X-Men: Apocalypse will be released in theaters on May 27. As you may recall, X-Men: Days of the Future Past reset the timeline. So forget what you thought you knew about the X-Men because everything that happened in X-Men, and X-Men: The Last Stand has now become irrelevant. This movie picks up 10 years later with Xavier and his students fighting to save the world (once again) from the first mutant Apocalypse and his Four Horseman: Magneto, Storm, Psylocke, and Angel.
I’m super excited to see young Jean Grey and Scott Summers in action and how Fox will incorporate them in the altered timeline. BUT I think I’m more looking forward to seeing Mystique since she is one of my favorite Marvel characters. She has a mutant power that I covet: shapeshifting. With that ability, you could become anyone you wanted to be. Personally, I’d like to spend the day as Taylor Swift. C’mon, you know you’ve wondered what her squad is like.
Over the years, we’ve seen many versions of the popular X-Men character. The original Mystique from Earth-616 is the mother of Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) and the adoptive mother of Rogue. She is a villain and usually comes head to head with the X-Men, despite both of them being mutant sympathizers. She can morph into anyone, has an accelerated healing ability, and ages rather slowly compared to other mutants.
Below are my favorite incarnations of the villain. Each varies slightly from the other although they all share the same mutant powers.
House of M
House of M was published in 2005. It is set in an alternate universe where mutants rule humans and Magneto is King. This Mystique is technically one of the good guys as she is part of the Red Guard, one of the many elite units of S.H.I.E.L.D. She is also in a relationship with Wolverine.
X-Men (2000)
X-Men was the first Marvel film I saw in theaters. This Mystique is portrayed by Rebecca Romijn and is Magneto’s right-hand man. Together they created the Brotherhood of Mutants. While they may have a great dynamic, in the comics she and Erik hardly knew each other. Also, this version doesn’t wear Mystique’s usual get-up of a white slitted dress and skull belt, preferring instead to be in the nude.
X-Men (1992 Animated Series)
I watched this cartoon on Saturday mornings when it used to air on Fox Kids. In this series, Mystique is the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and in league with Apocalypse. She is shown to have a very close relationship to Rogue and tends to neglect her own children, Kurt Wagner and Graydon Creed. This version is the most similar to the Mystique of the comics.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is a video game that has our favorite heroes and villains fighting to save the world from “Dr. Doom’s Doom Ray of Doom.” Mystique the LEGO mini figure is in cahoots Magneto. She uses her shapeshifting abilities to help the villains escape and cause chaos. In the end, she does decide to help the Avengers beat Galactus, proving that she isn’t entirely cold-hearted.
If you want to learn more about Mystique and the rest of the characters from the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse film, check out our Instant Expert over on the Marvel Database.