AIPT’s X-Men Power Rankings: Part 2 (#20

Welcome to the second installment of AIPT’s X-Men Power Rankings!

As a team, we wanted to determine the best heroes that the X-Men had to offer, and so we set out to rank the top 25 X-Men. As part of Tuesday’s kick-off, we went over the rules of how we approached this monumental task as well as revealing the rankings for #25-21. Here, the countdown continues as we reveal which mutants landed in spots 20 through 16. Spoilers: there were definitely some big-ish surprises.

But without further ado, let’s get back into it!

— Robert Reed, AIPT Staff Writer

20) Polaris

(57 Points | Highest Placement = 8th)

In the grand scheme of the X-Men, Lorna Dane is that great character actress who’s been in everything, but just hasn’t quite gotten the recognition she deserves. (Think Octavia Spencer before The Help, or Michelle Yeoh before Everything Everywhere All At Once.) Polaris has all the aspects required for a compelling X-Man. She’s one of the first additions to the team after the formation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s “Original Five.” Her heritage as Magneto’s daughter weaves her into the deep soap opera legacy of the franchise. And add that to an iconic catalog of costumes and powers worthy of the “mistress of magnetism” title, why hasn’t Lorna popped at the level of her contemporaries, Storm and Phoenix?

Perhaps the problem lies in characterization. For years, her actions and desires were hard to pin down due to a chronic case of possession and mind control. On top of that, her status as Magneto’s daughter was not always taken as concretely as it is today. Even still, Lorna found her way as a hero in our collective heart. In particular, her history with body dysmorphia and bipolar disorder have proven to be a key point of connection with readers. Her narrative resonance is bolstered further when Polaris’ fluid dynamic with “passing” comes into play. In a bit of symmetry with her Jewish heritage, Lorna’s appearance naturally pings her as different, but any given context impacts whether she’s perceived as unique or as an “other.”

Rather than settle for the binary of conformity, or total rejection of human norms, Polaris demands more. Lorna doesn’t care for Xavier’s alleged peaceful coexistence. She’s going to have her doctorate, take coffee dates with the Maximoff twins, get cringey texts from Havok, lead X-Factor, and command a Brood cavalry against ORCHIS. God forbid you ever find yourself trying to limit Polaris.

The X-Franchise is full of great characters who have yet to really get their shine, but win the hearts of us fans anyway. For me, that is Lorna Dane, also known as Polaris. Not just because she’s green-haired, gorgeous, and has mastery of magnetic fields. But because her character calls into question Charles Xavier’s dream. What does it mean to be accepted? To integrate? Can one integrate into a world that hates them outright?

Throughout her publication history, Lorna has repeatedly rejected superheroism, often wanting to simply live a normal life away from the violence and potential of being exposed as a mutant. Yet her moral compass often pulls her back into action. In the pages of the original X-Factor, she joins a team of public-facing mutants, outing herself. In issue #97 of that series (by Scott Lobdell, J.M. De Matteis, and Paul Ryan), she and her beau, fellow mutant Alex Summers, are on a date when they overhear a bigot talking about them. At first, she decides to shrug it off, but then she meets him head-on. It’s a delightfully brilliant depiction of someone being pushed into action. In Uncanny X-Men #443, she directly confronts Xavier’s philosophy, positing that peaceful integration may not be possible. That violent means feel necessary when time seems so utterly short; it’s beautiful and tragic in equal measure.

What makes Lorna especially compelling, though, is her struggles with mental health. Driven by insecurities, and living with bipolar disorder, Polaris’ largest battles are often with herself. A great modern story is X-Factor#4 (fr0m 2020), by Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez, in which Polaris struggles with the death of fellow mutant, Santo Vaccarro (aka Rockslide). Believing herself responsible, she is desperate to not spiral into depression. It is a story that only emphasizes just how human and heroic she is to her core.

19) Sunspot

(60 Points | Highest Placement = 5th)

So begins the Avengers tenure of one Roberto “Bobby” da Costa, aka Sunspot. Debuting in the 1982 New Mutants graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, Bobby has seen an elevated profile since 2012, when Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opeña had him join the Avengers.

Traditionally depicted as affable among his comrades, Bobby is fun-loving, carefree, and headstrong. Bobby has always been willing to scrap it out with anyone, especially if they mess with his friends. His power, despite the name, is not fire-based. Instead, he draws on the sun’s energy to bolster his strength to superhuman levels. Importantly, though, he is not any more invulnerable, meaning that while he can punch as hard as the Hulk, he can’t afford to receive a return blow.

