My Favorite Mutant
So…being that I never got into comics, I don’t claim to be an expert on any particular group, series or character. I feel the need to disclaim this because I know the diehard nerds will come for my head if I say anything remotely inaccurate.
When I first heard that Zazie Beetz, a Black woman, would be playing the role of Domino in 2018’s Deadpool 2, I immediately googled the mercenary as I had little to no knowledge of her. Whenever I hear about a mutant that I’m unfamiliar with but piques my interest, I always find out what their powers or abilities are first. To me, that’s usually the most interesting thing about them.
“Domino subconsciously generates a psionic aura around herself that alters probabilities, causing her to receive ‘good luck’ while her opponents suffer ‘bad luck.’” Hmm…the power of luck, you say? The more mainstream mutants have capabilities that are pretty straightforward: Weather manipulation, energy or concussive blasts, superhuman strength and agility, etc. But, I’d never heard of someone possessing the power of luck. Although Domino goes back and forth with Deadpool about how being lucky is a superpower and attributes her success to fortune in the film, reducing her to someone who’s simply serendipitous feels inadequate. This woefully underrates Domino’s true power and strength. If she is subconsciously generating this force that can control and manipulate almost everything around her; deploying metaphysics to manifest a positive outcome, then she is not just lucky, she is an incredibly powerful being!
One of the drawbacks, if you can even call it that, of Domino’s ability is that “—in order for the luck to take effect, Domino herself must engage in an action whose chance she can affect.” I love that! If Domino does nothing, the bullets will hit her, the collapsing building will crush her, the enemy will win; but, if she takes just one step, one slight action, then the very universe itself conspires with her so that she comes out on top.
The reason Domino and her power resonates with me so deeply is that she’s the perfect allegory for the innate ability that we all have. How many times has something “improbable (but not impossible)” happened to you? How often have you been in the right place at the right time? Have you ever met someone, seemingly by chance, who ended up having a major impact on your life? These things aren’t coincidences. Think about all the minuscule decisions and actions you made that lead you to those moments. Give yourself more credit. Trust and believe in your own superpower.
Photo credit: Vanity Fair