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Want to help pick the next X-Men team? Marvel Comics wants you to vote on the final mutant
Back in the 1980s, DC Comics put the course of DC Universe history in the hands of fans when it staged a hotline vote to determine the fate of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Now, Marvel Comics is calling on its readers to decide something significantly less grim: Which mutant will have the honor of joining the all-new X-Men lineup later this year.
At the conclusion of X of Swords — Marvel's massive crossover event covering all of its mutant books — last year, Scott Summers and Jean Grey came to an important conclusion: Mutantkind needs the X-Men again. Though the comic bearing the title X-Men has been a key part of the "Dawn of X" era of mutant storytelling since writer Jonathan Hickman relaunched the mutant line back in 2019, the actual X-Men team has not officially been present during the rise of the mutant nation of Krakoa.
Sadly, an ever-shifting mutant landscape and the presence of threats new and old mean that's going to change. Mutants, Scott and Jean argued in the pages of X-Men #16 last month, need someone to fight for them, and that means they need the X-Men to return. With that in mind, the call was put out for nominations from the various factions and interests within Krakoa for which mutants should be part of the team that represents the fighting force of mutankind. Those nominations will be revealed in upcoming X-Men issues (X-Men #17 is out tomorrow), but the final member of the team will be decided not by mutants, but by Marvel fans.
The publisher announced Tuesday that this week marks the launch of an online vote that will allow readers to choose one of 10 mutant nominees to join the team this June. The nominees are:
- Banshee
- Polaris
- Forge
- Boom-Boom
- Tempo
- Cannonball
- Sunspot
- Strong Guy
- Marrow
- Armor
Voting opens through Marvel's official "X-Men Vote" portal at midnight Eastern on January 27, and will continue until 11:59 p.m. Eastern next Tuesday, February 2. Each person will only get one vote, and the selection of this X-Men member will be "completely determined" by the fan vote, so choose wisely. It's not often the tightly controlled plotting of Jonathan Hickman gets so directly influenced by fans.
The reforming of the X-Men continues this Wednesday in X-Men #17.
UPDATE: After a lenghty and enthusiastic fan vote, the results are in, and the winner of the new X-Men slot as depicted in this mini-comic by Zeb Wells and David Messina is...
...Polaris.
Yes, it was a hard-fought battle, but Lorna Dane is the mutant chosen to join the team that will launch with an all-new X-Men series from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Pepe Larraz in July. The full team will be revealed soon. For now, you can check out the full results (I am extremely disappointed in the lack of love for Boom-Boom here) and more mini comics depicting the victory over at Marvel's website.
This story was originally published Jan. 26 and updated April 15.