That contrast in ability also reflects his personality. His brash-but-loyal attitude has repeatedly cost him. Aggressively defending his girlfriend Julianna from members of the Hellfire Club resulted in them opening fire, ultimately killing Julianna. Later, his teammate Karma falls to her apparent doom in a fight with Viper, and Bobby can’t help but blame himself for his inability to save her. This desire to protect along with his hotheaded nature makes Bobby an interesting character. As he’s matured, he’s grown into someone who plans ahead, not necessarily to get one over on his opponent, but to mitigate the worst consequences of his impulsiveness. He is a man who knows himself, and accounts for his worst aspects.

The source of his carefree attitude lies in his origins. Along with Angel and Professor X, Sunspot is one of the few mutants that grew up wealthy. In Bobby’s case, he is the son of an (allegedly) self-made multi-millionaire Emmanuel da Costa. Emmanuel often reminded Bobby that the young man didn’t know what it was like to be poor, and there’s a subtext that Emmanuel, an Afro-Brazilian, faced racial discrimination that he thought Bobby (who is biracial) would be insulated from outright. In his adventures with the New Mutants, Bobby learns that his father’s capitalistic drive knows no ends, leading to the realization that his father had joined the Hellfire Club, the same organization that had killed Julianna. The revelation only strengthened Bobby’s moral compass.

A darker-skinned biracial Afro-Brazilian, Bobby’s mutant power first emerges on the football field when a fellow Brazilian assaults him for being a “half-breed” and “Black.” Which is to say, many of his comic book depictions — as well as his portrayals by Mexican actor, Adan Canto, in X-Men: Days of Future Pastand European-Indigenous Brazilian actor, Henry Zaga, in The New Mutants — have left much to be desired for his accurate depiction. (This point of frustration, though, reflects Marvel’s failure, not the character’s shortcomings.)

In the pages of Avengers and U.S. Avengers, he has become a team leader, representing a defiant optimism in the darkest of times. And it’s here that Bobby truly embodies Charles Xavier’s dream. He has learned to use his powers safely and not just integrate into society, but to save it, time and again.

Few X-Men have enjoyed a glow-up quite like Roberto da Costa. Sunspot started as the hotheaded, wisecracking member of the New Mutants, but over the decades, he’s become one of Marvel’s most capable leaders. Best of all, he’s never lost the swagger that made him so entertaining in the first place.

What makes Bobby special is his confidence. He’s rich, charming, and fully aware of both, but there’s a genuine heart underneath all that bravado. He’ll crack jokes in the middle of a crisis, throw himself into danger for his friends, and occasionally come up with a plan so audacious that you can’t help but admire the brazenness. Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run helped elevate Bobby into the big leagues, eventually leading to his takeover of A.I.M. and his leadership of the U.S. Avengers. Suddenly, the kid who once struggled to control his temper was playing chess with some of the Marvel Universe’s biggest players.

The Hickman and Ed Brisson era of New Mutants offered another reminder of Bobby’s appeal. His determination to reunite with his old friends, particularly Cannonball, helped launch an absurdly entertaining space adventure. Even as an adult, Bobby remains the guy willing to go to ridiculous lengths for the people he loves.

That’s why Sunspot deserves a place among the best X-Men. His growth feels earned, his personality is infectious, and he represents something essential about the mutant experience: growing up doesn’t mean abandoning the friendships that made you who you are.

18) Bishop

(60 Points | Highest Placement = 9th)

I don’t think Lucas Bishop clicked for me as a character until a sequence in Charles Soule’s Astonishing X-Men run. There, a single sentence summed up his character: “His enemy is the future.” It’s a poignant sentence, layered with meaning. For all the enemies the X-Men fight against, the deadliest is the future — mankind could wipe them out, or it could be that they aren’t the next stage in evolution that the world believes them to be. Who better to combat that than someone who’s lived through his own dark tomorrow?

Bishop’s battle against the future is best detailed in X-Treme X-Men, where he and a group of X-Men worked together to secure Destiny’s diaries that predicted the future of mutantkind. Here, fans got to see more of Bishop’s character: he fought with military precision while also serving as the team’s counselor, listening as people hashed out their problems and offering advice. Even in the Age of Krakoa, he took on the role of Captain Commander to ensure mutantkind had a world to call their own.

While Bishop’s time-travel days might be behind him, he’ll keep fighting so that the X-Men have a future worth living in. It’s no surprise why he’s so committed to Xavier’s dream; he grew up in a time without the X-Men, so they became his heroes. And thanks to his presence in X-Men ‘97, he’s bound to be a future fan’s favorite X-Man.

As a kid watching the ’90s X-Men: The Animated Series, Bishop was always someone I thought was cool, but never felt fully satisfied by his on-stage output. A man displaced from his own dystopian future, he was hard-nosed and straightforward. His power to absorb and redirect different forms of energy made him very different from many of his fellow heroes.

