Debuting back in 1963 within the pages of X-Men #1, mutants have remained a staple of the Marvel Universe in the pages of the comics. While the MCU may be prohibited from using the term (and the majority of mutant characters), the species continues to play a prominent role in the comic book world. Since their introduction, writers have used the group to examine all variety of social prejudices and injustices. Not only do mutants, often as part of the heroic X-Men, clash with supremacists and politicians who fear Homo Superior, but they’ve also fought against other heroes like The Avengers.
Throughout their long history, they’ve seen their population explode and be decimated. Sometimes it’s a few words of chaos magic, other times it’s a virus, like the recent outbreak of M-Pox. Stalwarts like Cyclops, Storm, and Magneto are likely to always appear in the pages of the comics, but writers regularly find exciting ways to introduce new, unique looking mutants with fun or challenging powers. We decided to comb through the past three years of new arrivals to find the 15 Newest Mutants In The Marvel Universe You Need To Know About.
15. Goldballs / Fabio Medina
To start things off, we wanted to take a look at one of the more, um, inventive power-sets a mutant has exhibited. A few years after the devastation of M-Day, which saw the vast majority of the mutant population de-powered, a rash of abilities began to appear following the dispersion of the Phoenix Force. Chronicled in 2013’s Uncanny X-Men #1, Brian Michael Bendis and Chris Bachalo introduced us to a group of young, newly mutated characters brought under the wing of Cyclops and his new school. One of the first to pop-up on the group’s radar was teenager Fabio Medina.
Mirroring the real-world issues faced by people of color, Fabio (who’s both a POC and a mutant), is attacked by the police after being the victim of a robbery. As his powers begin to manifest, he’s tasered by the police. This unleashes his peculiar new power; the ability to generate and fire gold balls out of his body. Complete with his own comic book sound effect of “POINK!”, Fabio skips choosing a badass X-Men name once he joins Cyclops’ team and goes with the straight-forward Goldballs. As the humor and heart of the team, it’s a fitting moniker. His powers prove more useful than one might suspect in the missions to come, even helping to fight off the mutant-hunting Sentinels.
14. Triage / Christopher Muse
Much like Fabio, Christopher Muse’s mutation doesn’t get a warm reception. After his friend nearly dies from a blow to the head, Christopher touches her and brings her back to full health. Nevertheless, he’s still apprehended by the police before Cyclops and the teleporting Magik appear and bring him into the fold of their new crew. Given the trouble this ragtag ancillary X-Men group get into, having Christopher and his healing powers proves useful.
Christopher, like Goldballs, was created by Bendis, but with the help of artist Stuart Immonen and in the pages of All-New X-Men #1. The book acted as a sort of companion to Uncanny X-Men, following the emergence of new mutants, but from the perspective of Wolverine and the rest of the Jean Grey School (formerly the Xavier School). After choosing to join Cyclops’ team instead of Wolverine’s, he naturally takes the name Triage and outfits himself in one of the most daring ensembles this side of the ’90s. With the apparent power to manipulate life force, Triage can heal any wound and is immortal himself. More than that, he can actually reanimate corpses. They remain dead and decayed, but exist in a Monkey’s Paw-like state of zombification.
13. ForgetMeNot
If Fabio Medina possesses one of the most comical sets of new mutant powers, ForgetMeNot may have one of the most tragic. Introduced in the 300th issue of X-Men: Legacy in 2014, ForgetMeNot shows up in a story where a young girl gets trapped by the defenses of the Jean Grey School while attempting to join up with the X-Men. ForgetMeNot tells her his tale, which involves some tragicomic retconning to add him into a number of events from the X-Men’s history. Turns out, ForgetMeNot’s powers are that he is, well, forgotten. It’s impossible for him to be perceived, allowing him to be the perfect covert agent but preventing him from ever being remembered for what he’s done.
While Professor X was alive, he had implanted a psychic reminder to remember ForgetMeNot, but after his death, the mutant wanders the school, unknown to those he’s served beside. He eventually frees the girl by taking her place in the trap, telling her that eventually the machines themselves will forget him. Not wanting an interesting concept to go to waste, the X-Force writers eventually pulled in ForgetMeNot. Discovered by Doctor Nemesis as a psychic absence, ForgetMeNot eventually works alongside Hope and X-Force before he’s tragically killed and once again forgotten.
