When it comes to female comic book characters, there are a handful of fan favourites - Catwoman, The Scarlet Witch and of course, Mystique.
The latter, created by artist David Cockrum and writer Chris Claremont, made her Marvel Comics debut in 1978 in Ms. Marvel #16.
Typically portrayed as both a supervillain and antihero, Mystique is a powerful human mutant with the ability to shapeshift and effortlessly mimic every human on the planet.
As well as being a beloved yet complex comic book star, Mystique (or Raven Darkhölme) has appeared in seven of 20th Century Studio’s X-Men movies.
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In 2000, the markswoman made her live-action debut and was portrayed by Rebecca Romijn in the original X-Men movie.
After appearing in the sequel, X2: X-Men United in 2003 and later X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the 51-year-old passed the Mystique mantle onto Jennifer Lawrence.
The 33-year-old Hunger Games star stepped out as a younger version of the character for the first time in 2011’s X-Men: First Class before reprising the role three more times.
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After featuring in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Lawrence said farewell to the role when Mystique was killed off by long-time friend Jean Gray (played by Sophie Turner).
In the Marvel community, it’s long been debated who portrayed the better Mystique; Romijn or Lawrence.
Interestingly, this argument has only become more heated following the success of the animated series X-Men ‘97 and the official confirmation that mutants are in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Taking to social media to have their say, one superhero fan wrote: “Rebecca endured 8 hour make-up sessions and played her character sublimely, she delivered the looks, the attitude and gave us a sultry, intriguing and very threatening Mystique, whereas Jennifer wanted to avoid the make-up hassle, leaving us with something half baked.”
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A second typed: “I mean the fact that these characters are essentially the same person just the younger and older versions, makes it hard to pinpoint who’s ‘better’ because they are portraying different eras of one character.”
“Rebecca and it isn’t even close,” said another.
A fourth commented: “Can’t really compare them. J Law has a bigger role.
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“I have a bias that would choose Jennifer but you cannot deny Rebecca’s X-2 moment.”
Meanwhile, some fans have thrown another name into the ring - Carmen Electra.
The 52-year-old portrayed the character in the 2007 spoof Epic Movie and shared the role with Lichelle D. Ebner.
Taking to social media to stoke the fandom fires, Electra wrote, ‘Or me?’ alongside a clip of her from the flick.
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Mystique fans may be divided but the real question is, who is going to portray the antiheroine next?
Topics: Film and TV, X-Men, Marvel, Sony, Jennifer Lawrence, Entertainment, Celebrity
Ella Scott