Certainly inspired by The Terminator, Bishop is an officer of the law. Part detective, part military man, he operates with a desperation that has led him into ruthless action. This comes to a head in Messiah Complex, in which Bishop hunts down an infant Hope Summers believing that she will grow up to be the figurehead behind his own dystopian future. (A storyline that explores the “would you kill baby Hitler?” hypothetical from a unique perspective.) Bishop’s answer to that question was a resounding yes, and the storyline and its sequel, Messiah War, are pretty widely viewed as character assassination and have been retconned to death. Still, I found it fascinating to see such a warped version of Bishop as a man so willing to trade in crimes against humanity.

In many ways, the flaws of those stories have served as meta-foils for who Bishop actually is at his core. He is dutiful, compassionate, and heroic. He is willing to do what he needs to do to get the job done, even at the expense of himself. And that last bit is also what makes him just a tad frightening.

17) Cable

(60 Points | Highest Placement = 8th)

Nathan Dayspring Summers, Askani’son, fated to kill Apocalypse. Said to be able to move entire mountains with his telekinesis…if only he didn’t have to exert that power to halt his techno-organic virus from overtaking his body. As prone to resurrection as his gene mother, Jean Grey, he’s been “killed” and unceremoniously brought back a half dozen or more times. Raised in the future by both his alternate dimension older sister and his time-displaced parents. He once became so powerful that the Silver Surfer sensed that power from across the galaxy and came to Earth to stop him.

Cable is dumb.

Don’t get me wrong: Cable is dumb in all the best ways, in all the most X-Men of X-Men-y ways. Convoluted, complicated, and contrary to his own narrative, Cable is most often utilized by nondedicated writers as a plot point rather than a character, and that leads to some confusing contradictions to his central character. That being said, that character – most firmly set into place by writer Fabian Nicieza, Jeph Loeb, and Scott Lobdell – is, in truth, deep and nuanced, filled with pathos and heart that is often swept away by writers more interested in the symbol of the character than the character himself.

Askani’Son, the 1995 miniseries which details the Apocalypse-ruled hell that is the future, centers on a vulnerable young man who has grown up a reluctant prophet for his people. That sense of wounded fatalism colors every other version of the character in a way that makes him chillingly impactful, even when written as flat as a board. It shows a character whose entire life has been foretold but who refuses that prophecy and shunts himself to the past to change the destiny not only of mankind, but of himself. Even when portrayed as bullish, heartless, and overburdened with firepower, this essential kernel of character resonates: his entire life is self-sacrifice, and the things he does, from training the children of X-Force to defending Krakoa, is done with knowledge of his own failures (both past and future).

What makes all this all the more tragic is the fact that Cable clearly yearns for a more grounded, civilian life: He wants to raise children, both the X-Force and his adopted messiah Hope Summers, and to live a good, simple life. He flirts with the idea of love, of human connection, of simply enjoying his relationship with his parents, but all of these things are horribly barred from the life he’s been told he must live. To see Xavier’s dream realized means the destruction of a far-future despot or training his only daughter as a child soldier, ready to kill. All that power, and not an ounce of control over his own fate.

I’d like to double down on the point made by my esteemed colleague Colin:

Cable is dumb.

For all those reasons already shared, but also this gem from a CBR message board that proves that Cable’s powers are so convoluted (the constant dampening/un-dampening surely doesn’t help), even the nerdiest among us forget what he can actually deliver. (I think we’d all be better off if we just called him a “gun wizard” or something.) Even his best moments feel tempered by these “limitations”. Case in point: In the aforementioned Askani’Son, he talks about the value of community and working together, and even in that shining moment of heroism, you get the sense he doesn’t know exactly what to do or say to seize on this opportunity. He is, as Colin also mentioned, a man of power and very little influence or control.

But I know why he’s do dumb, and I love him for that above all else.

I recall, in real time, seeing little baby Nathan’s debut as Cable (that’d be The New Mutants #87) at some random LCS. And while he’s undergone so much growth and change in the decades since (and he’s really this simple, earnest man under all those pouches), Cable is still very much the man depicted on that cover: a dream of some unknowable future, decked out with weaponry and tech we thought would surely come to pass. He’s our recognition, way back in spring 1990, that Hell was coming to get us eventually, and we’d have to pay some price. In short, he was basically made to be someone to suffer for our shared hubris, and who was destined to pay our price and make right all most asinine decisions.

And so when you come at it from this framework — that he was doomed all along as our kind of shared whipping boy, a Jesus figure with the biggest guns — all of his struggles and suffering feel a little different. Even after countless resurrections, he keeps on making the same choices because he is who we made him to be (and we need him to keep doing so). He yearns for a family he can never have because to not do so would be to deny the very real humanity that birthed him (time and time again). He may be a roided-out, murder-happy freak more often than not, but his strength is the thing he knows we need to see in him every time. Cable is a little kid often playing brave, showing us that he can carry the weight of it all because there really is no other option.

