Emperor Hulkling, written by Chip Zdarsky and queer author Anthony Oliveira, around Empyre, Marvel's summer 2020 crossover event, Oliveira brings Prodigy and Speed into canon as a gay couple out drinking with Hulkling, who describes that they "always have exactly one and a half drinks and start making out". Powers and abilities Prodigy has the telepathic ability to absorb and mimic the knowledge and skills from the minds of the people in close proximity to him. A side effect of his powers are self-imposed mental blocks, which prevents him from retaining the knowledge he absorbs, forgetting whatever he has learned after a short period of time. The power is completely involuntary, and absorbs only studied knowledge, not thoughts, short-term information, or awareness. Since losing his powers, he maintains a high intellect, due to his extensive studying prior to coming to Xavier's. He creates a Danger Cave, a training room for the rest of his peers, and shows an extensive knowledge of the past missions of the X-Men. When the mental blocks in his mind are removed by the Stepford Cuckoos, David later regains access to all the skills and knowledge that he absorbed when he was still a mutant. He can recall the fighting abilities and scientific knowledge of many of the X-Men including Beast's medical knowledge, Forge's and Professor Xavier's expertise in various subjects, Wolverine and Kitty Pryde's martial arts, etc. He has since regained his powers without losing all of the above knowledge. Recently, thanks to the Krakoa Resurrection Protocols, he has had his psychomimetic powers restored. Along with his intellect, Prodigy has displayed great competency as a leader. Both Cyclops and Danielle Moonstar have acknowledged his leadership skills. Other versions House of M In the "House of M" universe, David was once more a member of the New Mutants. The New Mutants were a group of young mutants trained to be diplomats, and David graduated the valedictorian. Prodigy once more acts as the leader of the New Mutants (although in this case it's more unofficial). He leads the New Mutants in an attempt to save Nori's father. While initially conflicting with rival group the Hellions, the two groups would join after learning of tortures of humans. David, along with the rest of the surviving New Mutants and the Hellions, would later make their last stand against Sunfire and his army. Too Much Information In the New X-Men