Marvel Keeps Putting Jesus Christ In Comic Books And Some Versions Are Really Wild
Marvel Comics' version of Jesus Christ has some incredible powers, which makes sense since he was revealed to be a mutant with resurrection abilities.
In "Immortal X-Men" #1 (by Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles), the Quiet Council of Krakoa, the governing body of Marvel's mutant paradise, votes for a new member to join the court following Magneto's resignation. After speaking with several candidates, including Vulcan, Beast, and Angel, the ancient mutant Exodus, whose origins date back to the 12th century, suggests Hope Summers take the spot. Impressed with Hope's role in bringing fallen mutants back to life, Exodus compares her resurrections to those performed by the "Nazarene Mutant."
"The Nazarene Mutant inspired a church among the humans by raising a couple from the dead," Exodus tells Hope. "I just watched you beat that in the last five minutes." With a simple remark, Exodus not only confirms that Jesus Christ is a mutant in the Marvel Universe, but that he has the power to bring the dead back to life. Now, it's important to mention Exodus is a mutant zealot, so the comments should be taken with a grain of salt. However, while Jesus' physical form hasn't been introduced, confirming he's a mutant with the potentially gruesome power to raise the dead is a major reveal.
Jesus' potential powers line up with other Marvel heroes
If Exodus' words are to be believed and Jesus Christ really was a mutant with deaf-defying powers, he shares his abilities with several other powerful characters in the Marvel Universe.
Over the decades, readers have seen a number of heroes — not including those involved in the X-Men's resurrection protocols — resurrect others with their incredible powers. For example, Franklin Richards once teamed up with his sister Valeria to bring Galactus back from the dead in "Fantastic Four" #49 (by Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Martin, Jeph Loeb, Jesus Merino, Liquid!, Richard Starkings, and Albert Descesne) in order to stop the villain Abraxas from wiping out the entire universe. Layla Miller from "X-Factor" (by Peter David, Emanuela Lupacchino, Guillermo Ortega, Matt Milla, and Cory Petit) also has resurrection-based powers, once bringing her teammate Strong Guy back to life — but they come with the unfortunate catch of whoever she revives returning without a soul. Most recently, in Marvel's "Eternals" (by Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribic, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles), it was revealed the Eternals' resurrections come at a significant cost. Each time one of them returned to life with their memories intact, a process used for thousands of years, it cost the life of one random person on Earth — a shocking explanation that put the morality of being Eternal in question.
The Nazarene Mutant implied to be Jesus Christ appears to have had his own resurrection powers, which may help explain how the religious figure raised the dead in the Bible. Exodus' remarks also suggest the X-Men's resurrection capabilities may have existed well before the start of the Krakoan Age.
Marvel's Jesus has been around for a while
Jesus Christ's first Marvel Comics appearance had nothing to do with the X-Men or the Marvel Universe. Instead, it came in 1953's "Bible Tales for Young Folk" (by Joe Sinnott and Artie Simek) in a story titled "The Nativity: The Birth of Jesus," a direct Biblical retelling of Jesus' conception and birth. Since then, Jesus Christ has appeared in several Marvel Comics' adventures that don't adapt parts of the Bible.
In "Thor" #293 (by Roy Thomas, Keith Pollard, Chic Stone, Joe Rosen, and Carl Gafford), The Eye of Odin shows Thor the past and present, which includes the God of Thunder seeing the birth of Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years previously. In "Howard the Duck" #6 (by Steve Gerber, Phil Winslade, Chris Chuckry, and Richard Starkings), the titular hero has a drink with Jesus Christ in Hell, where he asks the Son of God some big questions about religion and existence. There have also been other examples hinting at Jesus Christ existing in the Marvel Universe, with a character referred to simply as A Friend appearing in the original run of "Ghost Rider" (by Tony Isabella and Jim Mooney). However, it turned out that Mephisto created A Friend as part of a deception to trick Johnny Blaze into believing the demonic lord was actually Satan.
For the most part, Marvel has tiptoed around the taboo subject of religion, generally suggesting Jesus does exist, but without explicitly making him a full-fledged character, such as his mention as a mutant capable of resurrection in "Immortal X-Men." It's probably best if Marvel avoids controversy and keeps Jesus Christ as a hidden figure while using in-universe folklore to allude to who he might actually be.