Warning: Spoilers for Demon Days: X-Men #1!
In a newly reimagined version of the X-Men set in feudal Japan, Jubilee’s powers just got hit with a truth bomb that’s so big that fans of the character should immediately take note. Suffice it to say, the term “fireworks” in relation to Jubilee's powers has been teasingly thrown around since her inception decades ago, and with the premiere of the manga-inspired Demon Days: X-Men, said powers just got taken to a decidedly fun, quite literal, and extremely explosive new level.
While it might be more of a tongue in cheek nod to fans’ ever-constant and hilarious thoughts on what Jubilee’s power set actually functions like, this limited series gives fans a new take on the character that should be one worth paying attention to. Demon Days: X-Men may have just begun, but it’s already flipping the best elements of iconic X-Men characters on their heads, and that’s a good thing.
In the first issue of the Peach Momoko's Demon Days: X-Men fans are immediately introduced to an entirely new and unique take on Marvel’s Merry Band of Mutants. Following a wandering swordsman and her wolf companion that act as versions of Psylocke and Wolverine, respectively, the duo happen upon a village that is being threatened by an Orochi, or “Giant Snake,” with a familiar black and white symbiote attached, a problem they take on as their own the second they set foot within the village.
Meeting with the resident Jushi, or “Curse Master,” that deals in magic and medicine, in order to seek her help to beat back this Venom-possessed Orochi, it’s revealed that this Master is none other than the early-1990s X-Men team staple Jubilee, known as Juju to the villagers around her. As X-Men fans are well aware, Jubilee's powers are what basically amounts to being able to form energy fireworks in the palms of her hands, and in this reimagined feudal Japan, her "powers" as a Jushi are quite literally shown to be just that: real fireworks.
Handing out cone shaped objects with a fuse on the top, the blatant question of “Are these… fireworks?” is asked with Juju explaining that these little explosives are perfect for keeping the Venom Orochi at bay as their loud whistling and bright lights are the best options to stall for time and weaken the snake until pseudo-Psylocke returns with help. Lighting them up around the village, their effect is immediate and gives the X-Men the time to successfully take out Venom, a super cool and inspired way to translate Jubilee’s character and powers into this setting, especially when it’s in relation to a truth about her powers that Marvel has always danced around admitting.
So by giving Jubilee (or Juju) actual fireworks as stand-ins for powers, Demon Days: X-Men is already upending the idea of what Marvel’s mutant team can mean in a unique series that is only just getting started. The X-Men might only call on Jubilee as they need her, but she’ll be ready whenever that may be, attitude on point and fireworks in hand… literally.