When people think about mutants in Marvel Comics, the first thought goes toward the X-Men and their spinoff teams. However, while these are the homes for most of Marvel’s heroic mutants, several big-name mutants joined non-mutant teams. This was important since the public is often fearful of mutants, showing a level of bigotry and hatred toward them. When a mutant joins a team like The Avengers or Fantastic Four, it somewhat elevates them and makes them less intimidating to the average person. It also helps show the world that heroes they trust, like Captain America or Reed Richards, trust the mutants, and helps them fit more securely into an otherwise terrifying world.
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From The Avengers and Fantastic Four to The Champions, Defenders, and more, here is a look at times in Marvel Comics history when a big-name mutant joined a non-mutant superhero team.
10) Namor – The Defenders
Namor is widely considered the first mutant of Marvel Comics. He isn’t the first mutant in history, since there were mutants in the distant past, like Apocalypse. However, Namor was the first mutant in comic books, as he pre-dated Marvel Comics at Timely and debuted in the early issues of The Fantastic Four, making the jump into the new comic line. However, while Professor X and Magneto both tried to recruit Namor into their specific mutant teams, he rejected both men. Instead, he joined Marvel’s “non-team,” The Defenders, with Doctor Strange, Hulk, and Silver Surfer. He was never the best teammate thanks to his arrogance, but it was something he didn’t want to do with his fellow mutants.
9) Cyclops – Champions
Cyclops has almost exclusively been a member of the X-Men and other mutant teams like X-Factor. However, when Beast displaced the teenage X-Men and stranded them in his timeline, Cyclops ended up leaving the team and set out to find himself. He ended up helping co-found the Champions with other teen heroes like Kamala Khan, Miles Morales, Amadeus Cho, and Nova. With that said, this was the time-displaced teenage Cyclops. However, once he returned to his timeline, his adult version suddenly had these memories and was there to help his former teenage teammates when they found overwhelming forces plotting against them.
8) Ms. Marvel – Champions, Avengers
Along with Cyclops, Kamala Khan also helped found the Champions. Unlike Cyclops, she stuck with the team and helped ensure that they became a respected team in their own right, including fighting the U.S. government when they outlawed teenage heroes and tried to lock all the young heroes away. Ms. Marvel, along with Nova and Miles Morales, is a former Avengers member. After leaving that team, she set out to prove that the Champions could help the little people on the streets that the Avengers mostly ignored. On a side note, Kamala only found out later that she was a mutant, as she gained her powers as an Inhuman and is a rare mutant-Inhuman hybrid.
7) Northstar & Aurora – Alpha Flight
Canada had its own version of the Avengers called Alpha Flight. This team worked for the Canadian government and went on missions in Canada’s name, including their first appearance when they tried to apprehend and bring in Wolverine, who was also a former Canadian government agent. However, when the team got its own series, they were defunded and had to make things work. Two of their members in this new series were twins, Norhtstar and Aurora, both mutants. Northstar has superhuman speed, and Aurora has light generation powers.
6) Iceman – The Defenders, The Champions
Iceman was one of the original X-Men members and the youngest member on the original team. Since that time, he has been on and off the X-Men many times and also served as one of the first members of X-Factor. However, he has also been on non-mutant teams as well. At one time, he helped form the Champions of Los Angeles with fellow X-Men founding member Angel, Ghost Rider, Black Widow, and Hercules. Later, he joined the Defenders along with Angel again and Beast, giving the team three original X-Men members. Since that time, Iceman has stuck with only mutant teams.
5) Sunspot – The Avengers
Sunspot is an interesting mutant. He got his start as a teenager and a founding member of the New Mutants, a team that was meant to train young mutants to eventually be X-Men members. However, he is also from an extraordinarily wealthy family, and when he inherited his family fortune, he used it to try to create something big. This happened following the Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover series, Sunspot and Cannonball joined the Avengers. However, Sunspot left when he disagreed with the team’s methods and actions. Instead, he bought AIM and then became its leader after kicking out Scientist Supreme. He then used AIM’s technology to create his own Avengers team. Soon, his team became the intelligence division of SHIELD.
4) Storm – The Fantastic Four, The Avengers
Storm was part of the X-Men reboot when Marvel Comics brought the team back and injected it with fresh, new members from around the world. This included names like Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Thunderbird. Storm became one of the team’s most loyal and powerful leaders, but she has also been a part of non-mutant teams. She and Black Panther joined the Fantastic Four when Reed and Sue took time off to work on their marriage. More recently, Storm has also been a member of the Avengers, and no matter where she goes, she remains a powerful and dangerous ally.
3) Angel – The Champions, The Defenders
Angel was one of the original X-Men, but he has been part of two other teams, both of which he helped form. The first was The Champions of Los Angeles, a team he helped found with Iceman. They teamed up with Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider and decided to keep working together. He then helped reshape the Defenders when the original members left, and he worked with fellow former X-Men Beast and Iceman to bring in new heroes to become a more official version of the once-nicknamed “non-team.” However, most of his career has been spent on mutant teams like X-Men and X-Factor, and the villain team known as the Horsemen of Apocalypse.
2) Beast – The Avengers, The Defenders
The Beast was another of the original X-Men members, although he was human-looking at the time. Eventually, he turned into his more well-known blue-furry self when he began to try to “cure” himself of being a mutant. It was after this that Beast became a member of the Avengers. He was an Avengers member for a long time, becoming best friends with Wonder Man and working as one of the most jovial members of the team. He also helped reshape the Defenders when he worked with Angel and Iceman to bring in regular members to replace Namor, Doctor Strange, Hulk, and Silver Surfer. While Beast has become a hated character over the years, he was extremely well-liked during these stints.
1) Wolverine – The Avengers, Fantastic Four
Wolverine might be the most popular X-Men in history. He got his start in the Canadian government, working for their superhero agency. Still, he got his adamantium skeleton from Weapon X, the same agency that helped develop the Super Soldier Formula for Captain America. Professor X messed with his mind, making him join the X-Men, and he has been with the team ever since. However, he has also made his way to other teams. Wolverine was a member of the Fantastic Four when all four main members were off Earth. He has also been one of the best members of the Avengers, and he even teamed with the Avengers against the X-Men in that crossover series.
Who was your favorite mutant to join a non-mutant hero team in Marvel Comics? Did we leave out your top choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
