X-Men Marvel Holds Back

Part of what makes the X-Men comics so great is the true ensemble cast of mutants. While any one of the characters is awesome enough on their own, seeing the characters put their brains and powers together to take out supervillains across the world is always a treat. However, there's a fly in the ointment of Marvel's favorite mutant books. Specifically, there are too many great X-Men that have fallen by the wayside over the years. And we're not talking about those terrible mutants whose storylines we all try to forget. Instead, these are mutant powerhouses that are able to help the X-Men tackle any foe in great style.

They have clever powers, cool backstories, and wild personalities. The good news is that Marvel is a company that is driven by fan demand. If enough fans demand to see more of these awesome characters, then we might just get to read more of their ongoing adventures. With that in mind, who are the X-Men that we would most love to see more of? You don't have to scan our minds with Cerebro...just keep scrolling to check out the 15 X-Men that Marvel is holding back from becoming premier superheroes in the Marvel Universe.

15 BANSHEE

Banshee was a standout X-Man in a number of ways. He had a history as an Interpol officer and lots of life experience before bringing his powerful sonic scream to the X-Men. As time has gone on, he has been everything from a Generation X mentor to a corpse to a Horsemen of Apocalypse, but we haven’t seen too much of him in Marvel Comics lately.

As readers, this is a real loss to us. Banshee is a great character who is able to offer his seasoned perspective to younger teammates with wit and charm. And his powers are surprisingly versatile, helping him fly, stun enemies, generate forcefields, and much more. He can engage in spycraft, making him both a powerful tool to the X-Men and a powerful narrative opportunity for writers. Maybe the next writer that puts Banshee back in the game will inherit his castle full of leprechauns?

14 DARWIN

As a character, Darwin entered Marvel Comics via a bit of controversy. He was introduced in the X-Men: Deadly Genesis storyline, which threw in a bombshell retcon about Professor X getting an entire group of new X-Men killed in a botched rescue mission. Darwin was one of these characters, and he managed to survive the incident and later join the team.

The X-Men: First Class movie demonstrated Darwin’s powers well: he can hyper-evolve himself, changing his body to deal with any threat. In many ways, he’s stronger than Wolverine: while Logan can heal himself after devastating attacks, Darwin’s body can change to anything to help him avoid harm. He has fascinating powers and a rich comics history which includes battling big league baddies like Hela and Hulk. However, we haven’t seen the character in over half a decade, despite being one of the world’s strongest mutants.

13 DAZZLER

It's very easy to underestimate Dazzler. After all, her power is to convert sound into light, and many fans think of her as a glorified disco ball. Over the years, though, she has used her powers to generate devastating lasers and create crafty holograms; she's even been powered up by Galactus to take on galactic-level threats!

Despite the sheer possibilities of her powers and the character's enduring popularity (she's even going to pop up in the X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie), she's been absent from Marvel Comics quite a bit, popping up briefly in comics such as X-Men Blue. However, Dazzler remains as stunning as her name: there's a reason that Marvel nearly gave Dazzler a movie in the 1980s and that she co-starred with Ash from Evil Dead to fight off some Marvel zombies. This character has “star” written all over her, and she needs to return to regular appearances!

12 SAGE

For X-Men fans, the mere mention of Sage brings back some bad memories. This is because the character is a black hole of weird retcons, as she was retroactively part of the X-Men (albeit secretly) from the very beginning. With her ability to function as a living computer and track mutants, she has served in unusual capacities, such as being Xavier's double agent within the Hellfire Club. However, it's been years since she popped up in a Marvel comic, even in the form of another awkward retcon.

While the character herself is divisive, there's actually no better time than now for her return to the X-Men. As our world is increasingly digitized, her abilities have become more relevant than ever before. And if we're being honest, Sage is much, much more multidimensional than the character of Danger, who is still playing a part in the X-Men's modern adventures.

