What happens when those that are already gods among men, take it a step further.
What haven’t the X-Men done by now? They’ve shattered entire timelines, crossed into alternate realities, explored the deepest parts of known and unknown space, cheated death, and invaded both Hell and Heaven. It’s no wonder that at times they’ve even ascended above the reach of mortal men and women. In terms of raw power, many of Marvel’s Merry Mutants can be considered gods in their own rights. However, a select few among them have managed to tiptoe through the garden of the divine. Here are 10 instances where X-Men have become gods!
Stormcaster | Storm
Since her debut, Storm has been no stranger to the title of “goddess.” She’s been identified as one since her mutant power to control the weather emerged when she was still just a child. Obviously, that was not really the case at all, but nonetheless, it left an impression on her to this day. However, her god-complex didn’t end when she left her village. She’s not once, but twice been in possession of an Asgardian war-hammer!
With it in hand, Storm’s powers as well as her physical strength increased several times over. It even had a name; Stormcaster. With it, Storm became the Goddess of Thunder. Gifted to her by Loki, it gave Storm access to levels of power she’d never had prior, or since. With it, she’s defeated another god, and even Thor himself. You know… lite work.
Death Seed | Iceman
When the X-Men traveled to the Age of Apocalypse timeline (or an alternate universe by the same name, never quite sure about that), something came back with them. The Hank McCoy of that world, Dark Beast, placed the remainder of the Celestial Death Seed into Bobby Drake for safe keeping. The dark power slowly warped Iceman’s mind. Behaving much like a split personality, his subconscious began to abduct the women of his past! Eventually, it took over Iceman completely and he started down a path to throw the entire world into a second ice-age!
During his epic temper-tantrum, “Dark” Iceman grew to the height of a skyscraper and made quick work of his entire X-Men team as well as the mighty Thor (X-Men Gods 2; Thor 0)! In the case of Iceman, I’m not certain how much of a power boost the Death Seed provided. It simply may have allowed him to push limits and explore avenues that were not obvious to him while in his more nascent frame of mind. He might be an Omega Level mutant, but I still think he’s a buffoon.
Uni-Power| X-23
The mantle of “Captain Universe” has been bestowed upon many Marvel characters throughout the years. Originally stemming from the Microverse (the “Quantum Realm” for you MCU fans), the Uni-power is to Eternity, what the Juggernaut is to Cyttorak. Basically, an envoy. The power emerges in times of need, finds a worthy host to partner with, and transforms them into Captain Universe (there have been many). Such was the case when it chose to merge with the cloned “daughter” of Wolverine, the teenage superheroine known as X-23.
While in possession of the Uni-Power, X-23 possessed powers on par with those of cosmic beings. As well as gaining a really spiffy update to her costume! Atop of cosmic awareness (down to matters occurring at the sub-atomic level), and immeasurable strength, X-23 was capable of manipulating all types of energy, gravity, transmute matter, and surviving in hostile environments, including the vacuum of space!
Every Power | Rogue
The first volume of [easyazon_link identifier=”0785193944″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Uncanny Avengers[/easyazon_link] had a lot impact on the X-Man famously and affectionately called Rogue. Strangely enough, committing 1st-degree murder and dying weren’t the biggest events for her. Luckily, both actions were undone via time travel. Upon her resurrection, Earth had been judged by the Celestials. They dispatched a destroyer to put the planet out of its misery. A being so immense it made the planet look like a beach ball!
When facing something like that, there aren’t much the heroes could do but stall for time. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a singular individual available that had the combined skills to get the job done. That is when they tapped Rogue. The southern-bred X-Man absorbed the powers of not just every other living X-Man, but every Avenger and beyond. With just about every imaginable power at her disposal, Rogue, utilizing godlike might was able to hold back the Celestial’s unfathomably powerful boot from destroying the planet.
Dark Phoenix | Cyclops
When the Avengers took it upon themselves to put a stop to the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, they mistakenly shattered it. Its power leaped into the bodies of Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Colossus, and Namor. They would become known as the Phoenix 5. Individually, they became the strongest 5 people in the galaxy, but as power does, they fell prey to corruption. One by one (sorta), they turned on each other until only Cyclops remained.
In full sway of the entire power of the Phoenix Force, Cyclops stewed in his new strength. All at once he engaged both the entirety of the X-Men and the Avengers. Whilst battling his former friends and allies, Cyclops would take the time to explore higher realms of existence. He even went as far as the White-hot Room before he was seemingly rejected by the essence of his deceased wife, Jean. Cyclops was indeed mighty, but at most he was able to simply experiment with the power. Even then, he was more than anyone on Earth could handle.
New Sun | Gambit
Anyone not familiar with the [easyazon_link identifier=”B07LB6R3PK” locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Fabian Nicieza Gambit series[/easyazon_link] is probably wondering how he got this far up a list. During the story, Gambit was pitted against a foe that was nothing short of terrifying. New Sun, as he called himself, was capable of punching holes in the fabric of time, space, and reality, manipulating the molecular make-up of matter, moving at unfathomable speed, and repairing himself of any damage. He also disintegrated an entire planet’s surface by accident. Oceans and all. Funny enough, New Sun turned out to be Gambit from an alternate reality!
