WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Nevers, Episode 1, "Pilot," which premiered Sunday on HBO.
HBO's The Nevers introduces a world in which a mysterious event gave certain members of the population of Victorian London, mostly women, strange superpowers. And much like the X-Men, no two powers are exactly alike.
The premiere episode of the sci-fi drama introduced many of those individuals, referred to as the Touched. Here are all of the Touched, and their powers, that we know about so far.
Following the supernatural event that created the Touched, widow Amalia True runs an orphanage for these persecuted individuals. She's especially well-suited for the job because she's Touched herself. Amalia sees visions of the future, an often-puzzling power that leaves her to interpret these glimpses of what's coming, which occur randomly and often when she least expects it.
While Amalia also has exceptional hand-to-hand combat skills, these don't appear to be part of her supernatural gift. Instead, it seems she acquired these abilities prior to becoming Touched. However, given how essential her fighting skills seem to be to keeping her charges at the orphanage safe, they could be considered a superpower in and of themselves, no matter how Amalia acquired them.
Amalia's right-hand woman, Penance Adair resides at the orphanage and helps to bring in newly discovered Touched. She's an inventor, and although she possessed an aptitude for fixing things before her skills took a turn for the supernatural, after being Touched she becomes capable of designing everything from steampunk cars to robot carriage drivers. As she explains it, it's a power based in her ability to see potential energy and where it wants to move and settle.
Responding to a tip that Myrtle might be Touched, Amalia and Penance arrive at her family home to determine if she truly possesses powers. As soon as she speaks, it's clear she does. While her mother believes she's speaking in tongues, it turns out she's simply speaking different languages. Penance posits that every language in the world is probably crowding her mind.
Myrtle understands English, but it appears to be the one language she can't speak, as everything from Chinese to Spanish to Turkish tumbles out of her mouth.
Dr. Cousens was a physician prior to becoming one of the Touched, and his turn only enhanced his skills. Now he literally has the power of healing in his hands; he no longer needs medical tools to perform surgery. As the orphanage's doctor, Dr. Cousens' special abilities are especially valuable to Amalia, who seems to have a habit of regularly getting hurt in ways that require his healing touch.
Primrose's turn is difficult to miss. After being Touched, the girl grew to 10 feet tall. Unfortunately her family rejected her, which is why she lives at the orphanage. Although she has a sweet and innocent disposition, she seems to harbor some bitterness about her situation, which periodically manifests in Primrose lashing out. The arrival of Myrtle may help, as it finally gives her a friend her own age.
Maladie is a serial killer who, when The Nevers begins, is said to rival Jack the Ripper in her murderous reign of terror. Unlike the notorious serial killer, though, Maladie is murdering respected psychoanalysts, targets who likely have something to do with her time in an asylum. Maladie is still clearly psychotic, and the public believes she's Touched, although that hasn't been confirmed as the pilot begins.
Later in the episode, however, Maladie's eyes turn orange during a fight with Amalia, indicating she has a supernatural power of some kind, even though it's not clear what it is. A character description provided by HBO says Maladie derives power from pain, and during her fight with Amalia, she seems to be at an extreme disadvantage before getting the upper hand. Could the pain Amalia inflicts on Maladie during their altercation have made her more powerful?
Annie is a member of Maladie's gang, and her nickname, "Bonfire," points to her power: creating fire with her hands. It's a power that enables her to do everything from light a candle to burn down whole buildings.
Mary Brighton is an opera singer, who has never managed to move beyond the chorus. However, her turn makes her something special to her fellow Touched. When Maladie disrupts the opera she's performing in and threatens the lives of the audience, Mary momentarily stops her rampage by singing a supernatural song that only the Touched seem to understand. Penance later says that hearing Mary's song made her feel hopeful.
While these are all the Touched superpowers shown in The Nevers' pilot episode, additional characters were introduced, at least some of whom likely also have supernatural gifts we'll learn about soon. And future episodes will no doubt introduce even more Touched and their unique abilities.
Created by Joss Whedon, The Nevers stars Laura Donnelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Ann Skelly, Ben Chaplin, Pip Torrens, Zackary Momoh, Amy Manson, Nick Frost, Rochelle Neil, Eleanor Tomlinson and Denis O’Hare. New episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
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