- "The Void is a paradise. I can wield my power here without shame. Unfortunately, I didn't have Charles Xavier to teach me tenderness."
- ―Cassandra Nova to Deadpool and Wolverine[src]
Cassandra Nova Xavier was an Omega-level mutant and the twin sister of Charles Xavier. Being banished to the Void by the Time Variance Authority, Nova took a liking to it and gained permission to run her operations there as she pleased, building an armed community of survivors. Nova came into conflict with freshly pruned Deadpool and Wolverine who were trying to get home, while Nova had no intention to let them out. When the Resistance successfully disrupted her operations, Nova was betrayed and almost killed by Pyro but Deadpool and Wolverine helped her survive, so she got them out of the Void. Realizing that the TVA and Paradox broke their agreement, Nova followed them out of the Void, intending to use the Time Ripper and eradicate all the realities in the multiverse besides the Void. Her plan failed, and Nova was atomized by the energy of the Time Ripper when Deadpool and Wolverine overloaded it.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Banished to the Void[]
Cassandra Nova was born as a twin sister of Charles Xavier, trying to strangle him with her umbilical cord while they both were still in a womb. Her existance was deemed unacceptable by the Time Variance Authority, so they pruned her before she could learn how to walk, sending her to the Void. Unlike most of the Void inhabitants, Nova took a liking to her new place of living, as she could use her extraordinary powers without any restraint or shame. She rapidly became one of the most formidable entities in the Void, with the only comparable power being the more beastly Alioth, while building a community of other Void survivors, based in Giant-Man's corpse.
Nova's reign over the Void was not without pushback, as some survivors refused to be her slaves and formed the Resistance to overthrow her. However, each and every attempt to take Nova down only resulted in loss and casualties, with Nova personally killing Magneto and destroying his helmet that could withstand her psychic powers. At some point, Nova killed Doctor Strange who was present at the Void, wore his skin for several days, and obtained his Sling Ring that gave her the ability to leave the Void if she wished so. She would be later be approached by Paradox from the TVA, who offered to let her deal with the variants in the Void however she wanted, so that TVA could keep Nova at bay.[1]
Conflict with Deadpool & Wolverine[]
To be added
Personality[]
Cassandra Nova is characterized by a blend of mischievousness, courtesy, and unpredictability. Johnny Storm describes her as dangerously insane, with megalomaniacal and psychopathic tendencies. Cold and manipulative, she thrives on making life difficult for others. Her early denial of existence and upbringing in a lawless, chaotic environment have instilled in her a deep-seated malice and resentment towards the TVA. Unlike Professor X’s measured demeanor, she is playful and carefree in speech, but her actions are deeply malevolent. Notably, she killed the Human Torch after he insulted her, remained indifferent to her subordinates' fates, and feeds innocent survivors in the Void to Alioth to keep her safe. These actions in cold-blood reflect her fundamental neglect in the lives of others. She also exhibited streaks of insanity, as she laughed manically when she was stabbed in the back by Wolverine during their first encounter, and even when her life was at risk, being shot by Pyro multiple times while her powers were nullified by Juggernaut's helmet, she still laughed and threatened to kill Deadpool and Wolverine even if they saved her. Cassandra's mischievousness was exhibited in her use of telekinesis in which she not only subdues her enemies, but plays with them by controlling their body parts and torturing them both physically and mentally. Cassandra hated the fact that her mind-reading abilities have to be activated by direct physical contact with the enthralled's brain, having to reaching beneath the skin to do so, while Charles Xavier could do so with a thought alone. She had developed a hatred towards this skill as she was forced to read into the darkest secrets of others, some that profoundly disgust her. Although she speaks in a reassuring tone, this should not be mistaken as friendliness as she hides her violent inclinations behind her harmless front.
Cassandra's chaotic upbringing has led her to seek stability and control. She exhibited authoritarian tendencies, was highly intolerant of betrayal, and responded to threats to the stability of her rule with extreme cruelty. After years of management, she had become the de facto leader of the Void, with her crew of pruned villains and the Deadpool Corps working for her. Her vow to destroy all universes, leaving only the Void for her rule, reflects her vengefulness and lack of empathy, particularly in response to Pyro and Paradox's betrayal. Her sadistic nature is evident in her violent actions, such as peeling off Storm's skin, killing a variant of Doctor Strange and wearing his skin for days, and violently breaking Pyro's neck. After realizing Paradox's betrayal of their mutual agreement, Cassandra immediately decided to take over the Time Ripper and destroy all timelines as retribution for Paradox's actions.
