X-Men Blue's New Team Lineup Is Revealed

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Magneto's New X-Men Blue Team Lineup is Finally Revealed in Full

By Tim Adams

Published Apr 13, 2018

When the Mothervine is launched across the globe, Magneto must rely on a whole new team of heroes in X-Men Blue #25.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for X-Men Blue #25 by Cullen Bunn, Jorge Molina, Mike Perkins, Craig Yeung, Matt Milla, Andy Troy and Joe Caramagna, on sale now.

While the time-displaced members of X-Men Blue are lost in space following their "Poison-X" affair, the title's villains have put their Mothervine agenda into motion. Havok, White Queen, Bastion and Miss Sinister plan to release their mutant-enhancing experiment on the populace to put those with the X-gene at the top of the food chain.

Magneto has brought together a new team of X-Men that are up to the challenge of stopping the Mothervine once and for all. Some of these mutants were already a part of X-Men Blue, while the rest were either recruited or have personal scores to settle with the collection of villains.

Mothervine vs. Mutant Growth Hormone

Before Havok and his accomplices strike, Magneto tries one last time to reason with the former X-Man. Of course, while both want better for mutantkind, they have completely different philosophies on how this should be accomplished. Magneto is working with respected heroes, while Havok has aligned himself with the likes of Bastion and Miss Sinister.

When negotiations break down and the violence begins, Emma Frost uses her mental powers to boost Havok's energy blasts. Overwhelmed, Magneto must resort to taking mutant growth hormone to even the playing field.

Mutant growth hormone -- also known as MGH -- is a drug increases a mutant's powers, but only for a short amount of time. The drug played a part in Bunn's Magneto series, along with Brian Michael Bendis' Uncanny X-Men. You may wonder why Magneto has no problem with MGH, but is vehemently against the Mothervine. Well, the reason for that is the side effects of MGH are known, while Mothervine is unpredictable. When Sebastian Shaw underwent the Mothervine process, the result left his body withering away. As Magneto said earlier, "Mutants are not experiments."

The World Needs The X-Men

The MGH boost gave Magneto just enough time to retreat back to the X-Mansion. But before he arrives, the X-Men Blue's new recruits start showing up. Briar Raleigh's meeting with Wolverine's son, Daken, proved successful; Magneto's daughter, Polaris, was able to purge herself of the Ultimate Universe version of Malice, but not before critically wounding members of the Raksha -- save for Gazing Nightshade; and finally, Jimmy Hudson and Bloodstorm saved Xorn from more refugees of the Ultimate Universe, the Mauraders.

With the six would-be heroes together for the first time, X-Men Blue 2.0 has reported for duty.

At a glance, the new lineup may seem random, but every member has a connection to the X-Men's past or present. What's more, their power levels should work well together, giving the team a fighting chance in the Mothervine war. The mutation was loaded into bombs that have been launched all over the world, with those nearest the impact zone with a 60-percent chance of being infected.

It will be interesting to see if this new team can mesh well. Only Jimmy Hudson and Bloodstorm have worked together, but Gazing Nightshade, Xorn and Daken are loose canons. However, rotating lineups are a longtime staple of X-Men comics. X-Men Blue's sister title, X-Men Gold, also introduced a brand new team in its most recent story arc. But if any franchise is equipped to handle uncertainty, it's the X-Men.