Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? episode 2.

Marvel's What If...? episode 2 appears to have a subtle reference to the X-Men. The Multiverse has become an integral part of the MCU, with Loki unleashing a multitude of branched timelines where events played out differently to those seen in the movies. Marvel is using the animated series What If...? to explore these timelines, revealing what would have happened if Peggy Carter became a super-soldier instead of Steve Rogers, if T'Challa was taken to space by Yondu instead of Peter Quill, or if Killmonger became ruler of Wakanda with the help of Tony Stark.

What If...? episode 2 explored the second of those scenarios, with T'Challa's Star-Lord redeeming the Ravagers and leading them as a galactic group of "Robin Hoods" who rob from the rich and give to the poor. The episode charted an adventure in which they sought to steal a precious artifact from that timeline's version of the Collector, reinvented as a gangster whose agents scoured the galaxy for the rarest of treasures. He had acquired something called the "Embers of Genesis," which Nebula described as "nutrient-rich cosmic dust from an ancient supernova with the power to transform entire ecosystems." Just an ounce could heal a dying planet in minutes. The Embers of Genesis don't have a direct equivalent in the comics, but the idea - and the way it manifests, in rapidly-growing vines - seems like a subtle reference to the X-Men.

Related: The MCU Just Broke Its Own Timeline With T'Challa's Power Stone Mission

The X-Men comics have always associated "Genesis" with verdant plant-growth. Indeed, there is an actual character named Genesis who possesses the power of chlorokinesis, an ability to manipulate plant-life. She was introduced in 2020's X of Swords event, an ancient mutant who is the wife of Apocalypse - and the mother of his children, the first Horsemen. The Embers of Genesis probably aren't a direct reference to Genesis, though, because What If...? episode 2 will have been recorded long before she made her debut in the comics.

X-Men Genesis Annihilation

Still, the connection between the X-Men and the word "Genesis" runs deeper than that. In 1975, Giant Size X-Men #1 introduced the second generation of X-Men, a team who included the likes of Storm, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler. They were assembled by Charles Xavier because he had lost his original X-Men when they investigated a tropical island named Krakoa - an island that turned out to be a living being, an entity that fed on mutant energy and manifested in exactly the same kind of plant growths seen in What If...? episode 2. Significantly, this story was given the title "Second Genesis."

All this means the name "Embers of Genesis" feels like a thematic nod to the X-Men franchise, rather than an explicit one. The interesting question, though, is what happened to the Embers of Genesis in the main MCU timeline? It's possible they were never collected and taken to Knowhere, meaning they could still be drifting through the stars. Perhaps a single seed could even land on Earth - an intriguing What If...? indeed.

More: Every MCU Easter Egg In What If? Episode 2

Marvel's What If...? releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

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