Wolverine and uuhhhhh Cable?!?!?!?

[Factor]

I think the big problem for the most x-men characters, isn't so much their popularity, but justifying what they're doing away from the X-Men and making it interesting.

From an In Character perspective for most X-men their entire lives are centered on Mutant issues/X-men, so even if you gave them a solo it wouldn't be that different from a team book.

Of the three (four if we're counting Deadpool) characters that do okay in solos (Wolverine, Cable, X23) they're all loners (or were loners) with outside lives/missions/purposes from the teams they were on. Characters like Storm, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Jean etc. don't really have that, or at least not to the point where it can support a book past a few issues.

I mostly agreed, but I also think nobody really tried to give these characters their own hooks as solo stars away from the X-men.
All attempts I can recall were ham-fisted. I remember how disappointed I was at Storm's last solo.
The popular Avengers don't have that problem because they were always solo stars first and foremost. Even other teams like F4 suffer from a similar problem as only The Thing had a lenghty solo run in the last decades.
For the X-men the problem is also bigger because the fact that they are not generic super-heroes and are deeply tied to mutant matters can actually limit the scope of what readers expect from them.
I do think Storm should care about more than just mutants. They could explore her fighting against other types of injustices or even have her take it upon herself to protect the world from threats against nature.
That teen Cyclops solo was actually fun for a while because it was actually about a father and son's relationship developing in outer space. That's a different concept. It didn't work for an ongoing, but I'm sure writers could come up with interesting directions.
And then there are characters like Magik, who actually do have a whole rich mythology around them that isn't necessarily tied to mutants but never got the chance to prove themselves as solo stars.

[Jackraow21]

Cable has also been a huge focal point of X-men events from X-Cutioner’s Song to Messiah Complex to Second Coming and even more recently in Extermination, where his younger self killed his older self. The guy has been pretty important to the X-mythos. Just because he’s had some runs that basically sidelined him from the present day Marvel U, as his last two solo series did by marooning him him in the timestream, doesn’t mean he’s not an important and popular character. He has his fans. I listened to lots of them cheer in a crowded theater when Josh Brolin’s Cable first appeared onscreen in Deadpool 2.

Furthermore, characters like Cable, Wolverine, Deadpool and X-23 have a physicality about them that a lot of other characters don’t have. Storm and Cyclops, for example, can just use their powers rather than engage enemies in physical combat. Not sure that’s the most exciting visual for a solo book honestly. Just having them repeatedly blast enemies away. And comics are a visual medium after all.

[FIGHT]

Cable might not even be top 10.

Mags
Xavier
Wolverine
Deadpool
Jean
Storm
Cyclops
Apocalypse
Rogue

Are all more well known then him I would argue.

[Jackraow21]

It’s not about who the most well known X-men characters are, rather those who lend themselves to a solo book.

[Purplevit]

Right now I would say that Cable are not even in top 10 most popular X-Men: Wolverine, Kurt, Gambit, Rogue, Cyke, Jean, Emma, Storm, X-23 and Kitty.

Wolverine and Deadpool are their own franchises. No other X character is even close in terms of popularity or solo material.

Gambit, X-23 and Cable are the only X characters that already had enough of solo material and have world outside of X-Men. Other X characters are not even close.

Cyke and Jean right now are much more popular characters then Cable but they both won`t work as solo characters. They need full team of interesting supporting characters to be around them. Cable don`t need it and works fine alone.

So Cable just work as solo and are among a few characters as X-23, Dedpool, Gambit and of course Wolverine that are solo material with their own established solo worlds.

[BishopsJuice91]

I think Cable is more versatile in the stories that can be told and how fleshed out he is as a character. He has some good rogues too plus he works as a hero and anti-hero that can fight hero’s too...

[Cruelrain]

It's not like the popular X-Men characters can't have interesting stories, Marvel never worried to build a world for Jean, Rogue, Gambit, Cyclops etc

That's why it seems like they only work for teambooks.

And it's kinda late to make them a hit imo (in terms of solo series)

[Glio]

There are many more popular X-Men than Cable but they don't necessarily work as well individually.

It is difficult to justify adventures of characters like Cyclops, Storm, Emma Frost or Jean alone because they are not lonely characters. Logan and Cable do have the personality of "This is something I have to do on my own."

[Mutant 77]

Is Cable even an X-Man?

[Havok83]

Is Cable even an X-Man?

Of course. Why wouldnt he be?

It’s not about who the most well known X-men characters are, rather those who lend themselves to a solo book.

The OP literally asks "Would you say that Cable the second most popular X-Men character?". This is about that, not who can lead a solo

[Frobisher]

Uuhhhhhh Cable should be the official name of young Cable.

[Havok83]

Uuhhhhhh Cable should be the official name of young Cable.