11 NORTHSTAR

One of the great paradoxes around the original X-Men is that even though “mutant” was a metaphor for any outcast group, the core X-Men were very mainstream: white, well-off, heterosexual, and so on. This is why Northstar gained so much fame as the first openly-gay X-Man, later paving the way for Iceman himself to come out of the closet. And Northstar has great powers to boot, boasting speed, flight, and bursts of explosive light.

Northstar has managed to live several lives in one, having been killed, resurrected, brainwashed, and restored in relatively short order. He ultimately survived all of his ordeals, but hasn't popped up in any comics in years. Bringing the character back would go a long way towards making the X-Men more diverse, and it wouldn't even take the introduction of a new character: just proper use of one they already have!

10 HAVOK

Havok is a character that the writers never seemed quite sure what to do with. With his plasma bursts and stolid personality, he often seemed like a stand-in for his more famous brother, Cyclops. However, Havok has really come into his own over the years: he's been a major player on teams like the Uncanny Avengers, and he has made planet-changing decisions during the battle of the Inhumans and the X-Men.

However, Marvel Comics has done the same as the X-Men films have: brushed this character under the rug, relegating him to the occasional X-Men Blue cameo just like Polaris. At this point, it's clear that Havok should be leading his own team of mutants rather than playing second fiddle to characters like Cyclops or Captain America. Perhaps the death of the original Cyclops will allow Marvel to give this character the spotlight he deserves.

9 MIMIC

Mimic is one of the most versatile mutants on this list. As the name implies, he can take the form of anyone, shapeshifting until he looks just like them. It doesn’t stop there, though: he can also temporarily absorb any specialized knowledge and skills these people may have. If this didn't make him powerful enough, he also has the powers and abilities of the core original X-Men on hand at all times.

This makes Mimic an all-around powerhouse, just as adept at sneaking around as he is at all out combat. The character has been brought back in some creative ways over the years, including a memorable turn in Exiles, but he hasn't appeared in any mainstream Marvel comics for several years. Just think of the possibilities if the X-Men had their own version of Mystique, only better!

8 LOCKHEED

For years, Lockheed and Kitty Pryde were a package deal. At first, he was presented as a glorified sidekick: an alien dragon that was good in a fight and could conveniently help Kitty and the other X-Men out of tough situations. Eventually, the X-Men learned he was much more than they thought: Lockheed is an intelligent alien who has worked with S.W.O.R.D. (the space-centric version of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

These later revelations really fleshed out his character, and we've seen Lockheed doing everything from having adventures with cool animals like the Pet Avengers to teaching classes to young mutants. Despite his power and versatility, though, it's been years since we've seen Lockheed, despite Kitty Pryde's adventures in X-Men Gold. With any luck, Marvel Comics will have all of us chasing the dragon again very soon!

7 POLARIS

Polaris has been a major part of the X-Men's world for decades. We've seen her as Havok's partner, Magneto's daughter (you can always flip a coin to see if this has been retconned again lately), and as both a supervillain and a superhero across multiple teams. Her powerful magnetic abilities make her an intimidating foe, and the character is even enjoying some smallscreen spotlight now on the TV show The Gifted.

In Marvel Comics, though, the character is being really underutilized. She has popped up in what amounts to cameo appearances in X-Men Blue, but the truth is that she should be working alongside the X-Men or even headlining her own book. She's got a rich history with multiple mutants, has worked alongside heroes and villains, and is an ultra-powerful mutant...what's not to love?

6 HEPZIBAH

Understandably, many fans think of the Starjammers rather than the X-Men when they think about Hepzibah. After all, she is a prominent member of that intergalactic team, but she has also served as an X-Man, reluctantly joining the team at one point when she was stranded on Earth. In her time, she has fought monsters, aliens, Avengers, and Hulk in the name of the X-Men.

Sadly, we haven't seen the character in several years. However, she enhances any book she is in. In addition to her animal-like powers (including speed, claws, night vision, tracking, and so on), she is simply hilarious: her flirtation with everyone from Corsair to Namor can lighten up any story and elevate it beyond a simple beat'em up, and her experience and knowledge on a galactic scale rivals many our more familiar X-Men. With any luck, we'll see you later, space cowgirl.

