10 Best X-Force Rosters (2024)

The X-Force squads usually share something in common as the proactive, militaristic arm of the X-Men. Since the New Mutants were reorganized into Cable's first strike force, X-Force has been on the front lines of the war between mutants, humanity, and robotkind, like the Sentinels, which played a huge role in the Krakoa era.

As the X-Men enter the From the Ashes era, the mutant maker known as Forge has assembled a powerful new X-Force roster to help protect the endangered mutant species. While Forge has some heavy hitters on his team, it doesn't much look like any roster of X-Force fans have seen before. From Cable's retrofitted squad of angsty teenagers to Cyclops' covert ops squad, these teams of X-Force have each carved their own chapter in the X-Men's ongoing battle for survival.

10 Psylocke Formed Her Own Roster of the Uncanny X-Force

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Force (Vol. 2) #1 by Sam Humphries, Ron Garney, Danny Miki, Marte Gracia, Israel Gonzalez and Cory Petit

After spending some time with one of the best but darkest rosters of X-Force, Psylocke took it upon herself to reform and potentially redeem the team. In this effort of redemption, she brought the exiled X-Man Bishop back onto the team after his dark turn against the X-Men. She also welcomed the newly formed Cluster from Fantomex's body and one of her greatest enemies, Spiral. Puck from Alpha Flight completed the roster, along with a very out-of-character take on Storm.

This second roster of Uncanny X-Force tried to redeem Bishop's dark actions after Messiah Complex by revealing the corruption of the Demon Bear entity. However, most of the team's time was spent focusing on Psylocke's tense relationships with Cluster and Fantomex instead of touching on the exciting dynamic of the roster's varied members. This roster was reworked even further when Psylocke left the team to join Cable's rival version of X-Force for an even more forgettable and short-lived series.

9 Cable's New Team Of X-Force Were Wanted Mutants

First Appearance: Cable and X-Force #1 by Dennis Hallum, Salvador Larroca, Frank D'Armata and Joe Sabino

After learning about the Avengers vs X-Men showdown in the future, Cable took it upon himself to head back to the past and take out the Avengers to save his adopted daughter, Hope Summers. While he failed during the Avengers: X-Sanction storyline, he escaped capture and set out on a new mission. Guided by prophetic visions, Cable assembled other damaged, broken, and wanted mutant members to help him.

Cable's first recruit was Forge, whose brain had been scrambled by previous events. Cable helped Forge fix himself before opening the roster to other members like Doctor Nemesis and Colossus and old allies like Domino and Boom-Boom. The series excelled at exploring the team's new relationships and pitting X-Force against teams like the Uncanny Avengers. It even reunited Cable and Hope Summers, who were able to close off their lasting rivalry with Bishop on Psylocke's team.

8 Pete Wisdom Revamped X-Force During the Counter X Era

First Appearance: X-Force #102 by Warren Ellis, Ian Edginton, Whilce Portacio, Gerry Alanguilan, Avalon Studios and Chris Eliopoulos

While British mutant spy Pete Wisdom had started advising the roving team of mutants earlier in the ongoing X-Force title, he didn't officially join the team until the Counter X era. He reworked a few of X-Force's most powerful mutants into his own private strike force to take out the villainous Black Air organization and their dark experiments on mutants. Cannonball, Meltdown, Warpath, and Bedlam were the main members of the team, and each received a power-up after pushing their powers to the limits with Wisdom.

This era featured a superstar creative team with Warren Ellis and Whilce Portacio that promised to take the remaining members in exciting new directions. The book's selling points were new powers, new costumes, and a new attitude, though the Counter X rebranding quickly fell apart. The team's members appeared to die in battle, leaving the door open for the X-Statix team to swoop in and briefly use the name.

7 Kid Cable Reunited A Classic X-Force Roster

First Appearance: X-Force (Vol. 5) #1 by Ed Brisson, Dylan Burnett, Jesus Aburtov and Cory Petit

X-Men fans know it's hard to have an impactful event and not kill off Cable somehow. During The Exterminated event that sent the original five-time-displaced X-Men back to the past, the older version of Cable was killed by his younger self. That younger self became known as Kid Cable, and he helped reassemble a classic roster of X-Force when the team was framed for murders and had to clear their name.

While it was great to see members like Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Domino, Warpath, and Shatterstar back together again for the first time in years, they were forced to work alongside the younger version of the man who helped train them, who also happened to be his own murderer. An advanced Deathlok from the future with mutant-based abilities also joined the team as they faced Stryfe and his new Mutant Liberation Army in a battle for the future. Most fans knew this roster was short-lived, but it memorably brought together the new and the old.

6 Cyclops Organized Mutant Hunters Into A New X-Force

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #493 by Ed Brubaker, Billy Tan, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Frank D'Armata and Joe Caramagna

Mutantkind faced the threat of extinction a few times over the years, though they came a bit too close to the edge after House of M nearly eradicated all mutants. The first new mutant birth in months kicked off the Messiah Complex event, which had all the X-Men teams on full alert as their enemies came out in droves to take them down.

When Cable mysteriously kidnapped the young mutant child, Cyclops gathered mutant trackers like Wolverine, Caliban, Warpath, Hepzibah, Wolfsbane, and X-23 to hunt down his son and reclaim the infant. They became a new, short-lived roster of X-Force that only operated during the Messiah Complex event. However, the team's quick formation and effectiveness in battle inspired Cyclops and Wolverine to assemble a new covert roster with some of the same members after the event.

