X-Men: The Team's 'New' Retro Costumes Dive Deep Into Marvel's Legacy

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Uncanny X-Men #13, by Matthew Rosenberg, Salvador Larroca, Guru-eFX and Joe Caramagna, on sale now.

As far as most of the Marvel Universe is concerned, the X-Men are dead. The vast majority of the team's mutant heroes are trapped in the supposedly utopian Age of X-Man, along with some of their biggest villains. Back in the Marvel Universe, the recently-revived Cyclops and Wolverine have started putting together a new ragtag team to take care of the X-Men's unfinished business.

Even though they don't have any real resources, Cyclops and Logan have managed to scrape together a team of X-veterans including Havok, Moonstar, Magik, Wolfsbane and Karma. While almost all of those mutants are wounded and on the run from anti-mutant government forces, they all signed up to help Cyclops on what he's called the X-Men's "final" mission.

To prepare his new X-Men for that mission, Cyclops gives the team some old costumes he salvaged from the tunnels beneath the ruins of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Uncanny X-Men #13.

While these costumes might seem like a random assortment of outfits from various points in X-Men history, they actually reveal a lot about where these characters stand by pointing back to specific points in X-Men history.

CYCLOPS

After a lengthy stint as a mutant revolutionary who wasn't always right, Cyclops, since his resurrection, has been acting more like a superhero than he had in the previous decade. In this issue, Cyclops visually reinforces his status as a superhero by returning to the iconic costume he wore in the 1990s. Designed by Jim Lee, this blue-and-gold costume debuted in 1991's X-Men #1 and was cemented as Cyclops' signature look in X-Men: The Animated Series.

While the costume uses the classic X-Men color scheme to identify Cyclops as a proponent of Xavier's dream, subtle changes reveal that he's not the precise leader that he used to be. Instead of the original yellow visor that matches that outfit, the X-Men leader keeps the silver visor he's worn since 2001. While the costume's head-sleeve used to show off his perfectly trimmed hair, his current shaggier cut doesn't quite fit here. This costume visualizes Cyclops's desire to be a superhero again, but simultaneously suggests that he hasn't quite figured out how yet.

WOLVERINE

Like Cyclops, Wolverine also returns to the iconic brown-and-tan costume he had in X-Men #1. Logan started wearing the John Byrne-designed costume in 1980's X-Men #139 and kept it for most of the next decade. While he had plenty of X-Men adventures in this uniform, he also wore this suit during his outings as an increasingly-popular solo hero.

While it has enough yellow hues to visually link Logan to the other X-Men, its darker, more earthy tones also indicate that he's once again operating in a shadier, more morally gray area than the rest of the team. To that effect, he briefly argues for the idea of killing the X-Men's enemies in this story before falling in line and agreeing to take his cues from Cyclops' lead.

NEXT PAGE: Uncanny X-Men: What Havok, Magik, and the New Mutants' Costumes Tell Us

HAVOK

Instead of wearing one of his more famous looks, Havok returns to the costume he wore when he briefly led the X-Men starting in 2005's X-Men #166. Salvador Larroca, who also drew this issue, designed this costume, a black bodysuit that has concentric blue circles and directional lines across its upper half. It also includes large silver gauntlets and boots, along with a head-sleeve that leaves Havok's hair exposed.

Havok wore this costume for a little over a year before he switched to a simpler, sleeker take on the same outfit. When Havok initially had this look, he was fairly unsure of himself, largely because of his ailing romantic relationship with Polaris. While he's not leading anyone in this issue, this issue still suggests some friction between Havok and his closest friend on the team, his brother Cyclops.

MAGIK

Until a few years ago, Magik wore revealing costumes that reflected her status as the demonic ruler of the hellish dimension Limbo. However, she's been wearing a version of the standard X-Men uniform since she officially rejoined the team last year. In this issue, Magik returns to a slightly updated version of her original New Mutants outfit that features Limbo-inspired armor covering her entire left arm.

While the standard X-Men uniform she wears clearly signifies her a as a member of the team, her armor serves as a steady reminder of the dark potential that lies within her. But even though she doesn't hesitate to attack the villainous Dark Beast in this issue, the story doesn't really point towards a future dark turn, even if her armor serves as a visual reminder of the hero's tragic, troubling past.

THE NEW MUTANTS

Like Magik, Karma, Moonstar and Wolfsbane also appear to be wearing updated versions of their classic New Mutants costumes. While this issue doesn't offer a particularly good look at their uniforms, the heroes' looks combine their yellow-and-black 1980s outfits with the sleeker design and slimmer fit of the X-Men team uniforms Forge and several other X-Men briefly wore in the early 1990s.

While it's worth noting that Karma, like Forge, keeps part of her bionic leg exposed, these costumes visually tie Karma, Moonstar, Wolfsbane and Magik together, acknowledging their shared history. Since these are essentially the uniforms they wore as X-Men-in-training, the costumes suggest that they are soldiers, not generals, in Cyclops' new mission.

By the end of this issue, Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, apparently joins the X-Men as well, and upcoming covers have indicated that Banshee and Hope Summers will join the team soon, too. Despite their dwindling numbers, these X-Men remain dedicated to protecting a world that hates and fears them more than ever before.

The X-Men's adventures will continue in Uncanny X-Men #14 by Matthew Rosenberg and Salvador Larroca, on sale March 20.