Despite her cruelty, Cassandra displays a vulnerable side. When entering Wolverine's mind, she appears genuinely moved by his pain and loss, attempting to convince him to join her by promising to alleviate his suffering and offer him a place in the Void. This is because Cassandra herself also had been through a similar situation. Having grown up alone without the love of family, she found that she could do whatever she wanted in the Void, where she sees as a paradise of freedom. Hence she suggested this Wolverine, who also lost everything, to embrace his beastly self. Cassandra also harbors an inferiority complex and sibling rivalry towards Professor X, having killed several of his variants and stolen one of their wheelchairs. She believes Professor X from her reality never pursued her out of indifference, though he was unaware of her existence. Later, when Wolverine saves her life and appeals to her heart, stating that Professor X would have done everything possible to bring her home had he known of her, Cassandra agrees to return them to their universe, reflecting that despite all she has done to the variants of her twin brother, she craves this sibling love deep down.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Mutant Physiology: Cassandra Nova was an Omega-level Mutant as well as the twin sister of the powerful telepath Charles Xavier. Hence, she possesses powers similar to that of Xavier.
- Psionics: To be added
- Telekinesis: Cassandra has the ability to move things with her mind, as shown when she telekinetically controlled Wolverine's body and easily skinned Johnny Storm, killing him
- Telekinetic Regeneration: Due to her advanced telekinetic capabilities, Cassandra can endure and regenerate from fatal injuries with ease, this ability allows her to survive most encounters with Resistance heroes who attempted to defeat her. However, this regeneration ability is limited, as she loses this ability, along with her other telekinetic-based ones, when she is under influence of a mind-nullifying object, such as Magneto’s helmet or Juggernaut’s.
- Tactile Telepathy: To be added
- Mental Manipulation: To be added
- Telekinesis: Cassandra has the ability to move things with her mind, as shown when she telekinetically controlled Wolverine's body and easily skinned Johnny Storm, killing him
- Psionics: To be added
- Magic: After killing an alternate Doctor Strange who was banished into the Void, Cassandra Nova keeps his Sling Ring which grants her several magic powers, including the ability to conjure Inter-Dimensional Portals at ease.
- Eldritch Magic: To be added
- Portal Creation: Cassandra had a Sling Ring, able to create sustained portals between two points on the planet and transport others to another dimension, and later retrieve them.
- Eldritch Magic: To be added
Abilities[]
- Master Tactician: To be added
Equipment[]
- Sling Ring: Cassandra Nova uses a Sling Ring, with the Reality Stone and the Time Stone embedded in each side of the Ring. This artifact belonged to an alternate Doctor Strange who was murdered by Cassandra. She used the Sling Ring to transport Deadpool and Wolverine to Deadpool’s universe, and later to bring herself and the Deadpool Corps to confront Paradox.
Vehicles[]
- Charles Xavier's Wheelchair: To be added
Relationships[]
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Cassandra Nova is the twin sister of Charles Xavier and enemy of the X-Men, who is most famous for orchestrating the genocide on Genosha, killing more than fifteen million mutant residents with a rogue Sentinel.
- In X-Men: The Last Stand, Charles was revealed to have a brain-dead twin brother named P. Xavier, whose body he inhabited to escape death at the hands of the Dark Phoenix. This would make him a male variant of Cassandra Nova, much like how Sylvie Laufeydottir is a female variant of Loki.
- She is the fifth female main antagonist in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, following Hela, Ghost, Scarlet Witch, and Dar-Benn.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Emma Corrin's casting as Cassandra Nova was because Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy saw them in a performance of Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography stage play in 2022, with Corrin accepting the role as they were interested in playing a villain.[2]
- Marvel Studios eyed Emma Corrin to play Cassandra Nova since late 2022 around Christmas, but had to work out their busy schedule to make sure they could fully commit to the role, settling any arrangements around early February 2023.[3]
- Emma Corrin was praised by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman for being like "a skin-covered Swiss Army knife" to work with and their ability to "subtly change-to turn on a dime" with an effortlessness while portraying Cassandra Nova, with Reynolds feeling that Corrin brought a Gene Wilder-type of energy to Nova, made her motivations easier to understand and humanized her dialogue by inspiring themself on Christopher Waltz's Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds.[4]
