Between Deadpool & Wolverine and X-Men ’97, Professor Xavier’s evil twin is having a moment

23.04.2024 - 06:49 / polygon.com / Emma Corrin / Cassandra Nova

The first full trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine was released today, giving fans a good look at Hugh Jackman in the classic yellow suit, a good look at his banter with Reynolds’ Deadpool, and a good look at Emma Corrin (The Crown) as the movie’s villain, Cassandra Nova.

Nova cuts a dashing figure in an ankle-length trenchcoat and a strikingly bald head ripped straight from X-Men comics. And well she should — the X-Men villain is having a bit of a moment.

She’s Professor X’s evil twin. OK, that’s a simplification.

She’s Professor X’s stillborn twin. She attempted to kill him in the womb and he overpowered her instead. But given that she had the same psychic aptitude as her brother, her consciousness remained. After several decades of trying, she managed to make her own physical form — just as bald and old as Charles, but a lady — and menaced the X-Men as a powerful psychic who seeks to kill Professor X and undo all of his achievements.

That’s also a simplification, but it’s really all you need to know. Trust me.

Cassandra Nova debuted in E is for Extinction parts 1 and 2, the first two issues of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-Men. In those issues, she brought an army of “Wild Sentinels” to the mutant nation of Genosha, slaughtering 16 million mutants in a single day.

It’s those two ideas — Nova as an evil Professor X and her Genoshan genocide — that have everyone talking about her this spring.

Over in the realm of animation, Disney Plus’ X-Men ’97 made a whole episode out of the fall of Genosha, and has yet to reveal the mastermind behind it. There’s no guarantee that Cassandra Nova will show up (as of now, signs still point to Mister Sinister) but there’s no doubt the folks behind ’97 knew her name would come up in discussion. Even though she didn’t even exist when the original X-Men animated series was produced, the episode is unavoidably referential to Nova’s comics appearance.

In Deadpool & Wolverine, Nova appears to be ruling a wasteland world built of various Marvel movie properties, including a 20th Century Fox logo sunken into the sand and an enlarged Ant-Man helmet (complete with desiccated skull interior) as a headquarters. And that’s potentially connected up with this version of Wolverine, who “let down his entire world,” a la Old Man Logan.

While we may not know exactly how she fits in, or what she’s doing — at least not until Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters in July and X-Men ’97 shows its hand — it’s proving to be a hot Cassandra Nova summer in the world of X-Men adaptations.