As the MCU introduces a new generation of viewers to the X-Men, there’s a lot of pressure on these new characters to pull Marvel out of its recent slump. The first step towards introducing this new set of characters will come later this year with Deadpool and Wolverine, which will bridge the gap between the Fox era of X-Men movies and the MCU. However, if the new version of the X-Men is going to succeed, they’ll need to focus on new, less established characters. The perfect candidate to focus on is Kitty Pryde.

Kitty Pryde Is Perfect For Marvel

Kitty Pryde was introduced to the comics in Uncanny X-Men #129 back in 1980 during the legendary Chris Clermont and John Byrne run.

Initially introduced as a point-of-view character for the audience, a young new student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Kitty Pryde, instantly became a popular character. She has remained a popular character since then.

The Heart Of Uncanny X-Men

In addition to being the point of view character for the audience to connect with, Kitty Pryde was often the beating heart of Uncanny X-Men during Clermont’s run.

As a young student, new to the mutant experience, she was the perfect character to explore the central oppression metaphor of X-Men. As the MCU must reintroduce these concepts and the X-Men as a concept, Kitty is the perfect character to focus on.

Can Slot Into Any Story

Even setting aside her popularity, Kitty Pryde is the perfect character to focus on for the new version of the X-Men due to the vast array of plot lines and versions to choose from.

With over four decades worth of character development Kitty Pryde has existed in many different genres and tones.

Over the years, she’s been a ninja, teacher, spaceship captain, and pirate, making a great character to fit into any story Marvel needs to slot an X-Men character into.

Light-Hearted Sense Of Humor

Kitty Pryde is also a great fit for the MCU in terms of personality. The Marvel formula has been criticized for forcing serious characters to be overly quippy.

However, a light-hearted sense of humor is a built-in part of Kitty’s character, making her fit alongside characters like Spider-Man and Star-Lord.

She’s a much more natural fit for the MCU than edgy characters like Wolverine.

Elliot Page Played Kitty Pryde

Deadpool and Wolverine are great characters but they’ve both appeared in several movies, Kitty Pryde offers audiences a fresh new character to experience. While Kitty Pryde did appear in the Fox era played by Elliot Page, the character was never treated as anything more than a background character. Even when Fox adapted Days of Future Past, one of Kitty Pryde’s most iconic comic book stories, they replaced her role in the story with Wolverine.

X-Men Feeling Fresh

It’s great that Marvel has characters people already love to help integrate the X-Men into the MCU. But if they’re going to find success they’ll need to find new X-Men characters and stories for people to connect to.

Kitty Pryde is the perfect character for the MCU to focus on to set their version of the X-Men apart from previous versions. It would help the MCU X-Men feel new and fresh which will help revitalize the MCU.