Let’s dreamcast the X-Men before they appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 12: Awkwafina attends the 25th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on January 12, 2020 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

9. Awkwafina as Jubilee

The daughter of two wealthy Chinese immigrants, Jubilee is orphaned and forced to survive on her own when her parents are killed by hitmen. She hides out in a Los Angeles mall, where she discovers that she can shoot energy blasts (which she dubs “fireworks”) from her hands. Using her newfound powers, she evades mall security…until a collision between mutant hunters and the X-Men results in her being rescued and brought to the X-Mansion.

Jubilee was the youngest mutant to ever join the X-Men, and often provided a fresh (read: flippantly honest) perspective for some of the older and more serious minds of the team. She looks up to Wolverine like a father, and over the course of the comics becomes an integral part of the group. Things are always more fun when Jubilee is around.

Marvel Studios has had a pretty great streak when it comes to casting comedians as the leads in their superhero films. Both Chris Pratt (Star Lord) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) seemed like unlikely choices at the time they were cast, but Marvel’s writers displayed an uncanny knack for balancing material that allowed the actors to explore their emotional range while still leaving room for comedic relief and improvisation, and now Rudd and Pratt are some of the biggest stars of the MCU.

I think the same sort of treatment could work for Jubilee. Best known for comedies like Jumanji: The Next Level and her show Nora from Queens, Awkwafina has a comedic knack that could bring so much fun into the X-Men movies. Which is exactly what Jubilee would want, right?

Sure, malls aren’t the teenage hotspot they were back when Jubilee was first created, but Marvel can always update that part.