Warning: Contains spoilers for X-Men #7Many of X-Men have struggled to hide their identity throughout the franchise’s long history, but a new twist has just introduced a new type of mutant that could change the entire dynamic between humans and their kind in the future of the Marvel Universe.
If the villains figure out a way to control mutants for good, then the X-Men could already be at a huge disadvantage without even knowing it. X-Men #7 introduced a new twist on the X-Mythos, by debuting what appears to be a new strain of sometimes undetectable mutant. The issue revolves around Piper Cobb, a young woman who believes it was her mutant manifestation that caused a Sentinel to attack her city. Beast scans Piper with X-Men and Sentinel technology, and both test negative for the X-Gene. However, what only readers see is that Piper he does has powers, becoming monstrous for a second while he sleeps. Is she a new type of undetectable mutant?
What this new mutant form means for the X-Men universe
An undetectable mutant disrupts everything the X-Men know
This almost certainly involves the mysterious 3K villainswho found a way to turn adult humans into mutants. If 3K can activate mutant powers, then it’s safe to assume they also know how to turn them off. Piper’s mother is an anti-mutant fanatic, so it’s also possible that Piper’s family is connected to 3K, otherwise a coincidence could be at play. It’s also unclear whether Piper’s on and off is intentional or just a side effect of any potential interference from 3K. (They could be deliberately testing Cerebro’s ability to detect its new mutants using Piper as a case study.)
There is, however, an even worse possibility: Piper is a natural mutant and 3K has found a way to turn off her mutant powers at the touch of a button. Mutant energy dampers and nullifiers are a known technology in the X-Men world for decades, but they are usually connected to technology, and the X-Men should have been able to tell if that was the case. If 3K could sabotage any mutant in the middle of a fight, they could be far more dangerous than anyone could have predicted.
Our opinion on Piper Cobb, the ‘new’ mutant
Its nature is unknown, but the mutant is still the most likely
Finally, there is one more outside possibility, which is that Piper is not a mutant, but some other type of metahuman. It would be ironic if the X-Men were looking for a mutant and didn’t realize that Piper was a werewolf or something similar. This is unlikely, because it would come out of nowhere and because it wouldn’t explain why only one Sentinel detected it. Piper is definitely some kind of mutant, and if there are more undetectable mutants out there, then the X-Men are in trouble.
X-Men #7 is now on sale at Marvel Comics.