It is 10char

[Rnap22]

Those three characters (Wolverine, Cable and Deadpool) all have a past and their background revolves around being a mercenary at some point. Their past can come back to haunt. This is stuff they have done before the X-men. They have rogue galleries. Even if they are created and first appear during the run, it’s believable. Same with Gambit. I think that’s why they’re able to have successful solo series. Since most of the X-men have been a team, is anyone really going to believe that Jean had built up all these enemies that are not associated as just an X-men villain? Storm? Cyclops? How many series can we read about Betsy vs Shadow King?

Any great writer can make a solo character shine. X-men Legacy did that with Xavier and Rogue. Those series focused hard on them in the beginning, but they were still X-men books. If they made moves to focus attention to characters in the main books, their time outside of the team, I’m sure they could create a good solo series. For me, I don’t believe that Storm (or any main X-man) developed these rogues before their time with the team.

[Jackraow21]

I think Cable is more versatile in the stories that can be told and how fleshed out he is as a character. He has some good rogues too plus he works as a hero and anti-hero that can fight hero’s too...

Couldn’t agree more. This isn’t about “who is most recognizable as an X-man.” As that isn’t necessarily the measure of a character’s popularity. And certainly not a good measure of whether they can or should carry a solo title. I would venture to say that Batman’s butler Alfred is quite well known to general audiences too.

Of course. Why wouldnt he be?

Agreed. Dude is a core X-men character, and back in his heyday had more X’s on his costume than anybody! Ha. It was actually kind of comical at one point where he had literally an X on his belt, two on his straps, and two on his shoulders as well.

The OP literally asks "Would you say that Cable the second most popular X-Men character?". This is about that, not who can lead a solo

Understood, and I think we all agree that the answer to that is “no, he’s not the second most popular X-man.” But now we are pointing out that the OP is asking the wrong question, at least in terms of why Cable has a solo while Jean, for example, does not.

At any rate, I stand by my position that Cable has been horribly mismanaged by writers. Almost as badly as Wolverine was before he died, and I’m glad to see Ben Percy really owning the character by having him in both X-Force and his solo, so as to minimize shitty writing by others when it comes to him and his characterization. I wish the same would happen with Cable, once they get rid of this weak imposter kid version and bring back the real deal. For one thing, leaning into the time travel aspect is leaning into the least interesting aspect. Making him a “time cop” whose mission is to defend the timeline? Really!? WTF? When was that ever his mission?

He was born here, in this time. Raised in the future, yes, so he has access to future technology/weapons and future knowledge of a timeline, which is now unlikely to come to pass. But that knowledge is nonetheless helpful at times, though in some respects obsolete. Which is something that Nathan has to factor in to any analysis. But once he settled **** with Apocalypse, he needed to find a new mission in the here and now. And that mission shouldn’t be jumping through the timestream protecting it from threats like... younger versions of existing characters being here. God forbid! We can’t have that... wait a second. Hmm... yeah, seems dumb. Anyway...

... My point is that Cable was at his zenith during the Loeb/Churchill and Casey/Ladronn runs. And they focused on him in the here and now, as a major player in the X-line as well as in the broader Marvel U. He had lots of interaction with X-Force, in the “purple costumed” Loeb/Pollina days (which were awesome too), as well as the X-men proper, and in that same time ran into the Avengers, the Black Panther, fought the Hulk (with Storm), went to the Microverse and fought Psycho-man, Zzzaxx, the Mimic, the MLF, Dark Riders, and, yes, Apocalypse. They introduced supporting cast like Blaquesmith and gave him his psimitar. He was on the outs with SHIELD and hunted by them as a mutant terrorist.

Back in those days, Cable was A-list. He was a frequent guest star in the Animated Series, and in the Capcom video games. He even had his own line of Toy Biz X-Force action figures, alongside the X-men line, and probably had more versions released than anyone. Perhaps even Wolverine.

Dude can be A-list again. Just takes the right creative team with a vision to restore him to that status, as opposed to hiding him away in the future or the timestream somewhere or replacing him with a shitweak alt version. I’m still waiting for that creative team to come along... *sigh*

Those three characters (Wolverine, Cable and Deadpool) all have a past and their background revolves around being a mercenary at some point. Their past can come back to haunt. This is stuff they have done before the X-men. They have rogue galleries. Even if they are created and first appear during the run, it’s believable. Same with Gambit. I think that’s why they’re able to have successful solo series. Since most of the X-men have been a team, is anyone really going to believe that Jean had built up all these enemies that are not associated as just an X-men villain? Storm? Cyclops? How many series can we read about Betsy vs Shadow King?

Agreed. Nailed it.

[Grapeweasel]

You're all forgetting the Sub-Mariner.