5 Beast Operated Krakoa's X-Force Like The CIA

First Appearance: X-Force (Vol. 6) #1 by Benjamin Percy, Joshua Cassara, Dean White and Joe Caramagna

When all mutantkind settled on the island of Krakoa during the House of X storyline, a new team formed to help keep the new society safe. Beast, Jean Grey and Wolverine were initially put in charge of what was dubbed the new X-Force, though it operated more like the CIA. Sage served as the team's main technical support, as her mutant gift allowed her to keep track of any and all threats to Krakoa so X-Force could act against them.

Krakoa's X-Force featured powerful members like Quentin Quire/Kid Omega, Domino, and Colossus, with mutants like Forge and Black Tom Cassidy at the base for support. Krakoa's X-Force fought several important battles and welcomed new members like Deadpool, Laura Kinney/Wolverine and Omega Red. However, the team eventually turned on itself when Beast took his mission to protect humanity too far, becoming a villain that X-Force had to face before disbanding during Fall of X.

4 Cyclops Assembled a Covert Squad of X-Force

First Appearance: X-Force (Vol. 3) #1 by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Clayton Crain and Cory Petit

While the X-Force that formed during the Messiah Complex event was disbanded after the threat ended, Cyclops and Wolverine were still inspired to do more. Some team members were secretly contacted and organized at a separate base as a new covert squad of X-Force. They brought Warren Worthington to help fund the team, though he also joined it in his Archangel form to give the team even more muscle.

Former X-Force members like Domino, Warpath, and Wolfsbane joined the black ops squad, along with Luara Kinney/X-23 and Josh Foley/Elixir, who served as the team's healer between missions. The teleporting mutant Vanisher was later blackmailed into joining the team to act as transportation. X-Force proactively took out several mutant threats in secret, though Cyclops was forced to disband the team after their existence was exposed. Cyclops's covert squad was bloody, ruthless, and able to explore the consequences of such a dark, secret lifestyle.

3 Cable Reformed The New Mutants Into X-Force

First Appearance: New Mutants #100 by Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza, Brad Vancata and Joe Rosen

Xavier's official second class of the X-Men were known as the New Mutants while they were in training. Unfortunately, while the team excelled together, they were abandoned by their teachers and the X-Men due to the ongoing events at the time. Dissuaded and leaderless, the New Mutants were quick to strike out on their own when a new option appeared. Cable was a militaristic mutant cyborg who eventually turned out to be a part of the X-Men's lasting legacy as Cyclops' son, Nathan Summers, though he was a man of mystery at the time.

Cable gave the New Mutants a chance to take their years of training and implement it as his own private strike force. Cannonball, Boom-Boom and Warpath stayed with the team while a few New Mutants returned to their lives. Cable then added Domino, Feral and Shatterstar to the lineup. New recruits like Teresa Rourke/Siryn and the return of New Mutants like Rictor and Sunspot completed the initial lineup of X-Force. This roster stands out as one of the first and best, taking established characters in an exciting new direction that perfectly captured the spirit of the era.

2 X-Force Were The X-Men's B-Team Before Going Solo

First Appearance: X-Force #44 by Jeph Loeb, Adam Pollina, Mark Farmer, Marie Javins, Electric Crayon and Chris Eliopoulos

X-Force spent years working alone with Cable, or more often than not, on their own as their leader dealt with his own missions. Cable realized he was failing his charges and started negotiating with Professor X despite their lasting tension. They agreed that X-Force would return to the Xavier Mansion and resume training there as a more coordinated unit with the X-Men. This meant that the team had matching X-uniforms for the first since they had been rebranded as X-Force. However, it also meant they lost one of their own, as Cannonball graduated to the X-Men.

While X-Force excelled in their new environment, the mansion's destruction during the Operation: Zero Tolerance event and problems with Cable's leadership led the team to take an extended road trip across America. The reduced roster included Dani Moonstar, Sunspot, Boom-Boom and Warpath, though Siryn, Domino and Cannonball would eventually rejoin. While the team wasn't as involved in the X-Men's larger events at this time, it became a fan-favorite era due to the deep exploration of the characters and the relationships that grew and changed over the years.

1 Wolverine Formed Uncanny X-Force To Remove Threats

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Force #1 by Rick Remender, Jerome Opeña, Dean White and Cory Petit

While Cyclops decided to disband his covert squad of X-Force, Wolverine knew it was more important than ever to keep bringing the fight to their greatest enemies. He teamed up with Archangel and Psylocke to form Uncanny X-Force alongside Deadpool and Fantomex. Wolverine didn't want X-23 involved in their dirty work anymore, and members like Elixir were kept in the dark and given a chance to recover from their time with X-Force.

The first roster of Uncanny X-Force stands out due to the incredible threats the team faced over its incarnation and the impact it had on the team members. Deadpool especially reconfirmed his newfound path of heroism even while undertaking X-Force's wetwork. Characters like Psylocke and Archangel experienced huge changes to their status quo that tied into years of X-Men history, and new heroes like Fantomex were given further depth. The creative team of Rick Remender and Jerome Opeña was a perfect pairing that further elevated the Uncanny X-Force roster above the rest.

X-Men

Since their debut in 1963, Marvel's X-Men have been more than just another superhero team. While the team really hit its stride as the All New, All Different X-Men in 1975, Marvel's heroic mutants have always operated as super-outcasts, protecting a world that hates and fears them for their powers.

Key members of the X-Men include Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Iceman, Beast, Rogue, and Storm. Often framed as the world's second strongest superheroes, after the Avengers, they are nonetheless one of Marvel's most popular and important franchises.

Created by

Jack Kirby , Stan Lee

First Film

X-Men

Latest Film

The New Mutants

Upcoming Films

First TV Show

X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men

Latest TV Show

X-Men '97

First Episode Air Date

September 16, 1989

Cast

Hugh Jackman , James Marsden , Patrick Stewart , Ian McKellen , Halle Berry , Ryan Reynolds , James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence

Current Series

X-Men '97

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