One Power-Stealing Mutant Just Put Rogue To Shame, Claiming An Entire Team of Avenger Abilities To Become Marvel’s New God-Tier Superhuman

Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #19The Marvel Universe has some iconic power absorbers, like the X-Men Rogue and Synch, but one of the newest Avengers students, the mutant known as Escapade, just became a truly god-tier superhuman by absorbing the powers of an entire team of her Avengers Academy peers. To save her crush, Bloodline, from the clutches of the villainous Emplate, Escapade swaps powers with Kid Juggernaut, Red Goblin, Moon Girl, Bloodline, and Captain America of the Railways, evolving past her original abilities with a power-up from the M’Kraan Crystal.

Shela Sexton, who first debuted as Escapade in 2022’s Marvel’s Voices: Pride anthology, is a fan-favorite trans X-Men hero introduced with the power to “swap” locations, abilities, or possessions with anyone in a 7-foot radius, but her recent feat has proven that this is just the beginning of her ability.

Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #19, from writer Anthony Oliviera and artist Bailie Rosenlund, sees Avengers Academy’s final confrontation with the vampiric mutant called Emplate, with Escapade finally defeating Emplate and saving Bloodline by pushing her powers beyond any limit.

How Escapade’s Mutation Compares To Other Power-Stealers

Rogue, Synch, and Emplate all “borrow” powers

Sheila Sexton’s powers are unique, unlike any other “power stealer” in Marvel history. When Escapade first debuted her ability was described as “swapping places” with someone else, allowing Sheila to physically switch places with anyone in a 7-foot radius, retaining any powers or possessions she swapped for up to several hours at a time. This fascinating power has allowed Escapade to be a life-saving hero, giving her a major advantage in any close-combat battle and allowing her to rescue civilians from public battles.

Many Marvel heroes and villains steal, absorb, or swap powers, through a variety of unique techniques, with many of the characters being mutants. Unlike the iconic Rogue, whose power absorption can injure or kill people, Sheila’s power does not cause any harm to be done to the person she swaps with. Synch, who has Rogue’s ability without her killing touch or memory absorption, cannot absorb powers like Justin Jin’s Juggernaut armor, or Aaron Fischer’s Captain America shield, which Sheila can easily do. Similarly to Rogue, Emplate and Carnage’s power absorption harms the person they are stealing from, and Moon Knight’s one-time power stealing came from Khonshu’s power, making Escapade’s relatively risk-free ability incredibly unique.

To Save Bloodline, Escapade Powered Up From The Entire Avengers Academy

Sheila refused to let Emplate harm Brielle

Since early in Avengers Academy the students of the reopened school have had sightings of a shard of the famous M’Kraan Crystal, manifesting as a living woman. The M’Kraan Crystal is a vastly powerful Nexus of All-Realities that can restore or enhance a mutant’s power. It seems that the M’Kraan shard is protecting the students of Avengers Academy, because just as the young heroes are about to lose to the vile Emplate, M’Kraan can be seen giving Escapade a power boost.

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In one single moment, Sheila manages to swap powers with every member of Avengers Academy, something Reed Richards notes they did not think possible. She swapped with five other superpowered heroes and astrally traveled to them to swap their powers, pushing past her previous limit of 7 feet to absorb powers. Becoming a stunning godly entity, Escapade uses Red Goblin’s symbiote Rascal, Aaron Fisher’s shield and force-field, Justin Jin’s Juggernaut armor, Bloodline’s magic, and Moon Girl’s connection with Devil Dinosaur to easily defeat Emplate, sending him back to his hellish dimension.

Escapade Just Claimed A Spot as One of Marvel’s Most ‘Leveled-Up’ Heroes

Sometimes a mutant needs a push to evolve

At the end of Escapade’s battle with Emplate, after absorbing multiple powers and using them to defeat the villain, Sheila is stuck in a hospital room, recovering from overexerting her strength. Mutants are known for developing secondary mutations after traumatic events, like Emma Frost’s diamond skin, so there is a chance that Sheila’s expanded abilities are now permanent, or can be called upon in other battles. However, since Escapade got a M’Kraan update, there is also the possibility that Sheila won’t be able to access the same amount of power, making this a one-time “level-up.”

After Escapade heals from her battle with Emplate it is clear that the Avengers Academy students will be thrust right into another adventure, hopefully, one where Sheila can keep on pushing the limits of her powers, proving to the Avengers how versatile and useful a hero she can be.

Avengers Academy: Marvel’s Voices Infinity Comic #19 from Marvel Comics is available now on the Marvel Unlimited app.