Deadpool & Wolverine will bring an incredibly powerful new villain to the MCU with major links to one of the most famous X-Men of all. The new Deadpool & Wolverine trailer offers the first full reveal of the bald villain, as she menacingly emerges from the skull of a giant-sized dead Ant-Man – her suitably macabre base – prompting inevitable questions over her identity.
Interestingly, the new Deadpool & Wolverine villain doesn’t come alone: the trailer also revealed the return of Fox X-Men characters Azazel (father of Nightcrawler) and Lady Deathstrike, adding them to the gang of mutants who seemingly serve their powerful master in The Void. The villain – whose name isn’t mentioned in the trailer – is played by The Crown‘s emma Corrin – but why is she such a threat to Deadpool’s plan to recruit Wolverine and save the Sacred Timeline?
Who Cassandra Nova? The Bald Villain In Deadpool & Wolverine Explained
Deadpool & Wolverine‘s villain – as the trailer confirms – is Cassandra Nova, a genocidal mutant with a bald head who possesses terrifying powers, and was behind a massacre on Genosha that wiped out millions of mutants. That storyline has just been adapted in X-Men ’97, with Nova swapped out for Mister Sinister as the villain pulling the strings behind the Wild Sentinels.
Nova was very briefly shown from behind in the first Deadpool & Wolverine teaser prompting speculation of her inclusion. The full reveal shows that Cassandra Nova’s has a comics-accurate look adapting the original Marvel Comics character purely. She has the same stiff collar and long tan coat of her original appearance, and obviously shares the bald look with her in-universe brother: Charles Xavier.
Given that Nova appears to be in The Void – the space at the end of time introduced in Loki season 1, and ruled by He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors) – it would seem she was, at some point, successfully pruned by the TVA and sent into temporal exile. That very much fits with her presentation in Marvel Comics as an abomination who was never really supposed to exist.
Cassandra Nova’s Dark Marvel Origin Explained
An Incredibly Twisted Supervillain Origin, Even For Marvel
Impressively, Cassandra Nova might have the darkest MCU villain origin of all. Thanos might have lost his entire planet, so he has a good claim to it, but Nova is the evil twin of Professor Charles Xavier, who attempted to kill him in utero and was killed in the process, only to be reborn in another body, vowing revenge. Oh, and she’s essentially a demon – the personification of what Marvel’s Shi’ar people call a Mummudrai, or an astral “shadow self” that everyone possesses.
Cassandra Nova debuted in New X-Men #114 (July 2001)
In Marvel lore, the “Mummudrai” are a species of parasites that are essentially the exact opposite of their “twin”, appearing in the womb, commencing a struggle for supremacy. Nova debuted as the “twin” of the unborn Charles Xavier, as an exact clone of his DNA with her own body. Sensing her evil, he killed her before she could be born, leading to one of the most memorably wild Marvel comics panels of all time:
Nova survived the fetus battle, gained a new host body and set herself on a path of revenge whose endgame was killing Charles Xavier, believing it was key in order for her to take over the universe. That led directly to her manipulating Donald Trask III to commit the genocide on Genosha in the “E Is For Extinction” story arc, which wiped out 16 million mutants in an instant.
Cassandra Nova’s Incredible Powers Explained
She’s More Powerful Than Professor X
Nova possesses the same impressive powers as Professor X, with more on top of his skillset, and the scale of her powers is only hinted at in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer as she effortlessly fights off Hugh Jackman’s berserker using telekinesis. On top of that, she also comes with various other psychic powers, and is clearly powerful enough that Loki’s temporal monster – Alioth – hasn’t been able to take her out.
Cassandra Nova’s Marvel Powers Explained
Telepathy: Mind-reading and manipulation
Telepathic Cloak: To avoid detection
Telepathic Illusions: Including illusions and psychic disguise
Mind Control, Mind Wiping & Mental Paralysis
Mind Possession & Alteration
Psychic & Physical Shield Projection
Psionic Blasts
Astral Projection
Mental Detection
Telekinesis & Levitation
Healing Factor
DNA Duplication: And the ability to amplify any stolen power.
Phasing
It’s Nova’s astral origin that is really the difference maker, as it allows her not only access to all of Professor X’s powers, but also all potential future powers he might gain. Those include greater levels of telepathy, telekinesis, phasing, super-healing, DNA duplication, and most intriguingly of all an astral projection power that allows her to leave her physical body. If that power exists in the MCU, the question of why she’s “captive” in The Void would be a lot more complicated: and if she wants to be there, that makes her even more ominous.
Key Upcoming Release Dates
Deadpool & Wolverine – July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World – February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts* – May 5, 2025
The Fantastic Four – July 25, 2025
Blade – November 7, 2025
Avengers 5 – May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars – May 7, 2027
News
ITEMS FOUND ON THE RIVERBANK… Police searching for missing girl Sharon Granites in the Northern Territory have sealed off an area near the Todd River after finding clothing believed to be linked to the disappearance. Among them were: a distinctive yellow shirt believed to belong to suspect Jefferson Lewis and a piece of children’s clothing with SHOCKING DNA RESULTS
Children’s underwear, Jefferson Lewis’ shirt found as search for missing Sharon Granite grows desperate A pair of children’s underwear believed to be Sharon Granites’ and a shirt worn by her suspected abductor have been found, police have revealed, as the search for…
NT ABDUCTION MYSTERY: Police are urgently searching for 5-year-old Sharon Granites after she vanished from her home in the Northern Territory. What’s raising alarm is that one clue near the house suggests someone may have approached the property just minutes before she disappeared — a detail now driving the entire investigation 👀👇
Desperate search for five-year-old girl believed abducted from NT home Sharon vanished overnight from her home after being put to bed just hours earlier. A major search is underway after police revealed a five-year-old girl missing from her outback home in the Northern…
JUST IN: Search teams combing the banks of the Todd River in the hunt for missing five-year-old Sharon Granites have uncovered several items believed to be linked to the case — including a doona cover and a yellow shirt thought to belong to suspected abductor Jefferson Lewis. All three items have now been rushed to Darwin for urgent forensic testing as police race against time
New detail emerges as missing NT girl, Sharon, seen holding hands with man before disappearance The Prime Minister has weighed in as the search enters its third day. A young girl believed to have been abducted was seen moments before…
SEARCH BREAKTHROUGH: Key items have been discovered during the search for 5-year-old Sharon Granites in the Northern Territory. Police say the discovery was made near the last known location — and one small detail about where the items were found is now shifting the entire search focus 👀👇
Key items discovered in hunt for missing five-year-old NT girl Sharon Granites as search intensifies A pair of children’s underwear is among several items found as the search for a missing Northern Territory girl — and a man suspected of abducting her…
A LETTER THAT LEFT HER IN TEARS… After the death of Tupac Shakur, his mother Afeni Shakur received a deeply personal letter from Eminem. What Eminem wrote about Tupac inside that message is the part fans still talk about years later👇
The bond between hip-hop legends is often characterized by intense competition, but the relationship between Eminem and Tupac Shakur stands as a poignant testament to respect and the profound impact of artistic legacy across generations. A heartfelt letter and a…
10 SIGHTINGS… AFTER HIS DEATH? 👀 Decades after the death of Tupac Shakur, clips and photos claiming to show the rapper alive keep resurfacing online. Fans say at least 10 different sightings were caught on camera — but one particular clip is the one that still has people questioning everything 👇
The enduring mystery surrounding the death of Tupac Shakur remains one of the most significant cultural enigmas of the last thirty years, spawning an entire industry of conspiracy theories and investigative efforts. Since that fateful night in Las Vegas in…
End of content
No more pages to load
