It looks like Bobby Drake may be joining the X-Men!

[JB]

I'm actually quite excited for this.

Same here! Though he didn't do a whole lot in Marauders I did like how Duggan used his powers at times.

Bobby is packing in that piece. Thanks, Villa!

[Dante Milton]

Not unexpected, but still disappointed. I was hoping for more for Bobby than to be on the generic superhero team. Based on how Duggan has written him before I predict a handful of amusing one liners, a couple of feats, and absolutely no character work. He was probably only added to the book because Firestar won the vote and that old cartoon is a thing that exists.

Is this the one of the artists who drew Iceman's solo with Sina?

No, that was Alessandro Vitti.

[MexM]

Thanks for sharing Mercury!

Finallyyyy some news about Bobby. At this point I'm starved for content so looking forward to it, hopefully Duggan has a better go at him this time. It does feel more likely for Firestart to join as well, hopefully they get some good interactions with the team.

[alanyoung909]

Oh, that's interesting!
I'm surprised he did not realise that he was posting a spoiler - I hope that he did not get into trouble for this.

Now that Iceman's confirmed to join the X-Men though, we know at least 5 members of the Year 2 X-Men team.

Confirmed Members:
1. Jean Grey (co-leader)
2. Cyclops (co-leader)
3. Synch
4. Iceman
5. Penance / Firestar (whoever won the audience vote)

Like Krakoa (the user) mentioned here a few days ago, there's a good chance that Rogue will be staying on the team, so that makes six possible members.

Other possible members hinted at within the book:
1. Northstar (mentioned in Polaris's letter in X-Men 5)
2. Bling! (mentioned in Forge's letter in X-Men 8)
3. Negasonic Teenage Warhead (mentioned by Scott and Everett in X-Men 8)

I think there's a possibility that the younger characters like Bling! and NTW might end up in the 'X-Men sidekicks' team that was hinted at way back in X-Men 1.

I was hoping Bobby would be part of X-Men Red's cast. Oh well. Glad he's at least staying in the spotlight.

I loved the idea that Iceman would show up at Arakko (and maybe end up joining the Great Ring?) but I sort of cooled off on it when I saw that Dauterman had designed a new Hellfire Gala costume for Bobby.
I noticed that none of the other X-Men Red members have had new Gala costumes yet - I think the Arakko mutants are not attending this year.

---

EDIT: I thought about it some more and came up with three other possible candidates for the team. None of these are very likely, but I thought they might be an interesting possibility.

1. Havok
Cyclops' brother. A relatively well-known mutant who hasn't been in a team since Hellions ended.
Dauterman designed a new Gala costume for Havok.

2. Magik
Illyana will be ceding control of Limbo to the Goblin Queen, which frees her up to join a team (remember that the Labors of Magik arc was originally supposed to have concluded before the Gala).
When Cable ended, Duggan foreshadowed some event in 2023 that involves both Magik and Cable, so he could pick up that thread again in X-Men.
Dauterman designed a new Gala costume for Magik.

3. Gorgon
Gorgon 1.0 died in Otherworld and the Gorgon 2.0 that was resurrected lost both his wits and his place amongst the Great Captains.
Duggan is the one who killed him off in the first place (Cable 6) and wrote his funeral (Cable 7) which hinted at the possibility that Nu-Gorgon will pick up his swords again one day.
He could pick up that thread again in X-Men.

[MechaJeanix]

I also want Iceman on x-men. I love him and Jean (and Scott) together. I bet he is replacing Sunfire. I do kind of hate that, but I do want him on the team. My hope is Duggan does better with him this go around. Duggan on marauders did play up Iceman being on omega and did a little with his relationship to Christian Frost. I’m interested where Bobby goes from here.

[Kingdom X]

I hope this isn't true. Duggan couldn't be bothered to do anything with the character in Marauders for nearly 30 issues.

Yeah… it’s very hard for me to get excited about this based on precedent.

[Havok83]

I was hoping Bobby would be part of X-Men Red's cast. Oh well. Glad he's at least staying in the spotlight.

He'd be better off there but Im not mad at him here

[Krakoa]

I would be very excited for this if Duggan had used him well in Marauders, but...

He has great history with Jean and Scott, as well as with Firestar who might win the ballot, Northstar who was hinted at in an early X-issue, and Polaris if she stays on the team, so I would be excited to see some of those relationships explored.

[Uncanny X-Man]

I'm excited!

[Devaishwarya]

Same here, Deva. I hope he has some personal moments with both Jean and Scott. And, of course, I'm just looking forward to having his effervescent energy around.

Yupp.

I'm guessing Duggan didn't give him much play in Marauders because it was essentially the "Kate and Emma Show".
In X-Men, given how he's handled every member of the team (not to everyone's satisfaction, I know, but...enh!) I think he will give Iceman his moments.

[Anduinel]

*calmly walks in, flips table, walks back out*

I mean OH BOY THIS IS DEFINITELY WHAT I WAS HOPING WAS GONNA HAPPEN, THIS IS FOR SURE THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE TIMELINES.

Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna take my dashed dreams of an Ewing-written Iceman in X-Men Red and go cry myself to sleep, like a totally mature and rational adult who is not at all overreacting to something we've all suspected was a likely outcome for months. I SAID I'M FINE, EVERYTHING IS FINE, ITS FINE.

Oh, I feel your pain. My fave, Northstar, is rumored to be on the new roster, and I'm stuck between being pleased at his being on the flagship and worry about his being Duggan's new side character.

[Rift]

Honestly, I'd kill for my character to be wallpaper at this point. If Iceman just exists to be a prop or get the pre-Arakko Storm treatment, he's still doing better than my boy Hellion.







:')


But yeah, I'm wishing all the best for Bobby, especially since his New Years one-shot brought up a lot of interesting points about him. I want to see them build on that stuff, along with some of his older, forgotten storylines.

[NewMutant]

Penance and Iceman in the same title would be great.

Iceman and Firestar too, but I'm more for the Penance/Gen X push. We can see Jean and Angelica fight for favorite ginger.

I feel like Duggan could do something fun with Iceman/Firestar ala Emma/Elektra in Devils Reign.

[Wolverine12]

2 Omega's on the X-Men? Bad guys don't stand a chance.

[alanyoung909]

2 Omega's on the X-Men? Bad guys don't stand a chance.

3 Omegas actually - there's Jean and Iceman who are mature Omega mutants, but there's also Synch who is an emerging Omega mutant due to his experience in the Vault.

EDIT: Actually the way the Omega mutants are distributed throughout the books is quite interesting (for those who care about that sort of thing).

If we consider just the Krakoan Omega mutants:

The Five - Hope, Elixir, Proteus
X-Men - Jean Grey, Iceman, Synch
Immortal X-Men - Hope, Storm, Exodus
X-Men Red - Storm, Magneto, Vulcan + the Arakkii Omegas
X-Force - Kid Omega
Knights of X - Monarch, Mister M
Legion of X - Legion

Fairly even distribution in these books, though Monarch and Mister M don't have a big presence in Knights of X.
Marauders, New Mutants, Wolverine and Sabretooth don't currently have any Omega mutants in their cast.