Summary

• In an interview with AIPT, the senior editor for Marvel's X-Men line, Jordan D. White, answers a series of fan questions.
• White confirms that multiple mutants can be considered Omega-level even if they have the same power - Jean Grey and Quentin Quire are both Omega telepaths.
• White also confirms that mutants like Polaris can become Omega with training, but its the logic falls apart with powers like Wolverine's claws.

In X-Men lore, few topics cause more disagreement among fans than the 'Omega Level' label. In its simplest form, the term describes the world's most powerful mutants - those who command the fundamental forces of nature or can warp reality itself. However, the term's inconsistent use has added a lot of wrinkles, with Marvel spending the 2019-2024 'Krakoan Era' establishing a different, more technical meaning of the term (something that has come with its own attendant debates.) Now, a senior editor at Marvel has clarified multiple points that were yet to be settled.

In an interview with Jean Grey and Quentin Quire to both be considered Omega-Level telepaths. The fans argue that only one Omega can exist within a given power set. However, White disagrees.

White states that while the current definition of 'Omega level' means that a mutant's powers must reach the theoretical maximum limits of that ability, multiple people can achieve this at the same time. In just one of several revealing answers, White states:

I don’t believe there’s anything in the definition that says there can be only one. It just means that Quentin and Jean have the same upper limit, which is the highest upper limit that there could possibly be.

Prior to 2019, 'Omega Level' was generally taken to refer to the most powerful mutants in canon, but that's no longer the case...

X-Men's Senior Editor Confirms The Same Power Can Have Multiple Omegas

Omega Level Is Assigned In Respect To Your Powers, Not Your Competition

Prior to 2019, 'Omega Level' was generally taken to refer to the most powerful mutants in canon, though there were suggestions of other uses, such as mutants whose powers have no limit (for example, Omega healers like Joshua Foley's Elixir can heal everything up to and including death, while lesser healers can only fix broken bones) or had been developed to their optimum level. These shifting definitions were confusing for fans, with major heroes gaining or losing Omega status based on the creative team and many inherent 'rules' of this concept unclear - for example, is a mutant power inherently Omega level, or can a mutant reach Omega level via training?

In 2019's House of X #1, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles settled a new definition. According to Krakoa - a mutant society where all heroes and villains were considered citizens - an Omega-level mutant is "a mutant whose dominant power is deemed to - or reach - an undefinable upper limit of that power's specific classification." Essentially, 'Omega' no longer meant 'more powerful than almost all other mutants,' but instead 'could not be more powerful in respect to their specific ability.' For example, there is no kind of energy that Omega-level energy manipulator Vulcan can't harness, and no superpower that Omega-level power manifester Legion can't produce.

This new definition had advantages and disadvantages. For once, fans had a solid definition and an authoritative list of who it applied to. The idea of Omega-level also remained consistent no matter which characters were around or what they could do - the description makes it clear that even if you're the most powerful mutant with one kind of ability, you're not an Omega unless you could not even theoretically be more powerful. The new rules also clarified that 'Omega-level' refers to one specific power set - Jean Grey is both telekinetic and telepathic, but only an Omega-level telepath.

However, the idea of a 'theoretical upper limit' was also somewhat flimsy, making it hard to judge who could be considered Omega without Marvel officially crowning them. Likewise, creative teams were now expected to consider Omega-level mutants as capable of any and every feat within their theoretical wheelhouse - a far taller order than simply treating them as more powerful than other mutants. Confusion also arose over some wording. For example, Hickman points out that while the mutant inventor Forge is the most powerful mutant when it comes to technopathy, he is not Omega because he doesn't reach a theoretical upper limit, using Tony Stark as an example that there are people out there who prove there's a higher level of inventive genius that Forge doesn't reach. That comparison is likely what made fans think that each power could only have one Omega.

The idea that mutants can enhance non-Omega powers to achieve Omega status flies in the face of prior stories, but there is a solution...

Yes, X-Men Can 'Learn' to Be an Omega

White's Comments Confirm Polaris May Be a Future Omega-Level Mutant

Another clarification from White asserts that - at least to some extent - a power can be elevated to Omega level rather than starting out that way. White explains that while the number of Omega-level characters was kept low to "avoid power creep" in the Krakoan Era, the label isn't necessarily as exclusive as it seems, commenting "Maybe in time, Polaris will be an omega-level mutant alongside Magneto, you know?" This surprised some fans who had assumed that powers were inherently Omega-level, even if a mutant might not realize it at first. White's comments suggest that while Polaris' magnetism powers aren't Omega-level now, further training and experience may enhance her abilities and unlock her potential to the point that she is.

