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Whether or not Franklin Richards, the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four, is a mutant or not is one of the most hotly contested topics in Marvel Comics. For years, Franklin was a mutant, even appearing with the word "mutie" scrawled across his face in promotional art for the X-Men storyline, "The Fall of the Mutants," back in the late 1980s. But in 2020, writer Dan Slott retconned Franklin as never having been a mutant to begin with in Fantastic Four #26. In the issue, Professor X told Franklin that the lad had used his reality-warping powers to make it appear that he had the mutant X-Gene when in reality, he didn't. 

With that out of the way, however, we get a different picture of Franklin Richards in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering x Marvel Super Heroes set. The Franklin Richards, Ascendant card lists him as a "Mutant Hero," a far cry from the status quo that Slott established in his Fantastic Four run. It's also worth noting that the Marvel Super Heroes set is rooted in the lore of Marvel Comics, rather than Marvel Studios. 

So why is this? Well, in 2024, Fantastic Four #18 by Ryan North, Carlos Gómez, and Jesus Aburtov, Franklin referred to himself as having "been an immortal, a god, an Omega-level mutant." Of course, he says this in the past tense, but it still confirms the legitimacy of his having been an Omega-level mutant in the first place. We don't know for sure what source material Magic: The Gathering used for their characterization of Franklin, but given that the set is coming out in June 2026 and Fantastic Four #18 came out in March 2024, I don't think it's out of the question to suggest that Magic was following the precedent set by Marvel Comics here. 

Anyways, you'll be able to hunt for the Franklin Richards, Ascendant card yourself when Magic: The Gathering x Marvel Super Heroes set releases on June 25, 2026. 

Whether you are a Commander player, a regular at your local game shop's FNM event, or simply love collecting Magic: The Gathering cards, you've landed in the right place. From Universes Beyond to the furthest reaches of the Magic Multiverse, we've got you covered here at Popverse. 

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