Deadpool & Wolverine Concept Art Reveals Marvel Almost Gender-Swapped An X-Men Villain

The villains of "Deadpool & Wolverine" include the psychic Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin). The movie gets nowhere close to the gonzo stories told about Cassandra in Marvel Comics, but it maintains her origin as the evil twin sister of the X-Men's leader, Professor Charles Xavier. Banished to the wasteland dimension of the Void, Nova has made herself queen of Hell with a band of followers.

The inside joke of "Deadpool & Wolverine" is how the Marvel movies produced by the erstwhile 20th Century Fox risk being forgotten thanks to the Disney merger that put all these characters under the MCU's umbrella. So, Nova's army is made up of the most forgotten villains of those films: Lady Deathstrike, Azazel, Toad, Bullseye, Juggernaut, etc. (All these minor villains were recast from their original appearances.)

"Deadpool & Wolverine" concept artist David Masson San Gabriel has been sharing much of the work he did for the movie on his Instagram. He recently revealed he was asked to design a female version of the Juggernaut:

The idea went unused in the final film, where the traditionally male Juggernaut (real name Cain Marko) is played by Aaron W. Reed. Juggernaut has been in two previous "X-Men" movies: "The Last Stand," played by Vinnie Jones, and "Deadpool 2" as a CGI character voiced by a doubling-up Ryan Reynolds. Perhaps someone on the production team thought it was time to give "this year's Juggernaut" a new spin.

In "Deadpool & Wolverine," Juggernaut is the most plot-relevant of the C-list villains next to Aaron Stanford's Pyro. Since Magneto isn't around, the heroes steal his helmet to block Cassandra Nova's telepathy. Why does Juggernaut's helmet have this power? Cassandra Nova isn't Professor X's only evil sibling.

The movies haven't explored it much, but Cain Marko is Charles Xavier's stepbrother. The two brothers never had a warm relationship and after Cain stumbled on the magical Cyttorak gem, he decided he could use his new power to hurt Charles as the "Unstoppable Juggernaut." The contrast between the two is, of course, that Juggernaut has great physical strength while Professor X has great strength of will.

Juggernaut was one of the X-Men's first villains, debuting in "X-Men" #12 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Alex Toth, where Professor X explained his past to his students before they faced the Juggernaut. In the following issue #13, Juggernaut is defeated when Angel rips his helmet off and Professor X psychically disables him.

Marvel Comics

After the early days of "X-Men," Xavier's love/hate relationship with Magneto is generally emphasized more than his brotherly one with Juggernaut. Charles and Magnus' conflict is thematically richer, not to mention Magneto himself is a more compelling villain. Still, Juggernaut's brotherly relationship with Professor X remains comic canon and has been acknowledged in the "X-Men" cartoons, even the rejected pilot "Pryde of the X-Men."

For the best crash course in Charles and Cain's history, I'd recommend "X-Men: Legacy" #219 by Mike Carey and Phil Briones. The two stepbrothers meet in a bar to hash out their differences; the issue flashes back to the most important moments of their shared history and tests Charles Xavier's conviction that redemption is possible for any soul.

"Deadpool and Wolverine" is currently playing in theaters.