Onscreen History of Mystique

Raven Darkhölme AKA Mystique shape-shifting foe of the X-Men first appeared in 1978's Ms. Marvel #16. She has also been a mainstay of onscreen X-Men projects appearing in each of the animated series as well as four of the five live action films.

In the 1992 X-Men animated series, Mystique was the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants and an ally of Apocalypse. She was also the mother of Nightcrawler and the adoptive mother of Rogue.

Mystique's big break came during the X-Men trilogy of live-action films beginning in the summer of 2000. The scene stealing Mystique kept turning up when you least expected her and even managed to survive a Wolverine strike to the stomach. Mystique remained loyal to Magneto throughout the series until he abandoned her when her powers were stolen by the mutant cure.

Later in 2000, Mystique returned in X-Men Evolution as a partner to Magneto and the undercover principle of the mutant's high school. As the series progressed she went from being able to shapeshift into people, then animals, and eventually pretty much anything thanks to powers from Apocalypse.


Mystique once again took orders from Magneto in 2008's Wolverine and the X-Men series. In this take on the character, it was revealed that Wolverine and Mystique were not only former lovers, but were both a part of the Weapon X program. Alas, Wolverine's amnesia kicked in.



Mystique dropped in on the Super Hero Squad show in 2009 posing as the Black Widow.



Mystique is slated to play a major role in X-Men: First Class in which she befriends Charles Xavier at a young age and joins the X-Men.

As a member of the team, at first Mystique had not embraced her mutated appearance and she still preferred to be clothed. By the end of the film, her desire to fit in with society may have dwindled.