Surge. Gotta be Surge.
At least we have Jubes and, on occasion, Chamber running around with the A-listers to represent GenX.
I'd rather the New Mutants keep doing their own thing on the side. They're just the team I kind of feel came into their own outside of the scope of the X-Men, and, after their recent stint on the Avengers side of things, it'd feel almost like a demotion for Sam and Roberto in some ways. But I can also see the appeal of having someone who isn't Magik finally "graduate" to a flagship X-Men team.
All of them. Real talk. New team outside the X-men doing their thing.
Le Suck it, Dolphin!
-God I am so tired.
SCOTT SUMMERS AND EMMA FROST DESERVED BETTER.
It might be a demotion for Roberto since he led his own Avengers team. But I never really felt like Sam made much of an impact on the Avengers, Rogue and Beast and Wolverine all had larger roles as Avengers, Sam was just kind of there.
And I really don't like the implication that being an Avenger is somehow more important than being an X-Man. Who hasn't been an Avenger at this point, it's not special.
Nw Mutants are interesting! They have a great team chemistry and genres (horror, dark fantasy) to work in. They seem to do well when reunited for a team book of their own! However, I would love to see Moonstar and Karma on main teams. Magik is one who could do a solo book with the right team and timing.
The New X-Men had a great run! I started reading at Quest for Magik. It seems many "graduate" back and forth? Rockslide, Anole, Hellion, Gentle, and Prodigy are ones I would love to see move forward. Surge also! Team leader to limbo!
I'm going to say Surge. A leader (or take-charge person) who puts in 100% for the team but can make bad decision and be a jerk at times is an interesting character and one I could see working in a wide variety of teams.
Doctor Strange: "You are the right person to replace Logan."
X-23: "I know there are people who disapprove... Guys on the Internet mainly."
(All-New Wolverine #4)
Prodigy. He can be like the new Sage/Beast. Logistical/science/smartie pants with martial arts skills to hold his own in the field. And Marisol(Creep/Flourish, though I would rename her Cultura). I like her spunky point of view, she's great for representative diversity, and her power is actually very unique in the X-line and full of potential for exploration(move over Iceman!).
You can load the rest up in another bus.
Let the flames destroy all but that which is pure and true!
Surge obviously.
Which book needs derivative expendable cannon fodder?
Comic-Watch Reviewer
Titles:
/Doctor Strange/Captain Marvel\Scarlet Witch\
/Iron Man/Captain Britain/Wasp\X-Men\
/JSA\/X-Treme X-Men\/WILDCATS\
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X-23, Pixie, Armor & Gentle have been lucky enough to be apart of the X-Men core, even if it didn't last.
Laura is the only one who's retained her status, and I'm certain she'll continue to have an active role among the X-Men (or X-Force if they move away from the classic line-up again) given how much of a fan favorite she is.
Pixie and Armor should, at the very least, be supporting characters in the core X-Books. As they've been active X-Men in the past, demoting them, and thus regressing their character growth, detracts from past stories. If I had my way both of them would be on active X-Men rosters, but it's hard to say if there's room for them as it's dependant on how many X-Books are in publication and which characters are in use. And ofc I don't want them to be shoehorned into a story where they're irrelevant either.
As for Gentle, I would like to see him become apart of the supporting cast in Black Panther. It makes sense for him to return to Wakanda, and I think that his interactions with T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye & Eden would be really fun to see. His powers bring a lot to the table there too, whereas among the X-Men there are literally dozens of X-Men with superhuman strength, and I think Colossus or Rockslide would always win out as the writer's preference because they're more iconic and instantly recognizable to the average comicbook reader.
Hellion, Dust & Rockslide are the most deserving of a place among the X-Men, in my opinion, for the following reasons.
a) they've never been core X-Men before. The closest we've got is Hellion in the Force Warriors and Dust in New Mutants during the Age of X.
b) they're all powerhouses.
c) Team books generally benefit from at least one off-the-wall character on the roster as it allows for new and engaging character interactions we haven't seen before.
If it were up to me, Hellion (in addition to Mercury, Bling!, Hollow, Loa, Triage, Transonic & the Stepford Cuckoos) would join Emma Frost at a new Hellfire Club funded institute. Julian, as one of Emma's star pupils, should absolutely be front-and-center in her new movement. I'm really hoping that Emma gets a solo title with a strong supporting cast OR her own team of X-Men.
Dust should be with the New Mutants. Not only was she trained under Dani Moonstar, but she also worked alongside them in the Age of X. I think she'd be a great fit, and seeing her alongside of Dani, Magik & Sunspot would be pretty freaking uncanny.
Rockslide I think would just have some hilarious interactions with a number of the X-Men. And of course, he fills that strong guy niche that we typically see the same couple of X-Men in. It's nice to have an X-Man that has that visual difference too; I love the discourse surrounding the core X-Men all being model material, so Santo would break that mold. Generally Beast and/or Nightcrawler are the only core X-Men with a visual representation of their mutations.