Willie Evans Jr. occupies an interesting corner of Marvel history because he was part of the original concept that eventually grew into The New Mutants. Willie was intended to be a member of a new generation of X-Men alongside characters like Kitty Pryde and Caliban. Byrne pitched the idea of an “X-Men in training” team to Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. He reportedly rejected it, feeling it was too similar to DC’s Legion of Substitute Heroes. Although that version of the project never moved forward, the core idea survived. A few years later, Chris Claremont reworked the concept and successfully launched
The New Mutants in 1982…minus Willie. Judging from his appearance in X-Men: Elsewhen, it seems Byrne still has a fondness for Willie, finally giving the character another chance to be part of the story decades after his original debut was shelved and kicked to the curb. Because Elsewhen branches off early in X-Men history, it effectively erases Willie’s 1986 death from Iron Man Annual #8, giving him a clean slate.
@black.chronicles The Most Powerful Black Marvel Mutant You Never Heard Of — Willie Evans Jr. Willie Evans Jr. is one of the most powerful Marvel mutants ever introduced in comics and almost nobody knows his name. This is a black marvel characters deep dive into a forgotten marvel character buried in a 1986 Iron Man annual that most people have never opened. Willie was a Black child from Earth-616 mainstream Marvel whose psionic abilities placed him in the same power tier as Franklin Richards and Molecule Man. He created fully functioning duplicates of the Fantastic Four while in a coma. He sculpted living clones of the entire X-Factor team out of stone. Instantly. His power was fueled by childhood trauma — his repressed emotions manifested into a physical entity called Grunt that walked through the world causing chaos. Reed Richards begged his parents to get him help. They refused. Project Pegasus abducted him. When his dark side broke free he burned through his entire life force to save his father. He died in his father’s arms. Marvel mutants with this level of power don’t get erased by accident. Willie Evans Jr. is a black superhero characters story that the comics industry left behind. Now you know his name. Subscribe to keep the lore alive. #blacksuperheroes #marvelmutants #comictok #marvelcomics #superheroes
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