The X-Men’s 7 Greatest Weaknesses

The X-Men get it all from all sides. They have to defend mutants from humans, humans from mutants, fight government overreach, and deal with the superhero community, who sometimes end up supporting anti-mutant policies by default (because Marvel’s superhero community and the government are intertwined). All of that is before we look at their interpersonal relationships, which have also ended up being rather violent on more than one occasion. They have to be on guard all the time, doing their best to present a strong front to the public, but as much as they like to pretend otherwise, they’re only human and humans have weaknesses.

Over the years, the team has been in situations that put their weaknesses into contrast. They may have spent years training, but most of their problems are ones that another round in a Danger Room aren’t going to fix. They do their best, but they have some glaring blindspots that have been used against them numerous times, leading to some of their worst defeats. These are the X-Men’s seven greatest weaknesses, and they’ve cost them many times.

7) They Fight Amongst Themselves

All superhero teams squabble amongst themselves, but the X-Men seem to have blood feuds with each other constantly. Wolverine and Cyclops’ rivalry is at the top of the list, but we’ve also clashes between Gambit and… well everyone at some point or another, Emma Frost and Jean Grey, Emma Frost and Kitty Pryde (basically Emma Frost and every woman, really), Cable and Bishop, and so many more. The X-Men stories of the ’10s saw the team break in two because of the Logan/Scott rivalry, making mutantkind even weaker. The Krakoa Era was defined by interpersonal squabbles, and it helped mess everything up. The X-Men’s most dangerous enemy is often… the X-Men.

6) Public Perception

Mutants are a hot button issue in the Marvel Universe. People are afraid of them and what their existence means for humanity and racism is basically the default public perception of the public. Let’s be real for a second – the civilians of the Marvel Universe are some of the most hateful, gullible people you can ever imagine. They have been sold anti-mutant sentiment for so long that they look at the X-Men as threats no matter how many times they save the world. The public at large will never trust the team, and that means there will always be groups ready to make that distrust into bloodshed.

5) They’re Lousy Nation Builders

The Krakoa Era changed the X-Men for five years, and it highlighted one of the X-Men’s biggest problems – they suck at nation-building. Krakoa wasn’t the first time the team tried to create a sovereign realm for themselves – that was Utopia – but it fell for many of the same reasons. Basically, whenever the X-Men get a place to live that they can be in charge of, they start to get mouthy with everyone else. They’re like a kid who just learned how to throw a good kick picking fights with armed soldiers. Krakoa especially was bad, because they started to lord their new power over everyone, all while picking the worst possible leaders they could. The X-Men are for 0 for 2 in nation building and they need to quit while they’re behind before they mess up even worse.

4) They’re Not Proactive

The X-Men battle some formidable villains, but they have a problem with their enemies that a lot of superhero teams do – they aren’t proactive. The best example of this is the Krakoa Era. So, they did go and attack the Orchis Forge, which was proactive, but then instead of destroying Orchis as quickly and completely as possible, they just stopped. There are numerous times in X-history where if they actually were proactive instead of reactive, many lives would have been saved. They have been proactive several times but then they just sort of stop, which leads to even more problems in the future.

3) Charles Xavier

Charles Xavier founded the X-Men and was their guiding light for years. However, he was never the saint that everyone thought he was. Xavier has always been rather pragmatic about the survival of the mutant race, leading him to do some rather terrible things, from enslaving a newly evolved digital life form to mindwiping his friends and students. He keeps destructive secrets that eventually endanger his charges. Professor X can be a terrible person, and his action have been a huge problem for the group many times over the years.

2) Bringing Undertrained Mutants Into Combat

The X-Men are not just a superhero team, they’re also a group that trains young mutants. This is great for the young mutants, but not so great for the team. See, the men and woman of X have also brought the undertrained teens of X into battle, like Kitty Pryde, Rogue, and Jubilee, which can be very dangerous for everyone; they could get hurt and other members can get hurt trying to help them. They have thrown mutants with powers they barely understand into battle many times and have never figured out why that’s a bad idea.

1) They Trust the Villains Too Much

While the Krakoa Era’s the biggest example of this, the team has been doing it for a very long time. Over the years, the team has allowed villains to join them and they have paid for it almost every time. In fact, the only time off the top of my head I can think of where it didn’t end up hurting them is Rogue. Mystique and Sabretooth have both gotten numerous chances to betray the team and have taken every single one of them. Rogue’s Rapid Response team had Mystique, ‘Tooth, and Lady Mastermind, all of whom would betray them at some point. Then, of course, there’s the Krakoa Era, with Sebastian Shaw, Selene, and Mister Sinister, all of whom caused problems for the group. The X-Men always put too much trust into their enemies and then wonder why they get betrayed all the time.

What do you think are the X-Men’s greatest weakness? Leave a comment in the comment section and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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