On his home Earth, New Sun never made a deal with Mister Sinister to remove a piece of his brain, as Gambit did in the main 616 reality. Instead, he was trained to control his powers, which was basically the mastery of kinetic energy in all its facets! New Sun was so powerful, he was able to slay Apocalypse and the Dark Phoenix, by himself! So why is Gambit on this list? Well, by the end of the story, our Gambit had his full powers restored. He temporarily ascended to New Sun’s godly level and defeated him!
Phoenix | Wolverine
At the end of all that’s known, what’s left? Wolverine. That’s, what. I supposed that is why Phoenix, the all-powerful, extremely Earth-centric cosmic entity chose to bond with him; there was just no one left. Jokes aside, the result of Wolverine being the Phoenix was fairly interesting. More half-drunken monk-master, then the brawler samurai we’re used to, Wolverine battled against Thor (of course). But not just any Thor; God-King Thor! If you don’t understand that, he was beyond Odin-levels of power for the most part. Thor wound up winning the battle, but just because Wolverine sacrificed himself at the end (X-Men Gods 2; Thor 1).
There’s not much to him. It’s Wolverine, but with the Phoenix. I must assume due to his and Thor’s appearance, he’d been the Phoenix for a long time. Like eons. This would make him the most experienced host that we’ve ever seen. Unlike Cyclops, he’d been in possession of the Firebird for thousands of years, not mere minutes. This meant he’d probably gotten the swing of things. Wolverine was most likely as close to being an actual space-god as anyone has ever been prior. But, why Wolverine?
Dark Phoenix | Jean Grey
When Jean became the Phoenix, she was immediately one of, if not the strongest mortal in all of the cosmos. In many ways that union became the measuring stick which anyone that followed would be judged by. The Phoenix is not just a giant firebird. It’s the main space-time nexus of all psionic energy. It represents the cosmic cycle of death and rebirth as well as change. While the bird’s most famous host is that of Jean Grey. It was not actually her that was responsible for any of the actions taken by the Phoenix during its original visit to infamous Earth.
Unbeknownst to the X-Men at the time, Jean Grey’s body was safely deposited at the bottom of the Hudson Bay. Thus, any and all actions committed afterward was the Phoenix Force itself- it just happened to be aping her image. The Phoenix displayed a variety of powers from being able to survive in the vacuum of space, project intense streams of energy, the ability to transmute matter with little more than a glance, and of course the obliteration of an entire solar system whilst consuming its #$#%$%$ sun for nourishment. Unlike End-of-time Phoenix Wolverine, this wasn’t someone understanding the Phoenix Force. This WAS the Phoenix. Fire-made flesh.
Legion-Man | X-Man + Legion
When Nate Grey, otherwise known as X-Man returned to the Marvel landscape something wasn’t quite right. Nate was designed from the ground up by the Age of Apocalypse’s version of Mister Sinister for one purpose: the destruction of Apocalypse. With that said, Sinister didn’t build him to last. The more Nate used his powers, the closer to death he would be. So, it was odd that when he showed up in [easyazon_link identifier=”1302914863″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Uncanny X-Men: Disassembled[/easyazon_link], he was more powerful than he had ever been prior. Which is an insane thought. He was originally said to have potential that rivaled the Phoenix Force!
Nate had come into possession of the remnants of the Celestial Life Seed. The extraterrestrial object meant to spark new life, boosted X-Man to deity-levels of power. He was able to run-a-muck over all reality; twisting time, minds, and space on a whim. What he didn’t expect was to be trapped within the mind (basically a pocket universe) of another god-like mutant in Xavier’s son, Legion. In an unprecedented bad turn of events, when X-Man finally freed himself, his body merged with that of Legion’s. The two arose as a single being whose power was never fully tested. We can only guess what they were really capable of.
Onslaught | Professor-X
The creation of Onslaught began when Professor-X telepathically assaulted Magneto after he ripped the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton. The feat left Magnus little more than a vegetable, but it would leave an even more lasting effect on the world itself. When Xavier ripped the life out of Magneto’s mind, all the malevolence, ambition and rage within Magneto’s mind made a home out of Xavier’s subconscious. Over the years it festered into its own persona, only lashing out in Xavier’s weakest moments.
Eventually, Onslaught broke free of his mental nursery and made himself known to the world. Onslaught was raw power housed within a nearly unbreakable shell of armor. He possessed all the mental power and prowess of Xavier as well as Magneto’s sway over the magnetic spectrum. Before it was all said and done he would come to possess both the reality warping powers of Franklin Richards and the raw psionic potential of X-Man (Nate Grey)! Physically, he displayed levels of strength so amazing that he nearly killed the Juggernaut with a single blow. But this isn’t what made him a threat.
Onslaught was ever-evolving, but for the most part, was never a physical being. The body we saw was just a container. After the Hulk was able to shatter his armor (the resulting blast of power separated Hulk from Banner!) Onslaught’s real form was revealed. He was nothing but a mass of ever-expanding, sentient, psionic energy that threatened to consume all of creation. If it weren’t for the sacrifice of nearly every non-mutant hero on the planet at the time, he would have done just that.
So what do you think? Did we leave anyone out of the godlike X-Men pantheon? Don’t agree with one or more of our selections? Let us know below!