The Marvel universe is getting a radical makeover in December, and its all because of the Inhumans. A race of superpowered beings created eons ago by extraterrestrial experimentation, the Inhumans have been part of the Marvel Universe since the Lee/Kirby days. Inhuman mythology is fascinating and rife with weird metaphor and outré affectations. They have a royal family, headed up by Black Bolt, whose voice carries a supersonic force so devastating that he can never speak. And a key aspect of Inhuman life is exposure to the Terrigen Mist, a mysterious vapor that activates Inhuman biology and grants superpowers. As Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso puts it, In a world filled with musclebound characters in spandex, the Inhumans were weirder. They were hippies!
And in Inhumanity, the Inhumans and everything they represent will move to the forefront. In the wake of this Falls Infinity crossover event, the Terrigen Mists are released throughout the world which results in millions of Inhuman descendants around the world suddenly witnessing the activation of their dormant Inhuman cells. (Basically, if your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents were Inhumans, you could have superpowers.) The effect on the Marvel Universe will be seismic, says Alonso. The Terrigen Mists affects all Inhumans differently, granting powers that typically reflect ones personality, like a hyper-specific Sorting Hat. So Inhumanity opens the possibility for a fascinating array of new characters. You might learn that your new self is fantastic, beautiful, filled with immense power, says Alonso. By the same token, you could turn around and find out that youre nothing. Youre a blob. You have no powers. You can create a little flame out of your pinkie.