Jubilation Lee, aka Jubilee, first appeared in the pages of Marvel’s comics in 1989,
created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri, debuting in Uncanny X-Men issue 244.
An orphaned mutant from Beverly Hills who had become a mall rat, she would join up with
the X-Men, becoming the youngest member of the team, and often acting as a sidekick of
sorts to Wolverine.
She’s also a character that, if you don’t know much about her, can be a little confusing
on the super power front.
It’s not as simple as ‘she shoots fireworks’ out of her hands (they’re not actually fireworks,
might I add).
So today, we’re breaking down the powers that Jubilee has, and the powers she USED
TO have with our list of the top 10 superpowers you didn’t know Jubilee had.
Let’s get to it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(comics)#Powers_and_abilities
10 Pyrotechnic Energy Blasts Let’s start off with the power that we all
know Jubilee has, but actually explain it (since she’s often considered to be a character
whose powers are confusing).
Jubilee’s ‘firework’ power is actually something called pyrotechnic (or lumikinetic)
energy blasts.
The blasts are called plasmoids, and they come from her hands, obeying her mental control
and travelling where she directs them.
She can arrange them into various shapes, and cause them to explode at will.
They vary in terms of intensity; they can temporarily blind a person, smash objects,
and, with precision, can burst inside of a human brain which simulates a stroke.
9 Absorb Energy This one riffs off of our last number.
Jubilee can absorb the energy from her pyrotechnic blasts.
She’s capable of absorbing the blasts back into her own body without causing herself
any harm.
This ability doesn’t extend to other energy blasts though; it’s only her own plasmoids
that she can control in this way.
Still, pretty nifty trick to have up your sleeve.
While we’re on the topic, let’s dive into our next number-
8 Explosively charge objects Emma Frost once described Jubilee as having
a very powerful untapped ability that riffs off of what she can do with her pyrotechnic
blasts.
Jubilee is able to detonate her plasmoids at will, causing explosions strong enough
to destroy property.
In X-Men volume 2 issue 36 from 1994, Frost speculated that based on what Jubilee had
already exhibited, she could potentially take that one step further, detonating matter at
a subatomic level, which would be the equivalent of detonating a nuclear fusion bomb.
That’s an immense amount of power Jubilee would prefer not to tap into though; during
the Acts of Vengeance storyline in Uncanny X-Men, Jubilee caused a massive explosion
that destroyed the Mandarin’s mansion when she was experiencing grief over Wolverine’s
alleged death.
She fears killing someone if her powers were to flare up like that again.
Other alternate versions of Jubilee don’t have the same issues with their morality though;
the Age of Apocalypse Jubilee made full use of her powers, detonating clothing of foes
on a molecular level to cause fatal explosions.
She even blows up a Shi’ar ship all on her own in Gambit and the X-Ternals issue 1.
7 Wondra After M-Day and the House of M event, Jubilee
was completely depowered.
She became rather depressed because of his, and attempted several different jobs before
she found her way back onto a superhero team, this time, the New Warriors; a version of
the team made up depowered mutants.
New team, new persona!
Jubilee would adopt the name Wondra, using advanced tech she got from Night Thrasher
in order to give her an upper hand (and superhuman strength).
This upgrade let Jubilee/Wondra lift the engine of a freight train over her head.
She also had tech that allowed her to fly via hover discs, letting her travel at 100
miles per hour and still breathe normally.
6 Force Fields One of the other abilities her new Wondra
tech gave her was the power to create Force Fields.
Specifically, her suit gave her the ability to create Force Fields.
The gloves on her Wondra suit generate a powerful electromagnetic field around her, and within
this force field, she is incredibly resistant to physical injury.
The force fields could withstand extreme temperatures, high caliber bullets, energy blasts and much
more.
5 Ghost Mode A little more on that Wondra tech at this
number!
Jubilee’s suit had something called ghost mode (or, at least, something she referred
to as ghost mode).
This mode allows her to render herself intangible, not dissimilar to Kitty Pryde’s mutant ability.
Jubilee can pass through any object or substance without being hurt, making her practically
untouchable when this mode is activated.
Apparently, it was added to her suit as an emergency escape function if she ever needed
to get away when in a bind.
Jubilee would eventually leave the New Warriors when she discovered that Night Thrasher has
ulterior motives, thus ditching the suit.
But fret not, she would soon be given a new set of powers, which we’ll get to shortly
later on in our list.
4 Olympic level gymnast Similar to many other X-Men members, Jubilee
has developed skills from training outside of her mutant power set.
In Generation X issue 24, we learn that her skill in gymnastics is really above and beyond
the average fit superhero.
She actually qualified for the Olympic Games prior to her parents’ murders.
She also learned a lot about hand-to-hand combat from her pal Wolverine.
3 Evade Telepathic Detection In Jubilee’s earlier comic appearances,
she depicted an immunity to telepathy.
In Generation X issue 27 and 28 from 1997, Jubilee used this ability to hide from the
mental probes of Sentinels and from telepathic scans.
Unfortunately, this skill set would be abandoned by creative teams later on.
These are sometimes referred to as psionic shields; a natural defense of hers that render
her mind “slippery” and therefore somewhat invisible to telepathy users unless they know
exactly what to scan for.
2 She was a Vampire Back in 2011, Jubilee was transformed into
a vampire.
If you’re scratching your head and wondering how the hell that happened, well, yes, it
was thanks to a bit of a convoluted story arc in which Dracula’s son Xarus turned
her, and was the result of her being depowered thanks to the House of M event.
This means she had all of the abilities that vampires in the Marvel universe generally
have; we’re talking superhuman strength, speed, and an accelerated healing factor.
Oh, and immortality of course.
Can’t forget that one.
1 Turn into Vapor This is another ability of Jubilee’s that
she picked up thanks to her vampire transformation.
She can turn into vapor on command.
Ah those tricky vampires!
Technically, it’s called mist mimcry.
These days, this isn’t a move she can pull off anymore.
Her regular powers were restored though in 2018, in Generation X issue 86, after a foe
ripped off the amulet that allowed her to walk around in the daylight, and Quentin Quire
ended up saving her and using his Phoenix Force powers to restore her back to what she
originally was pre-vamp days.