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It’s an uncanny truism of the Marvel Universe that no character exists in isolation. Instead, each is eternally bound by a cosmic interplay of relationships, rivalries, and revelations. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a fantastic job of adapting these connections to the silver screen, there’s a particular thread that has yet to be pulled. Once tugged, this thread could unravel a whole new narrative of how the X-Men’s Rogue got her powers and what that power has do with Ms. Marvel.

For the uninitiated, Rogue is an integral part of the X-Men team. Most of us remember her as the invulnerable, energy-draining, Gambit-smitten heroine from 1992’s X-Men: The Animated Series. However, before she became a hero whose legacy is basically set in stone now, Rogue actually made her debut in the X-Men comics as a villainous character in 1981’s Avengers Annual #10, where she fought Carol Danvers — also known as Ms. Marvel at the time — and stole her powers. So, basically, all of Rogue’s powers we came to know and love in The Animated Series weren’t as in-born as one would initially think. 

For those who aren’t that familiar with comic book history, Rogue’s innate power is to absorb the memories, abilities, and life force of anyone she touches. Though it sounds cool, given the potential to become the ultimate, omni-versal mutant, these powers led Rogue down a tragic path of fear and isolation that has become central to her character. It’s actually this very ability that set the stage for a dramatic encounter with Carol Danvers that would forever change the course of both their lives.

1981’s Avengers Annual #10 opens up with a scene in which Carol Danvers, acting as Ms. Marvel at the time — instead of her usual Captain Marvel moniker — falls off the Golden Gate Bridge. This is of course odd for an overpowered superhero with superhuman strength, speed, and the power of flight, who could easily take and dish out a headbutt to Thanos himself in the films. Headbutt narratives aside, the altercation between Rouge and Danvers led to the birth of one of the coolest X-Men ever.

With help from Professor X, it was revealed that Carol was completely stripped of her powers. Her memories, at least most of them, were also gone. Later in that issue, we see Rogue overpowering the entire Avengers team singlehandedly thanks to the superhuman durability, power, speed, and complete tactical knowledge of the entire team’s fighting capabilities — courtesy of the powers and know-how she absorbed from her battle with Ms. Marvel in the opening of the comic book issue.

But Rogue’s actual attack and confrontation with Ms. Marvel wasn’t actually seen in this issue. The actual event was revealed more than a decade later in 1992’s Marvel Superheroes #11, an issue in which, after a series of events, Rogue confronts Ms. Marvel outside the latter’s apartment in San Francisco. Needless to say, Ms. Marvel overpowered Rogue by taking the battle to the sky over the Golden Gate Bridge. In a desperate situation, and on the verge of a very far plummet, Rogue was forced to touch Danvers, ungloved, which activated her mutant draining abilities.

However, being inexperienced with the use of her power, her draining touch lingered too long on Ms. Marvel, resulting in a permanent transfer of her superhuman strength, endurance, and flight. Unfortunately, she also absorbed Carol’s memories. This admittedly gave her a massive tactical advantage but also a massive amount of guilt and personhood trauma for robbing Carol of her life’s essence, leaving Ms. Marvel with nothing else but a devious after-image of Rogue stamped inside her mind.

It’s precisely this story line that presents a narrative goldmine the MCU has yet to plunder. 2019’s introduction of Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, along with the imminent arrival of the X-Men to the MCU, provide a perfect narrative crash trajectory to dive deeper into the shared trauma, guilt, and redemption that defines the relationship between Rogue and Ms. Marvel. There’s truly limitless potential here. The MCU is quite good at making complex and tragic origin stories, with superheroes coping with their destructive powers and learning how to overcome their barriers and become forces for good.

This could very well tie into a cinematic trilogy, with the first movie being Rogue’s origin story, her struggles with her destructive powers, her eventual run-in with Ms. Marvel, and the fateful altercation which changed their lives and intertwined their fates forever. A follow-up could explore Carol’s struggle, memory loss, journey of acceptance, and her eventual rise as Binary and then her rise again as Captain Marvel, whom we already met in her own movie.

The last movie could be a shared storyline in which the two super-heroines battle with guilt, resentment, acceptance, and forgiveness before teaming up to address a common threat. It would really be a miss for the MCU not to explore this relationship, especially when we consider just how deeply rooted it is in Marvel’s history. The potential for powerful storytelling is there, and fans would be clamoring to theater seats if Kevin Feige and other creatives behind the MCU were to harness that potential.

In the end, the Rogue/Ms. Marvel relationship is one of those interconnections that is born from an intimate narratives that makes the Marvel Universe so very human, green rage monsters and techno dem-gods aside. It would be a shame for the MCU to miss out on the opportunity to give the true backstory on how Rogue becomes, well, Rogue.