The Inhumans are another Marvel property that will get a movie
in a few years. I’m not sure how many non-comics readers have heard of them
since they were never really A-listers.
The Inhumans are a genetically altered subculture that first
appeared in the Fantastic Four in the
‘60s. Although basically human, they acquire superpowers when exposed to the
Terrigen Mist. The group lived for centuries in the city of Attilan in the
Himalayas. After the Inhumans began to suffer the effects of Earth’s pollution,
Reed Richards helped them move Attilan to the blue area of the moon, a lunar
area with a breathable atmosphere that is home to the Watcher and was the place
where Dark Phoenix disintegrated herself.
The king of the royal family of the Inhumans is Black Bolt.
His voice is so powerful that one whisper from him could shatter mountains, so
he is silent except in very rare circumstances. His great rival for the throne
has been his brother, Maximus the Mad. Black Bolt has been one of the great
leaders of the Marvel Universe and is now part of the Illuminati.
The queen is Medusa, a woman with long red hair that she can
manipulate as if the strands were hands. She has served as a member of the
Fantastic Four when the Invisible Girl was on maternity leave.
Another member of the family is Crystal, who has the ability
to control the four basic elements of earth, wind, water and fire. She also
served briefly on the Fantastic Four and was an Avenger. She has had relationships
with the Human Torch and the Sentry and I believe had an affair with the Black
Knight. Crystal was also married to Quicksilver (making her part of the
convoluted Maximoff/Lehnsherr family tree) and they had a child, Luna. In a
twist, Luna was that rare Marvel Universe child of superheroes who was born a
normal human with no powers. The marriage was later annulled.
The other main Inhuman members are the amphibious Triton;
Karnak, who can detect the one flaw in an object and then use that knowledge to
destroy the object; and the superhumanly strong Gorgon. Last but certainly not
least is the royal family’s dog, the beloved Lockjaw. He is a massive dog with
a tuning fork on his head that allows him to teleport several Inhumans at a
time. He has served as a member of the Pet Avengers. You heard me right: the
Pet Avengers.
The Inhumans played a major role in the great miniseries Earth X, which was a look at one of the
Marvel Universe’s possible distant futures. In the story, everyone on Earth
received superpowers due to the Terrigen Mist’s release to the general
populace. Black Bolt sacrificed his life to call Galactus (not actually
Galactus but a vastly powerful Franklin Richards believing himself to be
Galactus) to stop the Celestials from birthing the Celestial embryo in the
Earth’s core. It was a pretty involved plot.
There is speculation that Skye from Agents of SHIELD is an Inhuman and her father is Maximus the Mad.
There is also speculation that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch will be Inhumans
instead of mutants because all mention of mutants in the Marvel Studios movies
is verboten. Since the Terrigen Mist is a common origin for superpowers like
mutation, that’s a good way to get around the tangle of rights issues.
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