While writing reviews of the entire Uncanny X-Men series, I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of my ideal X-Men team. Since X-Men teams are traditionally six people, I will stick to six with this list. I may update the list as I learn more about the X-Men mythos as well. Here is my list!
Cyclops: Cyclops will always be the leader of the X-Men in my mind and the centerpiece to the X-Men universe. His views and leadership styles have shifted greatly throughout the years, but there has never been a question as to who is the leader of the mutants. None of the X-Men movies have done a justice to Cyclops, but there would be no X-Men without their first deputy leader.
Wolverine: I know Wolverine is not a very original character to put in my team, but he is everyone’s favorite X-Man for a reason. He is the essence of cool and he has a really interesting story.
Kitty Pryde: Kitty Pryde has always been one of my favorite X-Men. She is very well developed as a character and is definitely one of the most interesting characters in all of Marvel. She’s also just straight up awesome. She’s a genius, and a ninja, and she has a pet dragon. If Cyclops is the core of the X-Men, than Kitty is the heart of the team.
Emma Frost: Now here’s where things get a little bit tricky. You always need a telepath on your team and I had a tough time choosing between Jean Grey and Emma Frost. I know a lot of people will disagree with me about my choice, but I think that Emma Frost is much more interesting than Jean Grey. A lot of interesting stories revolve around Jean Grey but as a stand-alone character Jean is a bit of a bore to me. On the other hand, I find Emma Frost fascinating. I enjoy how she toes the line between good and bad. Jean also toes this line, but it is usually solely because the Phoenix possesses her. Emma Frost may not be as powerful as Jean, but I’d rather team up with the White Queen.
Magik: My second controversial choice for my team is Magik over Nightcrawler. I love both characters, but I thought it would be silly to have two teleporters on one team. This was particularly tough because both characters have interesting, juicy backstories and both characters are extremely badass. When it came down to it, I chose Magik because she has more powers than Nightcrawler. Along with teleportation, she has her soul sword and she can do magic. Sorry Nightcrawler my choice has been made.
Iceman: One of the trickiest parts about making my team was choosing the sixth member. The first five were easy, but I wasn’t sure who I wanted to round out the team. In the end I chose Iceman for many reasons. Iceman is one of the most amusing X-Men and always lightens up even the darkest of storylines. Iceman is also an omega level mutant and this makes him one of the most powerful beings in the entire entire Marvel universe. He may not have reached his full potential yet, but he is still powerful. Iceman is a popular character, but people tend to think of him as more of a joke than a serious team member. I however think he deserves a spot on my team.
So what do you think of my X-Men team? Think I got it right? Who would you have on your ideal X-Men team?
Kevin Reviews Uncanny X-Men 
No comment! We already disagree about the Deschanel sisters! 😉
Magneto, Beast, Storm, Rogue, Wolverine, Forge
Good choices. I don’t know much about Forge though. He seems like a very polarizing figure. Some people love him and some people hate him.
Yeah, Forge has pretty much been reduced to that mutant the writer needs to pull off a specific plot hook revolving around his power. But I’ve always dug him, and “Intuitive Inventing” is a crazy cool ability.
I figure Magneto, Beast, and Forge could whip up any tech needed to take care of a threat, while Rogue Wolvie, and Storm keep that threat busy in the meantime 🙂
That’s good thinking. Those six really could solve any problem they faced.
I think the X-men featured in the 1990’s animation cartoon were an ideal and balanced team. Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Rouge, Gambit, Beast, with the addition of Kitty Pryde, Colossus and Iceman. That to me is a team that can handle any threat thrown against Earth.
90s X-Men is the best tv show ever so very good choice. If you had to narrow that down to 6 people, do you think that you could?
Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Jean (as a cooperative Phoenix), Rogue and Iceman
Cyclops, Emma, Magik, Beast, Magneto, Archangel, X-23
Ooo interesting choice of X-23 over Wolverine. What’s your reason?
I have to go with Colossus, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops, Emma, and of course Wolverine!
Nice. I was very much on the fence about whether to put Iceman or Gambit on my team. I may switch them later.
If Chuck Dixon’s work is canon across all Chuck Dixon’s work, I could have an entire team of Lawdog, on account of him also being Judge Dredd, Wolverine, Batman and the Punisher depending on which version of himself he runs into on the Interdimensional Highway. So, he makes at least 5 all by himself, and I can pair him with Jubilee, because she strikes me as the X-men member who would irritate him the most.
Haha I whole heartedly approve of your team choice.
The story would be framed as a prequel to Mad About You; it would end with Bishop coming through a wall like the Kool-Aid man, shooting them both while shouting “For the Fyuu-cha!”
Speaking of six-person teams, there was a time when, because they were government sponsored, all Avengers teams had to have exactly six people. So there were the original, New York-based Avengers, the a West a Coast Avengers led by Hawkeye and his then wife, Mockingbird, and the fabulous a Great Lakes Avengers, which including the weird, amazingly-powerful Squirrel Girl! So she defeats Galactus, and then leaves the group, figuring she is OP…
It is sad the Great Lakes Avengers never had their own comic series, but I guess Squirrel Girl’s appeal would go down probably if she popped up more often. She’s great in small bursts.
That’s a true statement if I’ve ever heard one–how often have we seen that happen to fun characters?
Interesting team, personally I’d make a few changes but not bad in the least.
Who would be on your team?
I’d go with Colossus over Wolverine, Nightcrawler over Magik, and Jean Grey over Emma Frost. The rest I can see working
All acceptable changes. How come you’d choose Colossus over Wolverine?