The idea that mutants can enhance non-Omega powers to achieve Omega status seems to fly in the face of prior stories. The conclusion most in-line with existing X-Men comics would be that some powers are inherently Omega-level, but many mutants must train and experiment to discover that fact, essentially believing in a 'false' upper limit until they eventually ascend beyond it. That's been the case for heroes like Iceman, who needed a lot of prompting to realize that his powers didn't stop at their original level, and that he can actually animate countless ice bodies at once and essentially exists as a consciousness that doesn't need a body.

White its that for some powers like Wolverine's claws, Omega level simply doesn't make sense.

X-Men its 'Omega Level' Doesn't Make Sense for Some Powers

"Is Wolverine an Omega-Level Claw Guy?"

While 'Omega Level' makes sense for some powers, it's a hazier concept for others. Magneto controls all forms of magnetism, Legion can manifest any superpower, but what about someone like Toad, whose body manifests a variety of abilities reminiscent of amphibians? White calls this out and its there's no easy answer, stating:

But we had a lot of fun conversations later on about omega-level powers because the powers that he’s choosing to showcase here are the ones where it’s most simple to imagine an omega-level mutant. But what’s omega-level claws? Like, is Wolverine an omega-level claw guy? Well, no, you could have bigger claws than him. Oh, OK. [Laughs] Which we kind of talk about too, when we look at Kobak Never-Held, right? He’s the omega of prickly quills. You can’t be more prickly quill than him, man. That’s the upper limit. Is Colossus omega-level metal skin? I don’t know. When you get to those kinds of things, it’s very unclear what omega would even mean.

In Marvel lore, Wolverine's claws aren't technically an ongoing power generated by the X-gene, but a permanent mutation of his body. While it's a minor distinction, it's come in handy before. In 2006's Wolverine #47 (from Marc Guggenheim and Humberto Ramos), SHIELD's Maria Hill attempts to detain Wolverine after fitting him with a power-dampening collar. While this negates Wolverine's healing factor, it doesn't affect his claws, allowing him to cut his way free.

One answer to this question might be that in cases like the powers White describes, Omega-level power would refer to control rather than size - the difference between Colossus only being able to shift between binary steel/skin forms and having the ability to transmute any chosen part of his body to steel in isolation. However, this question is less thorny than it might seem. Since Hickman's definition is relative to a given power set, not to other mutants, it's possible for a mutant to have an Omega-level power without that power being particularly impressive. Logically, a mutant shouldn't have to be godlike to have achieved the upper limit of their own personal power set, even if it's more narratively fun to keep the 'Omega' label for the franchise's most impressive characters.

As X-Men enters a new era, will it keep the former definition of Omega level? Here's why it should.

Marvel's Definition of 'Omega Level' Is Clearer Than Ever... But Will It Hold?

2024 Sees the End of the Krakoan Era - Will The New Omega Definition Last into 'From the Ashes?'

House of X (and its companion series Powers of X) launched a new era for X-Men in 2019, but five years later, that era is coming to an end. The current 'Fall of X' chapter is officially ending the Krakoan Era across all Marvel's X-Men comics, to be followed in July 2024 with the new 'From the Ashes' era. This new era will see the X-Men once more living as a hated and feared minority, their alliances with former villains (and even fellow heroes) shattered once again.

It's possible that to mark this seismic change, Marvel may want to yet again alter the 'Omega Level' label. After all, House of X's definition came from an in-world text, and was how the mutants of Krakoa themselves decided to define Omegas. With the mutant nation now consigned to history, does that definition still carry weight? Hopefully, it will. While House of X changed the meaning of 'Omega Level,' it also clarified it from a system that fans and creators had essentially cobbled together from decades of conflicting stories. Because of that, there's no reliable definition of Omega to 'return' to. And while House of X's definition has its flaws, it also introduced a set of rules for creators to play around with, challenge and redefine, encouraging the kind of 'logic puzzle' thinking that superhero stories thrive on.

Fans will know soon if X-Men plans to keep using the Krakoan definition of Omega-level mutants, but thankfully there are still a couple of months to gloat if your personal understanding of Omega-level powers corresponds with White's revealing explanation.

Source: Chris Hassan, AIPT