SNAP Into Marvel: X-Force’s “Woman In The Chair” Hits ‘Marvel Snap’!

Real Name: Unrevealed

First Comic Book Appearance: X-Men #132 (Jan. 1980) as Tessa; X-Men (vol. 2) #109 (Dec. 2000) as Sage. 

First Multimedia Appearance: The Gifted, portrayed by Hayley Lovitt

Powers: An enhanced, supercomputer-like mind, as well as telepathic abilities. 

Comic Book History

Sage is the subject of one of the longest retcons in comic book history. When Tessa was introduced in the midst of the seminal Dark Phoenix Saga as Sebastian Shaw’s loyal aide-de-camp, there was little to suggest she was anything more than a loyal attendant. Across the next few decades, Tessa did very little, popping up a few times alongside different iterations of the Hellfire Club and displaying some mild telepathic abilities. She was a C-List character, at best. 

Then, her co-creator Chris Claremont returned to the X-Men for the first time after the end of his lengthy and groundbreaking 15 year run chronicling the adventures of Marvel’s merry mutants. Shortly thereafter, he revealed that Tessa was a woman known as Sage, a secret operative with a computer like brain whose telepathic abilities were honed by Professor X so she could operate as a deep cover double agent inside the Hellfire Club. 

From that point forward, Sage became a semi-regular fixture within the larger X-Men universe (often going where Claremont went as he moved from series to series). Angry with Xavier for forcing her to compromise her morals for so long, she joined a splinter group of X-Men led by Storm who operated independently from the rest of the X-Men in the pages of X-Treme X-Men. She later joined a new iteration of the British mutant team Excalibur, and then a new team of Exiles, a collection of characters tasked with protecting the multiverse. It is her involvement with this group that led to her inclusion in the “Blink in Time” season.

In true comic book fashion, her “I have a computer brain and also some telepath” has been expanded over the years. In addition to “basic” things like having a photographic memory and being able to multitask with hyper-efficiency, she is also an accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, given that she basically perfects fighting techniques as soon as she learns them. She also has the ability to analyze people’s DNA, determining their current and potential abilities, and use this knowledge to jumpstart or enhance other people’s super powers. Sage possesses complete control over her physical body, able to consciously manipulate her immune system and enhance her fighting techniques. 

Most recently, Sage was a member of the Krakoan X-Force team, serving primarily as the group’s “woman in the chair.” From her position at the center of Krakoa’s gateway interface, she quarterbacked operations of the field team while also struggling with her alcoholism (as she would often get drunk in order to get a break from the stimulation caused by her brain). As the threats against Krakoa grew in severity and X-Force’s leader, Beast, slipped deeper and deepe into villainy, Sage shifted her role, eventually leading the group in full against their former director. 

Card Info 

Sage’s Marvel Snap card is clearly taking her role as X-Force’s “girl in the chair” as the inspiration for her effect, in favor of her more analytical abilities or brain-enhanced fighting prowess. Powerless on her own, she gets buffed thanks to the presence of other cards of varying power at her location. In much the same way that X-Force era-Sage acts through others, she needs other cards on the board to affect the game. 

The jury is still out on whether this effect will be enough to make Sage’s card a true supporting player across multiple decks, or more of a niche play. She could find a place in something like a Mister Negative or Wong deck, a Wolfsbane with a higher ceiling but a lower floor. But given that she’ll be more powerful and impactful the later in the game she’s played, she is more susceptible to the recently-buffed Leech running roughshod over the meta at the moment. Which means Marvel Snap stage might stumble right out of the gate.