I just don’t like Wolverine. And even of I did, Colossus can coat himself in metal, forming an armor around him. Making him invulnerable to many (not all) attacks.
Colossus is pretty awesome. And props for publicly declaring your dislike for Wolverine. That is a bold thing to say in the comic world.
Good picks. I personally have gotten a little bit of Wolveirne oversaturation. Two X-Men that couldn’t miss my team would be Nightcrawler and Storm.
Yeah Wolverine is overused but he’s still one of my favorites. Storm was another character I struggled with the decision to add to my team. She competed for ice man’s spot but I already had 3 females on my team so I decided to go with Bobby
Leader: Charles Xavier then Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Kitty Pryde and Night Crawler
Good choices
Cyclops, Colossus, X-23, Magik, Rachel Summers and either Iceman or Storm.
Cyclops as the team leader. Either Storm or Iceman for the elemental powerhouse. Colossus would be the bruiser. X-23 acts as the team’s street level fighter and stealth expert (she’s actually my favourite X-men character). Magik is the X-Men’s ultimate teleporter, and being their resident magic expert doesn’t hurt, so she’s in. And of course to round it out with mental powers, Rachel Summers.
Nice. Interesting choice of Rachel Summers as your telepath.
I decided to mostly stick with modern X-Men characters with their current power sets, and with Emma Frost’s recent downgrade and Cable not having powers at all, Rachel felt more fitting. Also, Rachel kind of deserves more panel time.
Rachel definitely does deserve some more panel time.
Hm, 6 members is definitely tough since they have a lot of good ones.
Cyclops- I’d definitely add him. I’ve always liked him despite the personality shifts. From commanding leader to revenging solo fighter; he’s always been awesome.
Wolverine- He’s just epic and someone that I always want on the team!
Psylocke- I always felt that she was underused in the comics. Her hand to hand skills are excellent and the psychic abilities are an added bonus.
Iceman- I’ve always had a soft spot for him. As a kid; Iceman was my favorite Xmen member!
Magik- Another epic swordfighter and her magic abilities make her one of the strongest Xmen out there. She gives the team some extra power as long as she stays on the side of the heroes.
Cable- He’s not always a team player, but he does have a tendency to join them after a while. His intellect and gun experience will help the team out.
That would likely be my team! 🙂
Great team! Psylocke really is underused but she is an awesome character.
A very nice lineup and I’m sure they would do well in a fight.
My dream team is somewhat different:
Storm as the leader, Rogue as the powerhouse, and Psylocke as the telepath. Kitty is one of my long-time favorite characters, so she’s there and so is Nightcrawler. Additional troublemaker: either Namor or Magneto.
I like your wildcard last pick. Both of them are interesting characters
I like Cyclopes and Wolverine as much as the next guy, but if Marvel gave me a title I would use some of the less known names, why tem, purely because I like them. Beast as leader and science go to guy. Bishop – as the heavy hitter, Sage as the telepath/techie, Boom-Boom, but the kleptomaniac, cop hatting, brain washed version from Next Wave, And Pixie as the heart of the team.
Very interesting choices. That team would definitely make for a good read.
I grew up watching the X-Men: Evolution cartoons, so I’m a bit partial to the characters who were on that show. From your list, I absolutely love Scott/Cyclops, Logan/Wolverine, Kitty/Shadowcat, and Bobby/Iceman. I agree that the movies haven’t done justice to Scott (or to Kitty, for that matter). Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Magik or Emma Frost. (From what little I’ve read of her story, I think Magik sounds really interesting. I’ve never liked Emma Frost, but that might be selection bias based on the limited situations I’ve seen her in.) Rogue’s one of my favorite X-Men as well; I can’t imagine the team without her. As for Jean: I never liked the Phoenix storyline, despite it being such a big part of the X-Universe, because I want to know more about Jean, not just have a story in which she’s taken over by the Phoenix. Her being a doctor in the movies was cool, and there was potential to take that in an interesting direction, given the experimentation on mutants, etc. Storm and Beast are just so cool as well.
I think davekheath makes a good point about including some of the less-known characters. I love Wolverine, and I understand that the movies have to choose one/a few main characters to focus on to have a coherent plot, but I really wish they’d make some stories focusing on some other characters. Unfortunately, I’m not as familiar with some of the lesser-known character (but I’m trying to remedy that).
So, for my ideal team(s):
From the characters I already love: Professor X (of course), Scott, Rogue, Logan, Storm, Iceman, and Kitty.
From characters I know a little bit about but find interesting: Professor X (of course), David/Prodigy, Jean-Paul/Northstar, Amara/Magma, Wanda/Scarlet Witch, Monet/M, and either Jubilee or Tabitha/Boom-Boom
On another note, this is quite an ambitious project you have on this blog. The X-Men are my favorite superheroes. I’ve only read some of the X-Men comics, and only recently started reading them in earnest. I read God Loves, Man Kills and started All-New X-Men (really enjoyed issues #1-5, despite the desire to grab older Scott by the shoulders and shake him) and Wolverine and the X-Men (issues #1-4 were underwhelming, despite the inclusion of some of my favorite characters). I have a book with the first 10 issues from the 1960s, which I plan to read mostly for the nostalgia/appreciation of history factor. Very much looking forward to reading more of your reviews! (Also, thanks for dropping by my blog. It’s much appreciated.)
Good choices on characters. I was debating putting Scarlet Witch on my list but I decided against it. And I am really hoping that this blog can be a place where X-Men fans can get a scope for the history of X-Men without having to read every single issue themselves.
And no problem. I’ve really been enjoying your reviews as well!
Great article. Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, X-23
Great picks. And interesting choice of X-23 over Wolverine.