5 KARMA

Considering their appearance (sort of) in Logan and their upcoming solo movie, the New Mutants seem to be having a moment lately. And one of the greatest new mutants is Karma, the mutant who can mentally possess other beings. She was more mature than the other New Mutants and really lived the full X-Man life, going from being a young recruit to teaching at Xavier's school. Since then, she's fought alongside multiple X-teams across the world, but she's been scarce in Marvel comics for a few years now.

This is a shame not just because of her powerful mutant ability (a very weaponized kind of psychic ability), but her personality and background. She has a rich Vietnamese and Catholic background that gave her a perspective few other mutants have, and her life spent at Xavier's helped her exemplify his philosophies more than most mutants could ever hope to do.

4 DOCTOR NEMESIS

Look, we understand: Doctor Nemesis is one of the stupidest names for an X-Man ever. However, the character is really pretty awesome: his super eyesight and hyper-intellect helped him give Beast serious competition as the X-Men's physician. Furthermore, like Wolverine, Doctor Nemesis seemed to have a greatly extended life: this guy was creating the original Human Torch and serving as a superhero way back in the 1940s.

Ultimately, Doctor Nemesis is a little bit of everything: cool doctor, swashbuckling superhero, and complete smartass. He was a member of several mutant organizations (including X-Men, X-Force, and the X-Club), meaning he's been around the block quite a bit. Nonetheless, Marvel hasn't used him in years, but there's no time like the present to bring this dapper, dashing mutant back into the spotlight.

3 MAGIK

If the X-Men were to ever hold a contest to determine who has had the most traumatic life, Magik would win that competition by a country mile. Her mutant power of teleportation seems simple enough, but the life she spent being raised and trained by a demon in Limbo left her emotionally scarred and wielding the powerful Soulsword. Over the years, she has been through death and rebirth and fought mutants and demons across multiple planes of existence.

Despite this, Marvel Comics has relegated her to the status of a third-stringer. She makes appearances in comics such as Secret Warriors, but fans are clamoring to have her be a regular part of an ongoing X-Men series. Given her BFF Kitty's regular appearances in X-Men Gold, it would be awesome if Marvel brought back everyone's favorite mystical mutant.

2 CYPHER

At the time that he was introduced in New Mutants, many people (both inside and outside of the comic) seriously underestimated Cypher. After all, his mutant ability to instantly understand any language did not seem like the most combat-ready power. However, Cypher's ability to interact (and later interface) with the techno-organic Warlock showed the potential of his powers, and there is very little that he cannot now do.

For instance, Cypher was previously killed and later resurrected, and this has greatly increased his powers. Like Neo within the Matrix, Cypher now sees the world in terms of information, and he can see secrets whispering out of technology and intuitively solve almost any problem he faces. As Cypher himself notes, “everything is language,” and the mutant that can understand any language can understand (and fight) just about everything. Despite his great potential, though, Marvel has had him benched for several years.

1 X-MAN

When fans think back to the original "Age of Apocalypse" event, they mostly remember how cool it was to see circus funhouse mirror versions of our favorite characters, ranging from X-Men founder Magneto to one-armed mercenary Wolverine. However, the series also introduced X-Man, a different version of Cable who managed to survive when reality was changed back to its original version.

This version of Cable, though, was never infected by any techno-organic virus, meaning he was much, much more powerful than the Cable we know and love. He's an Omega-level mutant who has beefy telekinesis and telepathy, and characters like Moira McTaggert have claimed he could give the Phoenix Force a run for its money. Despite this great power, Marvel hasn't used X-Man in over half a decade. Perhaps Cable's appearance in Deadpool 2 will encourage Marvel to dust off this prettier and more powerful version of Cable.

Which of these X-Men do you like the most? Be sure to let us know in the comments!