One of Marvel's most important mutants in recent years has been Hope Summers. Some see her as the mutant messiah. Others believed she was meant to bring about the end of the world. These disputes and many others have led there to be many questions about Hope's nature.
In order to fully understand the X-Men's history, you need to know everything about Hope Summers. Her birth and subsequent life greatly influenced all of mutant-kind. Here are ten lingering questions fans have about Hope Summers, finally answered.
10 10. How Did She Age So Fast?
During the events of the Messiah Complex, Hope is a baby. Several competing forces are fighting to get their hands on her throughout the story. In later appearances, set not too long after the events of Messiah Complex, Hope appears as a teenager.
Some fans are puzzled as to how Hope aged so quickly but the answer is rather simple. Cable had adopted Hope and taken her into the future to raise her. By the time she returns to the present, Hope had spent several years growing up in the future. As a teenager she had been well trained in combat by her father, Cable, making her a valuable member of the X-Men.
9 9. Who Are Hope's Parents?
There are many mysteries revolving around Hope Summers' origins. The most important of these is who her parents are. While it has yet to be revealed who Hope's biological father is, she was able to discover the identity of her mother.
Louise Spalding gave birth to Hope in Cooperstown, Alaska. She was a strong, independent, red-headed woman who worked for the local fire department. Upon their discovery of the hospital Hope was born in, the Purifiers moved in and murdered everyone inside. Unfortunately, among their victims was Louise.
8 8. How Did She Get Her Name?
Hope has quite an appropriate name, given that she was the first mutant to be born following the events of M-Day. But this actually wasn't why she got her name.
After Cable took the mutant child to the future, his time machine was damaged leaving him stranded in a particular moment in the future city of New Liberty. While their, Cable met and married a woman named Hope. This woman helped Cable raise his child. After she was killed, Cable decided to name the child Hope Summers in her honor.
7 7. How Powerful Is Hope?
Hope is an Omega-level mutant. Prophesized by some to by the destroyer of Earth, it is clear that given her mutant powers this is actually a realistic possibility. Having the ability to copy any other mutants powers can lead to some extremely dangerous power combinations flowing within Hope's body.
She has used these powers to defeat incredibly strong enemies such as Bastion, as well as entire armies of opponents. There seems to be no limits to her powers, especially when there are many mutants nearby.
6 6. Why Does Bishop Want Her Dead?
While Cable believed that Hope was a messiah meant to save all of mutant and humankind, there were others who believed the exact opposite. Bishop was the most notable of these critics. Believing that Hope would become an antichrist responsible for millions of deaths, Bishop set out to murder Hope.
In Bishop's timeline, mutants are under persecution worse than ever before. He believes this is because Hope, after becoming evil, was responsible for murdering a million humans in six minutes.
5 5. Why Is Hope Called The Mutant Messiah?
Is Hope Summers the messiah that Cable spoke about? Will she be responsible for saving all of human and mutant-kind? During her time with the X-Men, she has stopped many incredible threats, but it's hard to say she's any sort of unique messiah.
In the years to come, she will have many more chances to prove worthy of such lofty expectations. Given her great power, it's likely she has the ability to save the planet from incredibly dangerous, world-ending events.
4 4. What Are "The Lights?"
Hope wasn't the only mutant to appear after M-Day. After returning from the future, Hope learned of several other new mutants that also began exhibiting their abilities after Scarlet Witch uttered those famous words, "no more mutants."
Feeling responsible for their safety and development, Hope visited and recruited many of these mutants, called lights, onto her own team of X-Men. She hopes to lead this team in order to build a better future for all of mutant-kind, and live up to her namesake.
3 3. How Did She Cause Avengers vs X-Men?
Hope was actually the catalyst that started the events of Avengers vs X-Men. After exhibiting a strong connection to the Phoenix Force, it became clear that Hope was more than capable of fulfilling the prophecy that Bishop was so scared of.
This caused a rift between the Avengers and some members of the X-Men. While the X-Men sought to allow the Phoenix Force to possess her, the Avengers wanted to take her in and make sure she isn't corrupted by its vast power.
2 2. What Was Hope's Connection To Spider-Man?
When Hope found herself in the magical city of K'un-Lun, she was given a brand new prophecy. Apparently Hope was destined to be trained by Spider-Man himself. Upon learning this news, Spider-Man was baffled. He had no idea what he was supposed to be teaching the young mutant.
This frustrated Hope and made her doubt Spider-Man had anything of worth to say. He then told her about his origins, and the famous quote his Uncle Ben had always told him, "With great power comes great responsibility." Those words really resonated with Hope and helped her realize why she needed Spidey's advice.
1 1. What Are Hope's Powers?
Hope has several abilities. The most notable of these is her power to duplicate the abilities of any other mutant. The only catch is she needs to be in close proximity to a mutant in order to use his/her ability.
Another interesting ability that Hope possesses was revealed when she began recruiting the Lights. These new "Lights" all displayed incredibly dangerous, unstable mutant powers. Upon physical contact with Hope, they were suddenly able to control themselves. There's no telling what other powers Hope may discover in the future.