness whose mind is trapped in their own body or someone else’s body, and free them from their dormancy or prison. The first appearance of Psychic Rescue comes from New X-Men #121 (2001) by Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly and Richard Starkings, in a story titled “Silence: Psychic Rescue in Progress”. The story follows Emma Frost and Jean Gray as they enter the mind of Professor Charles Xavier trapped in the body of his twin sister, Cassandra Nova. Hoping to command Charles’ superior telepathic mind to eliminate all mutants, Cassandra uses Cerebra to swap their consciousnesses. Beast discovers Cassandra’s plot and tries to expose her, but falls into a coma along with Charles.
Beast awakens from his coma and reveals Cassandra Nova’s hidden body, telling his fellow X-Men about the mind swap. Jean Gray and Emma Frost, the X-Men’s two psychics at the time, enter a room with a sign that says “silence” above it while Cyclops and Wolverine wait outside. Together, they enter Charles Xavier’s mind and are only able to communicate using their telekinesis to spell words with surrounding objects. And in the end, free Xavier from his chains.
Psychic rescue is a running joke in the X-Men comics
Psychic Rescue’s next appearance was in 2020, during the Krakoa era in Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Gray and Emma Frost (2020) #1 by creative team Jonathan Hickman, Russell Dauterman, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles. This time, instead of Professor X being rescued, it’s Storm, but beyond that, the editing is almost a panel by panel recreation of New X-Men #121.
The latest iteration of Psychic Rescue takes place in X-Men #5 by creative team Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman. The X-Men are investigating new mutants who develop their powers later in life than usual. One of the mutants they encountered, named Ben Liu, tried too hard with his powers, and the X-Men make it look like he went extinct so they could study him at the Factory. This time, Cyclops orders Psylocke and Kid Omega to perform a Psychic Rescue to wake Ben from his coma, stabilize his mental state, and discover what activated his X gene.
The new psychic rescue is made for an X-Men movie
Unlike the last two psychic rescues of Emma Frost and Jean Grey, Psylocke and Kid Omega are entering the minds of their targets with anything but crystalline precision, leading to a mindscape and action that would take a X-Men film in a totally different direction. Combining the concepts and images of Start with the layered drama of The Matrixand featuring the limitless invasions of a full-length horror filmThis new Psychic Rescue is the perfect opportunity for the MCU’s budget and effects to mark a new chapter in the X-Men tell stories.
With Psychic Rescues happening more and more frequently, I can almost guarantee that the X-Men will bring this unique power with them when they eventually cross over into the MCU. This new approach to Psychic Rescue in X-Men #5 gives even more a look at this complex power, so it could get a deep adaptation for the big screen when the X-Men join the MCU.
Check out the latest Psychic Rescue in X-Men #5available now from Marvel Comics.