Incredibles 2

The highlight for many fans of the hugely popular ‘Incredibles 2’ is the Parr family baby. Jack-Jack is unlike the rest of the family in that he doesn’t talk, typical of a baby, and exhibits a huge power set, not so typically of a baby. When Elastigirl lamented over missing Jack-Jack’s first power, Mr. Incredible estimated that she missed his first 17. That number feels about right. CinemaBlend spoke with director Brad Bird on the scope of Jack-Jack’s powers and this is what he had to say.

“Babies are able to speak multiple languages easily, at the beginning, but then they start to harden like cement, and certain things drop away. So, you know, maybe Jack-Jack will start losing powers, because he starts to rely on this one or that one… I think we kind of choose our powers by what we’re encouraged with, and what we enjoy doing, and all of that. Usually people, if they have multi-talents, they’re kind of interested in a lot of things, and they’re passionate about a lot of things. So who knows! He may have more, he may start dropping a few off. You never know. That’s what babies are.”

With an incredible box office showing so far, a sequel may give us another appearance of Jack-Jack and Bird’s comments leave things wide open. Jack-Jack may continue his life as a renaissance baby or he may be de-powered. The family-favorite designer, Edna Mode, suggests in the film that children can have more abilities than adults. Perhaps he will keep powers that are loosely related. For example, Jack-Jack is seen shape-shifting into Edna’s form at one point, which is a body manipulation power just as is enlarging himself and becoming rubbery, both abilities in the film and not entirely unlike his mom’s. On the other hand, phasing through walls, teleporting, and summoning duplicates of himself could all be classified as extra-dimensional powers. If we take Bird’s comments to heart, he may stick to duplication – built-in playmates!

There is no blueprint for powers in the Incredibles universe. There isn’t even a hint at how “supers” become super beyond Jack-Jack being born super. If I had to guess, it’s an X-Men scenario in which mutations grant powers randomly within a population with hereditary powers playing into it. The director has said elsewhere that he doesn’t want to get into it. I guess we’ll have to wait for The Incredibles “Secret Origins” comic book when the franchise gets desperate.