5 X-Men Who Deserve to Lead Their Own Team

The X-Men have probably the largest roster of consistently present characters in the entire comic book space. While most superhero teams ebb and flow with membership, the X-Men have dozens of iconic characters who can stand on the main team, a side team, or entirely on their own, and still draw fans. Their characters have all been developed through decades of storytelling and character development, and as it stands, each of the best X-Men are some of the most fully-developed heroes in the business. One of the best ways to show how developed heroes are is for them to lead teams of other heroes, and dozens of X-Men have stepped up as leaders during their tenure.

Everyone knows that Professor X and Cyclops are the X-Men’s best leaders, and clued-in fans call for Storm and Wolverine to return to their leadership roles. But those two are far from the X-Men’s only leaders who deserve another chance to strut their inspirational stuff. Today, we’re going to look at five X-Men who deserve to lead their own teams. All of them have headed a team at one point or another, and they showed that they can go far with their wits and will. With all that said, let’s examine some leading X-Men.

5) Emma Frost

Despite her cold exterior, Emma Frost is a natural-born teacher. She cares deeply about her students and puts everything she has into guiding them forward. She’s a ruthless strategist and one of the smartest manipulators around, even without her incredible psychic powers. Of course, she tends to make people hate her as much as they love her, and is prone to letting her emotions get the best of her. Emma isn’t a perfect leader, but the chip on her shoulder, combined with her great skills and genuine care, makes her one of the most interesting people to put in charge of other people’s lives. 

4) Cable

Cable is the X-Men’s ultimate cataclysm military leader. He was raised in a post-apocalyptic future with the destiny of destroying one of the greatest threats the world has ever known, Apocalypse. Much like his father, Cyclops, Cable is one of the best militaristic leaders in the entire world. Unlike Cyclops, Cable is willing to see all of his teammates as expendable and is more than willing to lose a pawn to take down a knight. The X-Men have almost always been connected to dark futures, so Cable recruiting a team and taking them throughout various periods and avoidable timelines would be incredibly interesting. It would only get more so as the sparks fly when the others clash with Cable’s staunch personality.

3) Magneto

While he spent decades as one of the X-Men’s greatest villains, Magneto has fully dedicated himself to heroism. Back after the “The Trial of Magneto!” storyline, Professor X entrusted his X-Men and leadership of the New Mutants to his oldest friend. Magneto has always stood on the fence between heroism and villainy, with his love for mutantkind tempered with an unending rage. Still, he’s one of the most charismatic and powerful mutants in the entire world, and he’s capable of inspiring people to action like nobody else. Magneto needs to lead his own team again, because I am sure that team would be the coolest, most intense X-team of all time.

2) Jean Grey

Jean has been the heart of the X-Men for decades, and she’s served as its head as well. Currently, she’s flying throughout the stars, restoring cosmic order as the Phoenix. The X-Men have been connected with the grander universe ever since meeting the Shi’ar Empire, and everyone from Kitty Pryde to Professor X has ventured to the stars, but they’ve rarely had a space-dedicated team. Jean could lead a team of the universe’s most powerful and adaptable mutants through the stars, giving the X-Men a universal presence. It would be the perfect time to tie grander themes of difference and unity into their stories, as mutants and the average human are far more closely related than humans and aliens. 

1) Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler is one of the most important X-Men. He’s their soul, reminding them how to find hope even when things are at their darkest. He best represents the idea that the X-Men stand for; mutants are just as human as everyone else, as Kurt is the most deeply human of anyone. Despite this, he’s spent most of his time as a side character, supporting other people through their own arcs and troubles instead of being the leading man. He briefly led his own team in Excalibur, but he more than deserves another chance. Nightcrawler is a gentle hero who speaks to people’s souls, so him leading an X-team with a focus on helping more than defending would be incredible to see.

Which X-Man do you think deserves their own team the most? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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