X-Men Fan Theory Uses Jonathan Hickman’s Masterpiece To Explain Mutants In the MCU (& It Makes Sense)

A compelling new fan theory leverages Jonathan Hickman’s revolutionary House of X and Powers of X saga to explain the absence of mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Shared by redditor u/rOkBad7175 on the /marvelstudios subreddit, the theory also provides a seamless way to introduce the X-Men to the Sacred Timeline. The theory, gaining traction among MCU enthusiasts, centers on Hickman’s radically reimagined character of Moira MacTaggert, suggesting her unique abilities and desperate quest to save mutantkind could be the key to understanding why mutants are only now emerging in the MCU’s main timeline. This concept provides a lore-rich foundation that not only accounts for the mutants’ delayed arrival but also sets the stage for complex future narratives, echoing the intricate storytelling that defined Hickman’s celebrated X-Men tenure.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Hickman’s tenure on the X-Men titles initiated a bold new era known as the Krakoan Age, fundamentally altering the status quo for Marvel’s mutants. At the very center of this seismic shift was a profound retcon of Moira MacTaggert, a character traditionally known as a human geneticist and a staunch ally of Charles Xavier. Hickman revealed Moira to be a mutant herself, possessing the power of reincarnation. Upon each death, Moira returns to the moment of her conception, retaining all memories from her previous lives.

House of X #2 detailed that Moira was living her tenth life, having experienced a myriad of timelines she helped shape by influencing the world events with her knowledge of the future. Unfortunately, she learned a grim, immutable truth through these nine previous lives: mutants always lose. Regardless of the strategies employed, whether it was through heroic sacrifice, aggressive dominance, or attempted integration, every path inevitably led to the persecution, subjugation, or outright extinction of mutantkind, often at the hands of humanity, advanced Sentinels, or other powerful cosmic or artificial intelligences.

Armed with this devastating knowledge from centuries of lived experience across her past lives, Moira X, in her tenth incarnation, resolved to break this catastrophic cycle. She approached Charles Xavier much earlier in his life than in previous timelines, revealing her mutant nature and the cyclical doom awaiting their kind. This revelation shattered Xavier’s initial dream of peaceful coexistence and pushed him toward a more radical strategy for mutant survival. Later, Magneto was also brought into this secret counsel. Together, this triumvirate, guided by Moira’s unprecedented understanding of future failures, orchestrated the establishment of a sovereign nation for all mutants, Krakoa, and, most crucially, the Resurrection Protocols. Through a group of five key mutants (The Five), deceased mutants could be reliably brought back to life, effectively neutralizing death as a significant threat to their species. This bold initiative united former X-Men, their allies, and even many of their long-standing adversaries under a single banner, all driven by Moira’s unseen hand and the desperate hope that this tenth life would finally be the one where mutants would survive and prevail.

MCU Fan Theory: Could Moira’s Cycles Explain Mutant Absence and Emergence?

Drawing inspiration from the complex legacy of Moira MacTaggert established in Hickman’s X-Men run, u/rOkBad7175 offers a fresh perspective on why mutants might have remained hidden in the MCU and how they could eventually emerge. As the user proposes, “We haven’t seen them because of Moira Mactaggert. This is her 9th life, maybe. She tried several times for the mutants to survive. Maybe the fox timeline was one of those lives? She orchestrated the major events there?” This line of thought speculates that the MCU’s Sacred Timeline could be another of Moira’s attempts to navigate the perilous path of mutant existence, potentially even trying to learn from events in other realities like the Fox X-Men cinematic universe.

A core element of this theory is how Moira might have adapted her strategy in this current MCU timeline. According to u/rOkBad7175, “Eventually she realised the key to mutants surviving is shutting up and not going public. It is working so far.” This suggests a deliberate decision by Moira to keep mutants entirely covert. The theorist also attempts to tie in the fate of another superpowered group, suggesting Moira might have actively worked to neutralize threats: “She also maybe got the Inhumans killed off, or just took away the terrigen mist (in the comics, terrigen mist gives mutants a deadly sickness). That is why we haven’t seen the Inhumans in the Sacred Timeline.”

Another commenter, u/rCaciulacdlac, provided a detailed integration of the TVA into u/rOkBad7175’s framework: “I can integrate the TVA in your story. Maybe for the sacred timeline to work, Moira needs to experience all those timelines that eventually lead to the doom of the mutants, so that she can eventually decide to go down the path of the Sacred Timeline. And those timelines in which she dies, they are immediately pruned after.” This suggestion reframes Moira’s multiple lives as a necessary, albeit harsh, process, perhaps even tolerated or managed by the TVA, with failed timelines being pruned, thus aligning with the “mutants always lose” theme until a stable path is achieved.

The mutants will be a key MCU element in the upcoming crossover movie Avengers: Doomsday, which is scheduled for release on December 18, 2026.

What are your thoughts on this Moira-centric fan theory for introducing mutants to the MCU? Let us know in the comments!