Marvel has just revealed two mutants who didn't make the cut for the next incarnation of the X-Men. Jonathan Hickman's X-Men relaunch has been a tremendous success, but oddly enough one thing has been missing; the X-Men themselves. The entire mutant race has gathered on the living island of Krakoa, and the ruling Quiet Council decided there should be no formal X-Men team, because their presence would be viewed as too divisive. Cyclops and Jean Grey are bringing the X-Men back at last, though, despite the Council's wishes. As Cyclops argued, the X-Men are mutantkind's heroes.
The next incarnation of the X-Men will be chosen in a whole new way. Cyclops has called for an X-Men election, with every mutant having a say who should be on the team. There's no doubt the results will be shocking, given a vote from a literal Nazi-like Fenris is just as relevant as one from the pious Nightcrawler. In an unexpected move, Marvel even opened an X-Men election online so fans could vote on who the final member of the new X-Men should be.
New X-Men Team Rejects Two More Mutants in Hilarious Mini-Comic
Now, Marvel has revealed two mutants who didn't make the cut. They published an exclusive short story on their official Twitter account, "Equality" by Zeb Wells, Mike Henderson and Rachelle Rosenberg. Sadly, it reveals neither Forge nor Strong Guy will be part of the next X-Men team.
The sad reality is that neither Forge nor Strong Guy were ever likely to become part of the final X-Men team, simply because neither command enough popularity among fans. But the scene is a fun one nonetheless, shining a light on the two characters, and the portrayal of Strong Guy is particularly amusing. As Forge notes, Guido is overstating his own importance to Krakoan civilization - but he's always been desperately insecure, and so liked to believe he was more important to others than was realistically the case.
Marvel is relaunching the main X-Men book in July after the Hellfire Gala, so realistically the new X-Men team will be confirmed long before they are revealed in-universe at the Hellfire Gala in June. No doubt this short story should be seen as part of the marketing campaign building up to the announcement, and fans can expect some more to be posted online to build more excitement. It's going to be great to find out just who made the cut into the next incarnation of the X-Men, and hopefully the fan vote will have led to some surprises.
Source: Marvel Entertainment