12. Nature Girl / Lin Li
2014 also saw another new addition to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning in the form of Lin Li. Noticeable even in a crowd due to the deer antlers that protrude from her otherwise normal head, Li is known as Nature Girl among her class and teammates due to her sway over both flora and fauna. Debuting in Jason Latour’s Wolverine and the X-Men #1, Nature Girl spends much of her time on the sidelines. While she never plays a huge role in the stories of the X-Men universe, her abilities are showcased and spoken of a number of times.
Aside from possessing the power of flight, the rest of her powers fall in line with her name. Though the limits of her affinity for and with animals and plants is as yet untested, she demonstrates the power to control and communicate with all manner of beasts and botany. It may go beyond that, though, as she’s shown to have the ability to unify and calm a collection of Bamfs, the mischievous little demons that bear a striking resemblance to Nightcrawler and followed him back from the underworld.
11. Azimuth
A mutant who likely wouldn’t be a friend of the little Bamfs or Nightcrawler is the mysterious Azimuth, whose powers are able to disrupt the teleportation the demons use. Introduced earlier this year in Extraordinary X-Men #1, not much is known about Azimuth, her powers, or her past. She’s first encountered when Nightcrawler accidentally teleports himself in front of her and her crew, the Marauders. Since they were charged by Mister Sinister to hunt down Nightcrawler, this proved to truly be an act of misfortune as Azimuth’s powers perfectly countered Kurt’s.
With a possible connection to the Darkforce Dimension, Azimuth has the creepy ability to unhinge her jaw and spew forth a shadowy singularity. The mini-black hole is capable of ensnaring anyone trapped in it, allowing Azimuth to throw them around or knock them out. Given her purple-tinted skin, power-set, and name, there’s a strong likelihood that Azimuth could share an origin with Kurt and his demonic father. Hopefully, there’s more of this creepy mutant child to come.
10. Coda
When Nightcrawler, locked in battle with Aries, teleports the two and winds up right in front of the Marauders, Azimuth isn’t the only new mutant he has to contend with. Like Azimuth, Coda was created by Jeff Lemire, but credit goes to artist Huberto Ramos for the character’s amazing design. As one of the two newest mutants hunting Nightcrawler, we know virtually nothing about Coda. Their look, however, makes them someone that will hopefully have a future in the pages of Marvel Comics.
Sporting an assortment of mummy bandages covering most of their body, Coda’s powers aren’t fully known. What is, however, is that they sport a snake-like prehensile tongue and can unsheathe a pair of massive bone blades from their arms. While not coated in adamantium like Wolverine and X-23, the blades make up for it with their sheer size. Let’s hope this is just the beginning of this character, and that their connection to Azimuth, Nightcrawler, and Mister Sinister is a hint that there’s much more to Coda than it might initially seem.
9. Gabrielle Kinney
Speaking of X-23, her rise in prominence this year in the Marvel Universe has led to a natural expansion of her past. In this case, that Alchemax Genetics, the group behind the cloning of Wolverine that led to X-23 aka Laura Kinney being created, had a number of other subjects still alive and imprisoned. Though many of the other clones would eventually perish, Gabrielle Kinney survived and fought alongside Laura. Unlike her other siblings, Gabby possess Laura and Logan’s regenerative healing factor. It’s not known if she shares their other abilities, like enhanced senses, but she comes equipped with the requisite bone claws.
Actually, it’s unknown if she has claws (plural) as to date she’s only unsheathed a single claw in the middle of her knuckles on her right hand. The writers and artists have done a great job over the years distinguishing the various members of the Wolverine family by the their claw count and distribution, so it’s nice to see Gabby’s particular variation. Having just appeared in All-New Wolverine #2 earlier this year, Tom Taylor’s creation has already had a good deal of exposure. If Laura’s popularity is any indication, it’s likely we’ll be seeing a lot more of her innocent half, Gabrielle.
