This article contains spoilers for Immortal X-Men #10.Marvel Comics has rewritten the history of the X-Men, revealing Professor X hand-picked his members quite carefully - with a specific goal in mind. Charles Xavier has always considered himself a good man. He has long portrayed himself as a dreamer, a man who believed in a dream of peaceful co-existence between human beings and mutants. Xavier's Dream is probably impossible to achieve, of course; bigotry and prejudice are so very hard to set aside. Still, countless mutants have lived and died in service of that dream.
Immortal X-Men #10, by Kieron Gillen and Lucas Werneck, finally reveals how Professor X chose the original X-Men - and why. The issue is narrated by Professor X, and he explains he's much more of a realist than most readers believe; it's hard not to be realistic about the prospect of peace when, as a telepath, he is able to peer into the minds of those who hate and fear him. The challenge facing Professor X was to find a way to create the conditions necessary for his dream of peace to be fulfilled, and he swiftly realized this could only be done by assembling a team to protect mutants from humans, and vice versa. He thus hand-picked the original five X-Men: Cyclops was chosen because he had already been shaped as a potential leader, Beast because of his genius intellect, Iceman and Jean Grey because of their Omega-level mutant powers, and Angel because of his wealth - which could come in very handy.
Professor X Explains How And Why He Created The X-Men
There's always been something so very contradictory about Xavier's Dream. The X-Men may have assembled in the name of peace, but Professor X treats them as soldiers; he literally built a Danger Room to train them in the offensive use of their powers. Since the beginning, the X-Men have spent most of their time standing between so-called "evil" mutants and prejudiced humans, trying to stop the two groups from preying on one another. Their conduct doesn't really match up with their mission.
Even the X-Men's Second Genesis team was carefully chosen. That group may have been formed due to an unexpected crisis, but comics have long since revealed Xavier had identified candidates a long time ago. As he notes in Immortal X-Men #10, this group included another Omega (Storm), a former Interpol agent (Banshee), and a skilled gymnast teleporter (Nightcrawler). Professor X actually went to great effort to acquire the black ops assassin Wolverine as a member of his team - the Original Sins event revealed Wolverine was originally ordered to assassinate Xavier, but the telepath literally rewrote his mind and memories.
Professor X has long had a God complex - a common flaw of telepaths, whose abilities easily make them feel above everybody else. It's quite chilling to see how much that God complex has shaped the X-Men, even determining their roster. Professor X is at least self-aware enough to recognize his influence isn't entirely benign, but that doesn't stop him continuing to manipulate events even in the Krakoan age.
Immortal X-Men #10 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.