Marvel Comics has introduced its new X-Men team—and here is every member who made the cut. When the mutant race gathered on the living island of Krakoa, the ruling Quiet Council disbanded the X-Men. They felt the team had been at the heart of too much controversy over the years, and that the X-Men needed to be wound down in order to unify the mutant race. But Cyclops and Jean Grey are reforming the X-Men after X of Swords, and they’ve taken an unusual approach in an attempt to circumvent that problem – giving every mutant living on Krakoa, hero and villain alike, a vote.
Marvel even involved the fans by launching an online X-Men election to choose the final member, finally revealing the winner of that particular popularity contest was Polaris, daughter of Magneto. Now they’ve officially confirmed the full line-up and the stunning cover of July’s X-Men #1, which will relaunch the flagship book under writer Gerry Duggan and artist Pepe Larraz.
Marvel announced the news on Twitter in a cool video, and followed it up by releasing two gorgeous covers for the book on the Marvel website. The team is surprisingly small given the sheer number of mutants living on Krakoa, and it’s interesting to note the mutant community only chose mutants who’ve been associated with the X-Men. Hilariously, Logan didn’t make the cut, but the other (and better) Wolverine did. Here’s the video:
The X-Men elections were essentially a popularity contest, and it’s interesting to note most of the winners are mutants who have recently proved themselves – a nice touch of continuity. It seems the surprising next incarnation of the X-Men will be:
- Cyclops and Jean Grey, the founders and field leaders of this new X-Men team.
- Sunfire, a pyrokinetic mutant who recently proved his heroism when—boosted by Fabian Cortez—he drove back the armies of Knull; that explains why he’s made the cut.
- Wolverine and Synch, two of the mutants who were sent into the Vault to reconnoiter the potential threat of the Children of the Vault; Laura was essentially reset after she died inside the Vault, meaning she has no recollection of the relationship she and Synch had while they were in there.
- Rogue, the only traditional member of the X-Men to be chosen for the team.
- Polaris, winner of the online X-Men election.
This really is an unusual team, but it may well be one of the most powerful to date; Marvel Girl is an Omega level mutant, Polaris has inherited most of her father’s powers, Sunfire is an experienced (if hot-headed) warrior, and both Synch and Rogue possess different variations of absorption abilities. Laura Kinney’s Wolverine is frankly far more dangerous than Logan, simply because she was actually trained as an assassin and doesn’t tend to lose her temper and forget that training in a fight. It will be thrilling to see the new X-Men in action, especially in such capable hands as Gerry Duggan.
