The X-Men are a wildly diverse and uniquely composed team of superpowered mutants, and when their genders are flipped, they become even more badass than usual! Turning the genders of some of Marvel’s most iconic heroes on their head may not have lasted long, but the idea of seeing new versions of familiar characters hasn’t lost its allure one bit over the years.

Depicted in 2000’s X-Men-related anthology special titled X-Men: Millennial Visions #1, “The Big X-Change,” by the creative mind of Gary Frank gives fans something they never knew they wanted for Marvel’s Merry Band of Mutants. Dedicating only two pages to this one-and-done story, the text page of Frank’s short gives a bit of a backstory to the X-Men’s awesome new transformations in a way that’s as wacky as it is hilarious.

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Telling readers that in the then-future of 2004 an “unhinged pop mandarin known as Buzz decides to reduce overpopulation by rendering the human race infertile,” the text goes on to explain that to make this nefarious plan a reality, Buzz develops a “BLANK-O-RAY” to use against the world at large. Teaming up with an “evil chimpanzee genius” named Bubbles, Buzz is confronted by the X-Men and his plans summarily thwarted, but not before the team is exposed to the power of the BLANK-O-RAY, immediately transforming them into far different -- yet extremely badass -- versions of themselves.

X-Men Gender Flip Big X-Change Female Wolverine Comic

Turning the page, readers are greeted by Gary Frank’s gorgeous art depicting the newly gender-flipped X-heroes of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Angel, Rogue, and Storm. Decked out in familiar costumes but tweaked ever so slightly to match their new gender roles, each hero is drawn in a way that still gets across their unchanged personalities while giving fans a badass look that deserves more recognition.

A reveal readers most definitely didn’t expect at the time (especially in an anthology book full of single-page stories and splash-page artwork), the X-Men having their genders switched due to an evil chimp and a weapon pulled straight out of a science fiction novel is a wildly comedic yet effective way to alter the X-Men into something more badass than expected. And while this is undoubtedly one of the coolest looks in X-Men lore ever created, the fact that this team never got a continued shot at becoming a substantial piece of Marvel canon is an unfortunate thought that needs to be followed up on soon, especially with the multiverse coming more and more into play in current Marvel continuity.

So although this new team was only featured in one epic page depicting them in all their gender-flipped glory, getting a glimpse of a familiar yet different version of the team no matter how brief is a fun moment for fans to see. The X-Men are badass on a normal day, and after this new wrinkle in their traditional genders is revealed, they’re even more so!

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