Jubilee: Who is the Neon Nosferatu?

Jubilee Gets The Party Started

Jubilee: “Gotta go now, diary… put on my brave face and my famous ‘tude. Otherwise, everybody might see how scared I really am.”

DC vs Marvel Comics

A vampire stalks through a park. He’s had fun clubbing, now he’s hunting. He sees a girl walking alone and scoffs. Pink sunglasses at night, cut-off shorts, and a neon-yellow trench coat? The world will thank him for getting rid of this fashion disaster. The vampire creeps up behind her and grins.

“Nice try, dude. You’re bad at this.“

The girl whirls and the vampire’s world explodes into light and pain. He can smell his face burning like breakfast bacon. Something hits his side and knocks him into a tree. Distantly, he can hear the girl tell him to clear out. Who does this bitch think she is?! 

The vampire lunges at her as his vision returns in time for him to see glowing energy shooting from her hands with a sound like fireworks. He burns to ashes under the assault, his last sight the unimpressed look on Jubilee’s face.

Jubilee is a divisive X-Man. Fans can’t agree if she’s a useless tag-along or a hero worthy of the team. So which is she? How did she join the X-Men? What is her connection to the supernatural? Let’s find out.

Mall Brawl: Jubilee’s Backstory

Jubilee: “I am not a child! Not scared, either! No way, no how!”

Uncanny X-Men #261 (1989)

Jubilee debuted in Uncanny X-Men #244 in 1989. She was created by Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri. Jubilee was meant to fill a now grown-up Shadowcat’s role as the inexperienced teenage hero who often needs to be saved.

Jubilation Lee was an ordinary teenager until her wealthy parents were murdered. She was sent to an orphanage, but ran away and began living in a mall. While being chased by mall security, Jubilee learned that she could fire plasma “fireworks” from her hands.

The mall hired incompetent Mutant hunters to flush Jubilee out. The X-Men stopped the hunters and teleported back to their base, unaware that she was following them. Jubilee didn’t know the heroes and remained in hiding until she saved Wolverine from a group of villains.

Wolverine and Jubilee were trapped in the team’s Australia base and went through a bonding adventure together to return to the X-Mansion. She struggled to adapt to constant life or death situations and often argued with the stern hero, but eventually matured into his sidekick. Upon reaching the mansion, Jubilee was welcomed with open arms and became a superhero.

Generation X: Jubilee’s History

Jubilee: “Thank you, Professor Xavier, for knowin’ when to hold on… and when to let go.”

Uncanny X-Men #318 (1994)

Jubilee struggled early in her heroic career. She was often outmatched by experienced villains and had to be rescued by her teammates. Stress built until Jubilee left The X-Men. 

She became a founding member of Generation X, a team of X-Men in training who fought less severe threats. Jubilee acted as a mentor to the new recruits, but often seemed high-handed because she’d been part of the world famous team.

Following House of M, Jubilee was one of countless Mutants who lost their powers. She used a suit of high-tech armor to become Wondra, but that identity didn’t last long. She settled down as one of the X-Mansion’s teachers and adopted an orphaned baby named Shogo.

Rocket’s Red Glare: Jubilee’s Modern Stories

Jubilee: “I feel like I’m drowning in my own blood and I’m terrified to open my mouth because I don’t know whether I’m going to breathe or drink. And I’m looking at everyone through an inch of glass. Like they all know exactly where the line is between them and me.”

Wolverine and Jubilee #1

Jubilee was turned into a vampire by Dracula’s son, Xarus, as part of a plan to turn Wolverine. It certainly wasn’t because Twilight was popular at the time. The duo led an army of vampires against the X-Men to create a Mutant-Vampire vanguard. Xarus was killed by Dracula and Wolverine’s healing factor saved him, but Jubilee was stuck as a vampire.

The X-Men feared Jubilee’s lack of control and kept their traumatized teammate at arm’s length. Wolverine and Gambit brought her on a mission to help her acclimate to being a vampire. Jubilee initially found herself at odds with Wolverine’s daughter, X-23. However, their interactions eventually led Jubilee to master her own bloodlust, thanks to X-23’s guidance.

Jubilee returned to the X-Men and was assigned a class of no-hopers. She was also given a medallion that protected her from sunlight, but it was destroyed while she was protecting her students. One of them tapped into the Phoenix Force, using it to restore her humanity, health, and powers.

Grand Finale: Jubilee’s Powers and Personality

Jubilee: “You know what my power is right?“
Collector: “Pyrotechnics.”
Jubilee: “Close! Think smaller. Like… atomically small.“
Collector: “…You wouldn’t.“
Jubilee: [starts glowing] “Oh, but I would. See, I’ve always wanted to try this, but never had an arena big enough to practice in, until now. Eat my atom bomb, Eternal dork!“

X-Terminators #5 (2023)

Jubilee is an expert gymnast, skater, martial artist, and tactician. She is also invisible to cameras and telepathy for poorly explained reasons. She has typical vampire powers and weaknesses, but could function normally during the day thanks to her medallion.

Fans often mock Jubilee’s powers as sparkly lights. She’s actually manipulating plasma and limits her powers to firework blasts to avoid killing people. Robots get more devastating plasma bolts. Jubilee has twice fired blasts comparable to a fusion bomb. Other characters speculate that she could eventually control all plasma, including the sun.  

For all her powers and trauma, Jubilee started out as a typical ’90s mall brat. She is bubbly, carefree, and an academic underachiever, partially because of coping with a learning disability. She is the X-Man most opposed to killing, once allowing herself to be kidnapped and tortured because she stopped to give a dying minion CPR. She is fiercely protective of her teammates and students, more so after becoming a single mom.

The Actors Who Play Jubilee

Alyson Court – X-Men: the Animated Series, Spider-Man: the Animated Series
Heather McComb – Generation X
Chiara Zanni – X-Men: Evolution
Katrina Florece – X-Men
Kea Wong – X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand
Lana Condor – X-Men Apocalypse
Holly Chou – X-Men ‘97

Didya Get All That?

The X-Men’s pint-sized powerhouse.

Image: Jubilee (voiced by Holly Chou) in Disney’s X-Men-’97. Copyright 2024 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.