Blackbird (comics)
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The Blackbird is the aircraft used by the fictional superhero team the X-Men. There have been several incarnations of this craft over the years.
When the X-Men were first introduced, they were portrayed as travelling in Professor Xavier's private jet and helicopter, advanced but fairly conventional aircraft with remote autopilots (i.e., the Professor flew them from home). The Blackbird was introduced with the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men Team in 1975.
The original X-Men Blackbird was visually based on a modified, scaled-up version of the Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" spy plane (hence the name) but was modified to carry several passengers, as well as for Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL). Some writers have referred to this design as the "SR-73", but it is not known if that designation is canon in the Marvel Universe. The original X-Men Blackbird has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times in the course of the team's many adventures. The later versions incorporated technology created by the mutant inventor Forge, as well as alien (Shi'ar) technology, including weapon systems, holographic active camouflage, and engines capable of hypersonic speeds.
There currently appear to be three Blackbirds, one for each main X-Men team, since they usually go on missions at differing times.
In the first X-Men film, the X-Men utilized a jet named the X-Jet rather than the Blackbird. In an attempt to tie to comics to the films, the X-Men replaced the Blackbird with the X-Jet, which is still used to this day.
[edit] Ultimate X-Jet
In the Ultimate X-Men series, the X-Men seemingly have several aircraft, including one that resembles a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. One of the airplanes has been referred to casually as the "Blackbird", but it bears no visible relationship to the SR-71.
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