41 Years Later, This Fan Favorite X-Men Character is Finally Getting the Chance to Lead

Part of the X-Men’s Shadows of Tomorrow relaunch, Inglorious X-Force by Tim Seeley set forth a new iteration of the military strike force still led by tried-and-true leader Nathan Summers aka the mutant Cable. This time, Cable assembled a team in hopes of preventing a future attack on President Kamala Khan, the United States’ first mutant leader, while simultaneously deciphering which teammate would be behind it from a mysterious carving on his arm. 

The comic’s follow up, a five-issue series titled Fugitive X-Force set to release in December, will follow the same team but with a leadership shake up. After Cable’s mind is revealed as compromised, team member Boom Boom steps up as the new team leader. Over her 41 years of publication, Boom Boom has been a member of various X-teams including X-Men, X-Force, New Mutants, and the X-Terminators, but she’s never led a team before. In typical X-Men fashion, the circumstances for her doing so also aren’t ideal. Fugitive X-Force will see the team on the run after being framed for a crime they did not commit. Can Boom Boom handle the role and its responsibilities or will she burst from the pressure? 

Seeds for Boom Boom Leadership Already Sewn in Inglorious X-Force

From what’s been shown in Inglorious X-Force, it isn’t a far stretch to see Boom Boom leading the team. Inglorious X-Force issue 3 gives readers’ Boom Boom’s interior monologue, emphasizing her adaptability. Boom Boom sees herself as somebody who “has started out with so little” but has “been a bunch of different things, lived lots of lives”. She may have started out in a trailer park with an abusive father but she’s managed to make a living for herself whether it be through flirtations or use of her mutant powers. She’s quick to adapt to changing orders, unafraid to fling herself off the side of a building because she knows a teammate will catch her. 

Boom Boom is also pragmatic, a quality invaluable for leading an X-Team. Despite feeling rising tensions herself, she knows to immediately diffuse fighting between Archangel and Hellverine because the current X-Force is “scrappy” and “low budget”, meaning they can’t afford to destroy their equipment. Boom Boom has been on X-Force before and knows its use. It isn’t the idealistic X-Men fighting for human-mutant co-existence or the New Mutants training the next generation. No, X-Force is meant to do the dirty work the other teams cannot, and Boom Boom has no qualms about morality. 

Could a Compromised Cable Undermine Boom Boom’s Ability to Lead? 

A main question, undermining Boom Boom’s ability to lead, is how she will deal with Cable being compromised.  Over the years, Boom Boom has consistently served under Cable, taking his orders and trusting his judgment. Boom Boom has grown to see Cable as a father figure. She’s grateful towards him not only for focusing her on the field but also giving her a home, friends, and a family. It’s not unlike the gratitude felt by the mainline X-Men team towards Charles Xavier. Yet, unlike the X-Men and Charles, it’s unclear how Boom Boom would react to having to go against Cable. 

Boom Boom’s self image outside of Cable is decidedly negative. Her main stint removed from his leadership was with Nextwave where Boom Boom felt taken advantage of and made out to be a joke. While Boom Boom under Cable’s leadership is fun, flirtatious, and loyal, Boom Boom can’t help but see the version of herself under Nextwave as mere ditzy, trailer trash. It wouldn’t be a stretch, given the team’s inclusion in Inglorious X-Force, for additional memories of Boom Boom’s stint in the team to reemerge amidst the pressures of leadership. 

Why Boom-Boom Should be a Leader

Perhaps, the most exciting aspect of this change is seeing a different type of personality as a leader. Audiences know too well the leadership of Charles Xavier’s paternalistic approach, Cyclops’ tactical focus, and Emma Frost’s emphasis on doing it for the children. Previous leadership mainstays Jean Grey and Storm have spun off into their own books, ready for solo adventures, while Kitty Pryde was once the headmistress of the Jean Grey School seems likely to stay Emma Frost’s second in command in the current running X-Men United. Boom-Boom in her role as leader could offer something new. 

Because unlike Storm and Emma, Boom Boom is hardly maternal. It’s interesting to read Boom Boom and Ms. Marvel interacts because she doesn’t have the expected immediate care towards her that would be expected in other similar dynamics. Boom Boom has to remind herself why they’re working to protect Ms. Marvel while they gripe with each other. They frequently disagree both about Ms. Marvel’s pacifist approach despite being on X-Force and because Ms. Marvel doesn’t want to hear about the sex lives of billionaires. The dynamic is a fresh one to watch and with Boom Boom becoming leader hopefully won’t change from that. 

Do you think Boom Boom has what it takes? Why or why not? 

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