Warning: Spoilers for Teen Negasonic Warhead #1!Not only is Negasonic Teenage Warhead back, but it’s also unpacking some of the sexism in Marvel comics. In her newest title, she gains prominence, but the extent of her powers has not yet been fully achieved. Understandably, she’s a little worried about going down the path of extreme power considering how Marvel has treated female characters like Jean Gray and Scarlet Witch over the years.
In a preview for Teen Negasonic Warhead #1 by Andrew Wheeler, Eleonora Carlini, Carola Barelli, Brittany Peer, Ruth Redmond and Joe Sabino – which brings together and adds a new story to 2023 Marvel’s Voice Infinity Comics arc starring the character – Ellie Phimister is wanted by the Time Variance Authority, who accuse Negasonic Teenage Warhead of a future crime that she has not yet committed. It’s up to her to save herself and her own future. Dramatic power dynamics are at play, and Ellie is no stranger to understanding how these dynamics have affected women before her.
Thanks to changes in timelines, Negasonic Teenage Warhead was given reality-warping powers, but she clearly says she doesn’t want them, alluding to what happens to women who change the world with their great power. Marvel’s sexist history is finally catching up with its characters.
Negasonic Teen Warhead Alludes to Marvel’s Tense History of Punishing Powerful Female Characters
Teen Negasonic Warhead Variant cover #1 by Audrey Mok
Created by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, Negasonic Teenage Warhead first appeared in New X-Men #115, in honor of Monstrous Magnet song. Although she hasn’t been in comics for long, like some other characters, she was a hit among the X-Men and also in the iconic Dead Pool films. As a precognitive mutant, she knows well possible futures where she has the potential to be one of the most powerful heroes.
This tragedy is the way the world works for powerful women, and unfortunately, it’s been a staple of Marvel comics for a long time.
But she doesn’t need precognition to know the story behind it. From Jean Grey’s famous Dark Phoenix arc to Scarlet Witch’s turns into madness and villainy, it seems Marvel has a habit of driving its women crazy. Every powerful woman, from the X-Men to the Avengers, has to deal with her powers in a way that men don’t; most of the time it involves them descending into madness where their own powers destroy them. Negasonic Teenage Warhead doesn’t need to envision the future. This tragedy is the way the world works for powerful women, and unfortunately, it’s been a staple of Marvel comics for a long time.
Negasonic Teenage Warhead is here to change the Marvel narrative
The evolution of heroes like Scarlet Witch no longer exists
Marvel needs to allow powerful women to be powerful without major negative and punitive consequences. This sexist story of female characters humiliated by their own power is a relic of a misogynistic past where mostly male comic writers unconsciously echo their own unexamined beliefs: women should stay “in the kitchen” and leave the danger to men . In this way, Marvel’s history reveals more about the psyche of male writers than it does about female characters. Negasonic Teenage Warhead is here to clear up this issue.
Ellie’s powers could put her on a godlike level similar to Scarlet Witchand as beloved as she is, fans would love to see her succeed. The sexist history of Marvel female characters are fading into the past, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead is here to usher comics into a new era – one where women are powerful and don’t suffer for it.
Teen Negasonic Warhead #1 is available November 6, 2024 from Marvel Comics!