8. The Ghosts of Cyclops
In many ways, the Kinney Sisters are both echoes of Wolverine’s past. With the recent death of Cyclops, it seems that his ghosts became literal. Introduced in All-New X-Men Vol. 2 #1 in February of this year, the Ghost of Cyclops are a group of new mutants that commit violence in the name of the late Scott Summers. Though he tempered over time, the Cyclops before, during, and after his possession by the Phoenix was more in line with Magneto. Often viewed as a terrorist, he inspired other mutants to take up a more militant charge.
Among these agitators are the team who call themselves the Ghosts of Cyclops. They’re led by Austin Deprez, aka Thirst, who has the fitting ability to discharge high-powered blasts of water from his mouth. Joining him is the electricity-powered Juice and the tar-spewing, wall-crawling Tarpit. For muscle, the team is rounded out by Uppercut, Sebastian, and Pillar. Uppercut has Iron Fist-like energy punches while Pillar mimics Hulk in his ability to transform into a super strong goliath. Sebastian, clearly having a sense of humor, can morph into a bulky humanoid crustacean, complete with a burning energy claw. The team eventually sees the error of their ways after Thirst spends some time with the younger, time-displaced Cyclops. While their future is unknown, they may well join the ranks of the X-Men soon, bringing their unique mutations with them.
7. Tempus / Eva Bell
Back when the original Cyclops was still around, he was still attempting to build up his own team of X-Men. Introduced alongside Triage back in 2013, Eva Bell is an Australian teenager who’s recently manifested time-control powers lead her to adopt the name Tempus. In the beginning, her abilities manifest as a large bubble in which she can envelop both herself and her immediate surroundings. Within the bubbles, time itself is slowed so much that it appears to be frozen. The power has allowed Tempus to avoid a number of dangerous situations, such as when she froze the entire Avengers team who came after her when she went to visit her family in Australia.
Over time, Eva learns how to actually use these bubbles to travel through time. Unfortunately, sometimes her fear and panic have caused her to create a bubble that unintentionally sent her through time. The worst of these occurred when she became stuck in the year 2099. After unsuccessfully trying to return home, she eventually aged 5 years, gained a husband and child, and trained under Sorcerer Supreme Magik. Sadly, an attack by the villainous future Beast forced her to travel back to her original time. She was left stuck there, mourning the loss of her life and family and having noticeably aged compared to her teammates.
6. Benjamin Deeds
Mirroring the inventiveness of Tempus’ time bubbles and Goldballs’, you know, gold balls, is the power-set of Benjamin Deeds. Manifesting in All-New X-Men #3 and eventually joining Fabio and Eva with Cyclops’ new team, Benjamin Deeds is like the mutant version of the Pokemon Ditto. Okay, he can’t copy their powers, but he does have the ability to match their appearance. Unlike Mystique and Morph, however, he doesn’t fully transform into the other person. Instead, he slowly morphs to resemble them. The power is used to comic effect many times, like when Benjamin mimics Tony Stark, but it also proves to be quite useful.
Another of his powers is that he emits chemicals that engender trust and amity in the person he’s mirroring. When he combines this with his changes in appearance, he’s able to win over anyone with whom he interacts. His powers are fairly surreal, as well, given that no one ever appears alarmed that the person in front of them is slowly morphing into a close approximation of them. While this is likely to due to the pleasure chemicals he emits, it still makes for some enjoyable visual gags that would make a great addition to the live-action X-Men universe.
5. Bailey Hoskins
There’s a reason why Bailey Hoskins is known as the Worst X-Men Ever. Though his powers are inventive like a number of other entries on this list, they’re also tragic like ForgetMeNot’s. Unlike the imperceivable mutant, however, Hoskins’ powers are far from useful. Created by Say Anything singer Max Bemis, Hoskins debuted in the 2016 mini-series X-Men: Worst X-Men Ever. The comic seems to be outside of canon, but it’s an interesting tale nonetheless.
Bailey is a typical dorky teen, picked on in school and constantly feeling isolated. Like many similar stories, Bailey soon learns he has special powers and is drafted by a group of heroes to help fight evil. Sadly, Bailey’s power turns out be the ability to detonate his entire body. Sadly, he can’t regenerate afterwards, meaning the first time he uses his powers will be the last time. Since the five-issue series came out just this year, we won’t spoil it, but whether or not Bailey is part of the main X-Men continuity, he’s still one of the more creative mutants ever to appear.
