Warning: contains spoilers for X-Men #7Many of theX-Menhave struggled with hiding their identity throughout the franchise’s long history, but a new twist has just introduced a new type of mutant that could change the whole dynamic between human beings and their kind in the future of the Marvel Universe.
If villains have figured out a way to control mutants for good, then the X-Men might already be at a major disadvantage without even knowing it.X-Men #7has introduced a new twist to the X-Mythos, as it debuts what appears to be a new strain of sometimes-undetectable mutant. The issue revolves around Piper Cobb, a young girl who believes that it was her mutant manifestation that caused a Sentinel to attack her town. Beast scans Piper withX-Men and Sentinel technology, and both come up negative for the X-Gene. However, what only readers see is that Piperdoeshave powers, turning monstrous for a second while sleeping. Is she a new type of undetectable mutant then?
This almost certainly involves the mysterious villains 3K, who have found a wayto turn adult humans into mutants. If 3K can activate mutant powers, then it’s safe to assume they know also be able to turn them off as well. Piper’s mother is an anti-Mutant bigot, so it’s also possible Piper’s family are connected to 3K, otherwise a coincidence might be at play. It’s also unclear whether Piper’s power turning on and off is intentional, or just a side effect of any potential meddling by 3K. (They could be deliberately testingCerebro’s ability to detect their new mutantsusing Piper as a case study.)
There is, however, an even worse possibility: Piper is a natural mutant, and that 3K have found a way to turn off mutant powers at the flick of a switch. Mutant power dampeners and nullifiers have been a known technology in the X-Men world for decades, but they’re usually connected to technology, and the X-Men should have been able to tell if that were the case. If 3K could just sabotage any mutant in the middle of a fight, then they could be far more dangerous than anyone could have predicted.
Our Take on Piper Cobb, The ‘New’ Mutant
Her Nature is Unknown, but Mutant is Still Most Likely
Finally, there’s one more outside possibility, which is that Piper’s not a mutant, but some other sort of metahuman. It would be ironic if the X-Men were looking for a mutant and completely missed that Piper was a Werewolf or something similar. This is unlikely though, both because it would come out of nowhere, and because it wouldn’t explain why only one Sentinel detected her. Piper’s definitely some sort of mutant, and if there are more undetectable mutants out there, then theX-Menare in quite a bit of trouble.
