The Uncanny X-Men has just made two major changes to the mutant world by bringing back a classic team and saying goodbye to two major heroes. The Uncanny X-Men #32 by Gail Simone and Luciano Vecchio had the X-Men preparing to battle the Exterminators when the invasion began. In “Mars Needs Mutants,” the X-Men set up to fight the Brood and the entire battle pushes the heroes to their limit. However, there was one other problem at hand, and that is the fact that Gambit is going pure monster thanks to an infection that will play out in the series’ next few issues.
By the end of the issue, the X-Men win the battle and Rogue announces a reward for the youngsters she and Gambit have been mentoring for the entire series. However, as she announces the new promotion for the young mutants, she also reveals that it is time for her and Gambit to leave them.
The main X-Men in the issue were old standbys, with Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and Wolverine. They also had been working on helping teach young mutants their place in the world. These mutants, the Outliers, came to the X-Men for help since a monstrous creature called the Hag was coming for them. After saving the kids, the X-Men take them in and help train them as new students. These kids include Jitter, Calico, Deathdream, Ransom, and Ember, and they were as much a factor in winning this battle as the X-Men.
By the end, it was time for Rogue to present the kids with a new role in the Marvel Universe. After the final battle, Rogue offered the Outliers a new identity and gave them the costumes and the role of the New Mutants. The New Mutants were originally introduced in 1982 with iconic mutants like Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Karma, and Moonstar in the lineup, as Professor X planned to teach them to eventually move into spots on the X-Men team when they grew up. Over the years, everyone from Magik and Armor to Boom-Boom, Magma, and more had turns on the team.
The New Mutants had a large presence on Krakoa, but since the end of that era, the team has been missing in action. It was obvious that the new world without the safety of Krakoa, a school of teenage mutants was not a safe grouping. Veteran members of the team dispersed and joined other teams, including Magik moving on to Cyclops’ team in Alaska and others spreading out across the Marvel Universe. However, there are still kids who needed help, and that is where Rogue and her X-Men team helped the Outliers, and why they are the perfect New Mutants team.
However, while the transformation of the Outliers into the New Mutants was a big moment, and will help bring this young team back into the spotlight, with some very interesting new heroes, it was also the end of Rogue and Gambit’s relationship with them. After Rogue announced that the Outliers were the newest version of the New Mutants, the kids knew something was wrong. They realized that Rogue was leaving, and there was a good reason for it.
Rogue needs to find a way to cure Gambit of his affliction. Early in the Uncanny X-Men run, Gambit stole a cursed artifact, the Left Eye of Agamotto. This is turning Gambit into a monster, calling himself Wyvern when he began his transformation in this issue. The new powers grant him new abilities like teleportation, but it is also corrupting his mind and body. Interestingly, the next issue shows that Uncanny X-Men will follow Gambit and Rogue as they try to find a cure, or an exorcist, to help him. This means the X-Men comic book will stick with these two mutants, as they leave the rest of their team.
The New Mutants will likely continue on with their own adventures, but it seems that this team comic will transform into more of a duo adventure for Gambit and Rogue away from the team, at least for now. Of course, as the recent news indicates, everything is about to change for the X-Men. A brand new team called the Maximum X-Men is coming, but it looks like things are filling out in the world of mutants, with the New Mutants and the journey of Gambit and Rogue as part of the next step in the series.
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