4. Sapna
At first glance, the young Indian mutant Sapna’s omnilingual powers might not seem that powerful. Sure, having the ability to absorb and understand any language would be incredibly useful in real life. It seems like it wouldn’t be the best field power for an X-Men to have, though. Luckily, Jeff Lemire found a way to provide this new mutant’s skills with a powerful twist when he introduced her earlier this year in Extraordinary X-Men #1.
Sapna’s powers manifested after her family was attacked by demons and she was thrust into their realm, known as “limbo”. Once there, her language abilities let her absorb and understand every demonic and magic language Limbo had to offer. As these demonic and magical powers were controlled through the written and spoken word, Sapna’s linguistic mastery gave her a wide range of magical abilities. She’s shown to be able to cast all manner of spells and portals, as well as control demons themselves. Sadly, Sapna is infected with the Terrigen-born virus known as M-Pox, leaving her future unknown.
3. Bu Jun
With the spread of M-Pox, the threat of the Terrigen Mists has led many mutants to fear for their lives. One such mutant is the Beast-esque Bu Jun, a Mongolian who was abandoned as a child due to his tiger-like appearance and abilities. Bu Jun was approached by the seemingly altruistic Someday Enterprises, who told him they’d keep him in stasis until the Terrigen Mists passed. Sadly, this was all a front for experimenting on mutants.
As the newest mutant on our list, Bu Jun debuted just last month in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #11 by Cullen Bunn and Greg Land. He’s eventually freed from the grip of Someday, but not before his mutation is accelerated. While his full range of abilities will likely be revealed over time, he’s shown to at least be able to go toe-to-toe with the similarly-styled Sabretooth. As mutants have always been a way to highlight prejudice, it’s exciting for their newest member to not only be physically mutated, but also hail from the under-represented Mongolia. Hopefully his appearances in X-Men comics are just starting.
2. Eleanor “Ellie” Camacho
Unlike the other mutants on this list, Eleanor Camacho’s powers have yet to manifest. Still, her parentage means she’s genetically a mutant, and even if she never gains any special abilities, her lineage will likely lead her to live a very interesting life. Though her mother was merely a New York woman named Carmelita and daughter of a market owner, her father happens to be the Merc With the Mouth, Deadpool.
After some goons killed Carmelita’s father, her mother paid the Heroes For Hire and Deadpool to find them and their boss, the White Man. Eventually, Carmelita and Deadpool are captured and ultimately get together. She then becomes pregnant with their daughter and raises her alone for a time. Deadpool eventually learns of his daughter and begins looking after her following the death of her mother. Thanks to the help of Deadpool’s friend and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Emily Preston, Wade is able to protect his daughter from his highly violent way of life. Given her place as the only child of one of Marvel’s most popular characters, Ellie is likely to play a big role in the future of the Marvel Universe.
1. Matthew Malloy
Thanks to some traditional retconning by Brian Michael Bendis beginning in 2014’s Uncanny X-Men #23, Matthew Malloy is considered one of the most powerful mutants in the world. A year after the Skrull Invasion that saw Malloy’s wife killed, Matthew is reminded by his sister-in-law of his loved one’s passing. The painful memories activate his dormant mutant powers and a massive energy wave is unleashed. It vaporizes his sister-in-law and brings him to the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill.
He eventually goes off the rails and kills a number of X-Men. The incident leads Tempus to travel back in time and reveal this information to a still-living Professor X, who tries intervening early in Matthew’s life, using his psychic powers to suppress his Omega Level abilities. Unfortunately, this eventually fails and Matthew, using his reality-warping energy powers, continues his destruction. Professor X and Tempus eventually have to force Matthew’s parents to never meet, thus preventing him from ever existing. With power levels comparable to the Dark Phoenix, it’s no wonder that the writers weren’t comfortable having someone as deranged and destructive as Matthew Malloy around. Given the way comics usually work, however, he’s likely not gone for good.
Any new mutants you love that weren’t on the list? Let us know in the comments
