With Dark Phoenix a bust and Marvel completing its big deal with Fox, it's safe to say we'll be seeing a new incarnation of the X-Men sooner or later. It won't be long before we see Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Storm back on the big screen battling against Magneto or Mr. Sinister or some other formidable foe, like Forearm. But what about all the other mutants? Ones who weren't shot to permanent popularity by the 92 cartoons?
Marvel's 50 plus year history creating these characters means there are dozens of awesome mutants that deserve a chance in the spotlight. Here's a look at ten of the most powerful of those characters.
10 FANTOMEX
Officially designated as Weapon XIII, John-Phillipe is a fusion between man and sentinel. He possesses an incredible computerized mind which he can alter to give himself certain special abilities like raising his natural abilities far beyond peak human. Fantomex also has a robotic external nervous system known as E.V.A., which looks like a flying saucer and can carry him around places. Why? Comic books.
Fantomex also briefly possessed the ability to create realistic illusions capable of fooling almost anyone. Fantomex should make his way into the films purely because of his connection to the same Weapons Plus program as Wolverine.
9 SUNFIRE
Though his origin (which involved his mother being born near Hiroshima and having died of radiation poisoning) would have to be changed, Shiro Yoshida is absolutely a powerhouse who belongs on the big screen. He boasts the ability to emit solar radiation, allowing him to fly and fire plasma from his hands.
He’s one of the earliest X-Men as well, joining the second incarnation of the team to rescue the first team after they were captured on Krakoa. A proud young man who’s flirted with being a bad guy almost as much as he’s been a hero, he’d be a compelling mutant that wouldn’t even have to be an X-Men to be introduced.
8 LONGSHOT
Longshot’s origin is a film unto itself. He’s from an alternate world where all of society is under control by a race of aliens referred to as the spineless ones, immobile creatures who can’t actually move without the help of automated devices. Longshot starts out as one of the spineless one’s greatest assets, a warrior who puts on shows to entertain the masses.
Eventually, Longshot becomes the leader of an entire revolution against his corrupt master. His abilities are myriad, but the most powerful one landing him on this list is Longshot's ability to manipulate his own luck, making things turn out in his favor.
7 HUSK
The Guthrie family is probably one of the most relevant to the X-Men outside of the Summers clan. A humble coal mining family from Kentucky winds up birthing not one or two but five mutants that all wind up joining the X-Men. Aside from her brother Cannonball, Paige Guthrie is one of the best-known among them.
As her name would suggest, Husk has the ability to shed her old skin to take on a different composition, capable of becoming anything she’d studied before, and even developing powers related to what she’s changed into. One of the weirdest, yet most believable evolution related abilities among mutantkind.
6 ARMOR
Hisako Ichiki was introduced to the world of X-Men right before "M-Day" fundamentally changed what it meant to be a mutant for the next decade and a half. She’s aptly named, as her ability helps her generate a massive psionic exoskeleton around her which gives her super strength, enhanced speed, stamina, and endurance.
The limits of Armor's abilities are still unknown, too, as she’s proven capable of creating even larger sets of armor around herself. One of the youngest mutants to join and keep their powers after the Decimation, Armor is the perfect character to use as a surrogate for viewers to be introduced to other characters for the first time.
5 CHAMBER
One of the original Generation X, Jonothan Starsmore is one of the most powerful members of the X-Men we never hear about. His chest is a furnace of psionically generated nuclear energy. It’s self-perpetuating, meaning he doesn’t need to sleep or eat. That means Chamber is incredibly powerful, which is why it’s a shame he mostly uses his power just to create energy blasts from his hands.
The comics have hinted Jono is far more powerful, even showing him completely reassembling himself after killing himself in a kamikaze attack. He’s an essentially immortal source of energy who chooses to be a superhero.
4 POLARIS
The one, true (for now) daughter of Magneto, it’s a wonder Polaris hasn’t been a part of any major film efforts thus far. Often known for her mercurial personality and mental health issues, Polaris was a starring character in Fox’s The Gifted series, but for whatever reason hasn’t debuted on the big screen. Much like her father, Lorna Dane is able to manipulate magnetism.
She can use it to reshape metal, make force fields, and even fly. She’s also frequently the significant other of Cyclops’ brother Havok, which loosely ties her into the massive Summers family. It’s only a matter of time before she’s drawn into whatever MCU has planned for mutants.
3 QUENTIN QUIRE
The enfant terrible of the X-Men roster. Quentin Quire/Kid Omega starts out as an annoying twerp who causes a riot at Xavier’s school but grows to become one of the most popular younger mutants in the wake of "M-Day" and eventually the Schism between Cyclops and Wolverine.
Quire is an Omega level mutant gifted with incredible psionic abilities which allow him the usage of a wide array of powers, from manipulating people’s minds to creating weapons out of pure psychic energy. He’s even had a piece of the Phoenix Force inside him, a story Marvel could do if they got tired of re-hashing the Phoenix Saga.
2 HOPE SUMMERS
Hope Summers’ original origin is far too complex to adapt into movies normally. She was the first mutant to be born after Scarlet Witch caused "M-Day" and wiped out most of the mutants on the planet. After the X-Men saved Hope before she could fall into the hands of more unsavory types, the mutant was whisked away to the future and trained by Cable in increasingly more apocalyptic futuristic timelines.
Of course, Marvel will figure something out, but she makes this list due to her ability to copy and enhance the abilities of any mutant she encounters.
1 MONET
It’s honestly baffling that Monet hasn’t found her way into the movies yet. Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix grew up as a spoiled rich daughter to a French aristocrat until her powers took her life far off the path it was destined for. To be fair, however, she hit the absolute jackpot when it comes to mutant powers.
Monet has got super-strength and speed, invulnerability, a healing factor, telescopic vision, super hearing, an eidetic memory, flight, and she’s a telepath. She’s like if Martian Manhunter were a mutant, except Muslim, minus the weakness to fire, and with a great sense of fashion.