Marvel introduces new X-Men mutant named Jitter, who's a Singaporean teen

There are some new powerful mutants in town – and one of them is a Singaporean teen.

Fans got a closer look at Jitter, real name Sofia Yong, somewhat fittingly, on Friday (Aug 9), Singapore’s National Day. The Singaporean teen is one of four new mutants known as “the Outliers” in a relaunch of the classic series, The Uncanny X-Men, written by Gail Simone and illustrated by David Marquez.

Issue #1 dropped on Aug 7 while issue #2 will be released on Sep 11.

The other characters are Becca Constance Simon-Pinette, aka Calico; Hotoru, aka Deathdream and Valentin Correa, aka Ransom.

The new characters were first mentioned at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Jitter’s mutant power is hyper-focus, which means Sofia “can do anything she sets her mind to – accessing talents and skills most people train their lives to develop”.

However, utilising her power can lead to an “immediate crash if she exerts her ability for too long”. The teen also has to have a "stopwatch on her at all times” as she can only use her power – for example, she can become a skilled locksmith or martial artist – for up to a minute only.

In a first-look for issue #2, readers will see Jitter, as well as Calico, who has a psychic connection to her horse Ember, facing off against Gambit, while Wolverine faces Deathdream, who can summon souls and the power of the unliving.

This isn’t Singapore’s first mention in the Marvel canon – the fictional Southeast Asian island of Madripoor is said to be inspired by Singapore, while Madripoor’s underworld is ruled by a Singaporean banking heiress known as Tyger Tiger.

Several fans have reached out to Simone on X to ask whether the Singaporean teen will speak Singlish, to which the writer teased: “I hear you, I love the sound and cadence of Singlish. I have a good resource, but her use of it is fairly minimal. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean she’s the only one using it, lah.”