The X-Men are the premiere mutant team in the Marvel Universe, but they aren’t the only mutant team. Not only have there been evil teams like the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (they’ve since dropped the “evil” from their name), the Acolytes, and the Upstarts (I’ve been reading early ’90s X-comics again), but there have also been numerous other hero teams, like the New Mutants, X-Factor, Excalibur, and X-Force. The X-Men are basically the Avengers of the mutant Marvel Universe, and the other teams deal with other things. There have been training teams, government teams, black ops teams, and any other kind of superhero team you can imagine. Mutants have constantly moved among the teams, bringing experience and power to other aspects of the fight.
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While the X-Men are the A-list team, there have been numerous mutants who made their names out of the main team. They were able to do some amazing things, as well as become beloved by fans; sometimes, they’ve graduated to the big team or started out on the big team but did better not on the X-Men. These ten mutants became better outside of the X-Men, becoming legends of the mutant community.
10) Maverick
Maverick hasn’t actually been on any of the mutants teams too often, but he’s an awesome mutant. Christopher Nord was part of Weapon X, and was a member of Team X with Wolverine and Sabretooth. His mutants power allows him to absorb and redirect kinetic energy, and he was given a healing factor by Weapon X. He’s been fighting since the Cold War, and will often team with Wolverine (or trick him into thinking they’re teamed up). He’s in charge of his own mercenary company, and will often work against the more heroic mutants. The last few years, starting with the Krakoa Era have been very good for the character, and he’s become much cooler than he used to be, because you can never guess whose side he’s on.
9) Rictor
Back when it started out, X-Factor (Vol. 1) saw the original five X-Men posing as “mutant hunters” known as the X-Terminators, who would “dispose” of mutants they were called on. What they were actually doing is rescuing them and schooling them, and Rictor was one of the mutants they recruited. His seismic powers make him ver tough, but what has made him so great is his relationship with Shatterstar, as the two of them fell in love during their tenure with the mutant black ops team X-Force and beyond. He’s been a member of nearly every mutant team out there except the X-Men, and was trained in mutant magic by Apocalypse. He’s a mutant who has a small but dedicated fanbase and has long been way cooler than he has any right to be.
8) Chamber
Generation X is an underrated mutant team, and it introduced fans to some cool new mutants, with Monet and Synch eventually joining the X-Men. However, there’s another Gen Xer who has been an X-Man and is way cooler than he gets credit for being: Chamber. When Jonothan Starsmore’s power manifested, psionic energy blew out of jaw and chest, changind hid life forever. Jono was positioned as one of the stars of Generation X, but was never able to connect to the majority of fans. However, he was a favorite of many young readers at the time, and still is. No one remembers his time with the X-Men (Uncanny in 2001 was overshadowed by New X-Men), but both of his stints with Generation X were cool. He’s a fun character that has loads of potential and it’s about time he got his chance at stardom.
7) Sunfire
Sunfire has long been a back-up member of the X-Men, showing up for a time, getting mouthy with everyone, and then leaving. His powers allow him to absorb various types of radiation and create plasma, making him what is in effect a small sun. He’s one of those character that doesn’t have a lot of fans, but he’s always been way more powerful and interesting than fans realize. His arrogance has always been a lot more fun than a lot of people think, and for those of us who love him, it’s frustrating to see him constantly show up and then disappear, not getting a chance to shine long term. He’s even been an Avenger (and was awesome in the first volume of Uncanny Avengers), so he can work on basically any team out there.
6) Madrox
Jamie Madrox has never been an official member of the X-Men, but he’s easily one of the best mutants out there. His powers allow him to make duplicates every time he’s hit, and has never really shown an upper limit to how many he can create. He can also reabsorb his dupes, absorbing his knowledge, allowing him to, say, send a dupe to Harvard and absorb him after he graduates, learning everything that he did. He worked as a lab assistant to Moira MacTaggert, and has led X-Factor several times when it was in its “mutant detective agency” phase, which is where he became the fan favorite he is today. He was one of the few actually entertaining members of the Krakoa Era X-Corp, and is one of the most beloved B-list mutants out there.
5) Domino
Domino is one of those mutants who has always been low key one of the coolest mutants, but is often overshadowed. She’s most well-known for being a member of X-Force, acting as the team’s second in command in its early days, her luck powers allowing her to do things that no one else could. She’d end up rejoining X-Force several times over the years, but she really came into her own in the Krakoa Era X-Force, where she became one of the team’s most important members, even getting a really good PTSD arc. She’s never been a member of the X-Men, but she deserves to have her chance at some point.
4) Havok
Havok has been a member and leader of the X-Men many times, but he always shine the most outside the team. Havok and Cyclops’s sibling rivalry has seen him labor in his older brother’s shadow, which has led to his stints with the X-Men usually being lackluster. He’s the poster boy for mind control, his brain seemingly an irresistible target for any telepath who wants to mess with someone. His tenure leading X-Factor showed how great he could be, and since has been an Avengers leader (something his brother has never done) and was a key part of the Krakoa’s Era mostly beloved book, Hellions. He’s a great hero when he doesn’t have to worry about being compared to Cyclops.
3) Cannonball
The New Mutants is extremely important to mutant history, introducing numerous great mutants to readers. Cannonball quickly jumped to the top of the ranks of the team, becoming one of the most important members of the group. He’d move to X-Force and eventually take over that team once Cable left. He was the first New Mutant to graduate to the X-Men, and has had several stints with the team. He’s also been an Avenger, working with the team during the awesome Jonathan Hickman run, where he met his wife Smashe. Cannonball is also extremely formidable, his kinetic blasting powers allowing to absorb and redirect the energy of collisions to his protective force field, and has defeated Gladiator, which is no easy task. He’s a top rank mutant and one of the most fun in the Marvel Universe.
2) Sunspot
Sunspot has a similar road to stardom as Cannonball. He was a founding members of the New Mutants and then joined X-Force. His powers allowed him to absorb solar energy, using the power to fuel super strength, flight, invulnerability, and energy powers. He’s rarely been a member of the main X-Men team, but has been an Avenger and led his own Avengers team, as well a being a member of the Arakkii Brotherhood. He’s a formidable fighter, and while he can seem kind of juvenile, he’s a much more crafty and cunning hero than he gets credit for.
1) Cable
Wolverine blazed a trial for lots of mutant anti-heroes and one of the best has always been Cable. Nathan Summers was the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey clone Madelyne Pryor. He was sent to the future after being infected with a techno-organic virus by Apocalypse, trained as a soldier, and came back to the present to stop En Sabah Nur from conquering the world. He joined the New Mutants and founded X-Force, and would become a favorite of fans. He’s been a member of the X-Men a few times, but he’s also spent years on his own, battling enemies from around the world as a mutant soldier. He’s been an Avenger, as well, and is one of the few mutants other than Wolverine that has had long solo title runs. Cable was once the definition of ’90s cheese, but he’s grown into one of the coolest mutants ever.
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