I mentioned Jesus, but Cable’s clearly no messiah. (Even if, yes, he’s portrayed as just that across his character arc.) No, I think he’s just one of us — a guy with great empathy and intent trying to lift us on his shoulders when there’s clearly just not enough space (and that’s saying tons cause he’s been portrayed like two linebackers stacked atop one another). He’s not brave and good if he ever wins/succeeds; he’s brave and good because he knows the story he’s been locked into and proceeds because that’s what a good soldier does. Sure, he can feel a little limited in that regard, but you often win wars with soldiers willing to run head first in every skirmish. And considering Young Cable once killed his older self because he wasn’t cutting the mustard, Cable’s problem isn’t remaining committed.

If I say “Cable is dumb,” I say it with the same tone and intent as you would “I am Spartacus.” It’s a rallying cry that we’re all the same and we’re in it together, and the best of us (certainly Cable) wear this commitment as a badge of honor no matter the pounds of flesh it may take (and will continue to take). He can never have what he actually wants, true, but he already has something just as good: A life as a warrior for mankind, who finds a way to persevere no matter where he lands or what he can do once he’s there. He’s our dreams manifest, a man who knows forward is the only way to win (even if it takes 100 lifetimes to get there). He’s a hero because he’s found that thing all of us (X-Men or not) truly want, and that’s just the chance to finally make it different. His win-loss record matters less when his track record is unbeatable in terms of sheer heart and dedication.

Cable is dumb, and I hope I am, too.

16) Gambit

(60 Points | Highest Placement = 4th)

I was first introduced to Gambit, like so many others, through the animated series. As a 9-year-old lod watching Saturday morning cartoons, Gambit effortlessly exuded cool. From his look and his accent to his general devil-may-care attitude, he embodied a lot of late ’90s aesthetic. But beyond his simplistic cool factor, Gambit represents an interesting position relative to Charles Xavier’s dream of peaceful mutant-human coexistence.

Yes, Gambit embodies some of the dream’s core aspirations. As a Cajun-thief-turned-X-Man, he represents redemption and the idea that mutants from troubled backgrounds can find purpose within Xavier’s vision. His loyalty to the team, his romance with Rogue, and his willingness to fight alongside humans and mutants alike all align with Xavier’s belief that mutants can integrate into and protect a shared world rather than dominate or remain separate from it somehow.

At the same time, Gambit complicates the overarching dream. His backstory — raised by the Thieves Guild, his morally gray methods, and periodic secrecy (including his concealed role in the “Mutant/Morlock Massacre”) — shows that coexistence isn’t achieved through purity. Gambit isn’t a poster child for Xavier’s optimism the way Cyclops often is; he’s pragmatic, sometimes ethically compromised, and operates by his own code. This reinforces Xavier’s dream, however, that mutants are individuals, not a monolith, and coexistence requires accepting flawed, complicated people rather than only “acceptable” mutants.

Gambit doesn’t fit the dream as a symbol of moral purity, but he fits it as evidence of the dream’s flexibility. He is living proof that Xavier’s vision must accommodate imperfect people learning to choose community and redemption over isolation and self-interest.

“How often must the scoundrel prove himself a hero, before he believes it himself?”

Those words, which are a highlight of the series finale of X-Men: The Animated Series, describe Remy LeBeau to the letter. This is a man who’s struggled for redemption, especially since his actions led to one of the X-Men’s darkest hours in the “Mutant/Morlock Massacre,” not to mention that his past is riddled with skeletons. Still, that’s the thing about redemption: It’s a long, hard road, and often it leads to backsliding into old ways, but in the end, it’s worth the cost.

Most of what made Gambit’s journey worthwhile is the bonds he’s formed with his fellow X-Men — chief among them, Rogue. Fans have been forever drawn to their relationship for the tragic elements; she couldn’t touch him for fear of sapping his powers, and he was carrying enough baggage to make an LAX worker sweat. Eventually, they overcame their hurdles, got married, and now teach a new generation of mutants in Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men. That one comic proves that Gambit has truly grown from scoundrel to hero.

Even Gambit’s appearances in X-Men media have a theme of second chances; Channing Tatum finally got to play the Ragin’ Cajun in Deadpool & Wolverine, and is returning for Avengers: Doomsday.  Meanwhile, X-Men ‘97 saw Gambit die, come back to life, and fight off Apocalypse’s influence. To use a poker metaphor, life is constantly dealing Gambit a second hand.

X-Heads, stay tuned for Part 3 on Tuesday, November 10!

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