Two classic members of the New Mutants have failed to make it through the X-Men elections. Let's face it, not since the '90s has there been a better time to be an X-Men fan. Jonathan Hickman's epic relaunch of the X-Men franchise has gathered the mutant race on the living island of Krakoa, and their comics are selling like it's 1991 again. What's more, a whole new team of X-Men are due to make their debut at the so-called Hellfire Gala in June.
This next X-Men will be unlike anything seen in the comics before. This time round, Cyclops and Jean Grey are allowing every mutant a vote on who should be part of the X-Men team; that means there are sure to be some major surprises. Marvel even extended this idea by allowing the fans themselves to vote on the final member of the next iteration of the X-Men in an online X-election. The results are gradually being revealed on social media ahead of the July solicits that would give the game away.
Marvel's latest amusing mini-comic, published exclusively on the Marvel Twitter account, reveals two fan-favorite members of the New Mutants failed to make the cut. "Popularity Contest," by Zeb Wells, Diego Olortegui and Rachelle Rosenberg, sees best friends Cannonball and Sunspot commiserating with one another because they didn't become X-Men - but it naturally turns into an amusing rivalry.
The sad truth is that Cannonball and Sunspot probably ate into each other's votes, simply because both will appeal to the same fanbase. Either one of these New Mutants would have been a fun addition to the X-Men; Cannonball is a lot more confident and experienced now than he was the last time he joined the main team, and his family connections in Shi'ar space would have probably made him invaluable. Sunspot, meanwhile, would have butted heads with Cyclops on pretty much every single mission, so suffice to say Scott Summers is probably glad he doesn't have to worry about him.
There are only two candidates left now: Polaris and Banshee. Polaris has the better name recognition, in part because of The Gifted, so she is known to have been the front runner when the vote began; Marvel did, however, confirm Banshee was giving her a run for her money. Still, a previous X-Men mini-comic dropped a hint that the winner is somebody with both a good offense and a good defense. Banshee doesn't really fit with that description, so it pretty much looks as though Polaris is the winner of the X-Men election.