The Avengers Who Were Also X-Men

Scarlet Witch is back in Avengers: Endgame, but there's a long history of X-Men joining the Avengers.

By Marc Buxton | May 2, 2019 | | 0

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch’s inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just the latest chapter in the long history of X-Men characters joining the Avengers. Wanda is back for Avengers: Endgame, of course, and we assume you know what happened to Pietro in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

But those aren’t the only two X-Men that have answered the call to assemble with the Avengers. Plenty of mutants have become major parts of Avengers history.

So here is a historic look at those X characters who have also served as Avengers!

Quicksilver

Joined the team in Avengers #16 (1965)

In Avengers #16, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did, at the time, the unheard of. The legendary fathers of the Marvel Age replaced the current roster of Avengers with an entirely new team, mostly comprised of former villains. Joining Captain America on the team were Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and mutant speedster, Quicksilver.

Before he joined the Avengers, Quicksilver was a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He was a reluctant villain whose main motivation was protecting his sister from Magneto’s machinations. When he and his sister joined Cap on the Avengers, a cohesive history between the X-Men and the Avengers began.

Quicksilver almost instantly began to play the arrogant rogue, an Avenger with a huge chip on his shoulder out to prove that he was worthy of the name Avengers despite his violent past. Quicksilver served as a foil for many of his comrades and stood between his sister and many romantic relationships, first with Hawkeye and finally with the being that Scarlet Witch would marry, the Vision.

Scarlet Witch

Joined the team in Avengers #16 (1965)

Like her brother Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff joined Earth’s Mightiest in Avengers #16 and became part of Cap’s Kooky Quartet. Scarlet Witch is the most powerful mutant ever to join the Avengers but oddly, she was never actually a member of any X team. Yes, she started out as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but that was the only mutant team she was ever a part of.

Wanda spent her entire heroic career as a core member of the Avengers and from the Kree-Skrull War, to the Korvac Saga, to the Celestial Madonna saga, she was front and center for most of the major early Avengers stories. Scarlet Witch was the unwitting power behind the House of M crossover and profoundly impacted the X Verse when she declared, “No More Mutants,” decimating the mutant population. She was also the catalyst of the events leading to Avengers vs. X-Men, as the two teams came into conflict over the Witch’s future…which led to the death of Charles Xavier.

So while the Avengers experienced many happy moments with the Scarlet Witch such as her marriage to the android Vision, the X-Men experienced great tragedy because of Wanda Maximoff.

Beast

Joined the team in Avengers #151 (1976)

A founding member of the X-Men, the Beast might have been just about the last mutant you would ever imagine joining the Avengers, particularly in 1976. Beast joined the X-Men right after Marvel tried to integrate Hank McCoy into its family of horror titles. This was right after Beast went all blue (actually grey at first) and hairy.

From mutant to would be horror star, Marvel couldn’t seem to find a place for Beast until he joined the Avengers. Hank McCoy was a major member of the Avengers for much of the ’70s and into the ’80s forming a lasting friendship with Wonder Man that became one of the central relationships of the title. Where Beast found nothing but fear and hatred as a member of the X-Men, he found acceptance and celebrity as a member of the Avengers.

The Beast served as a liaison between humans and mutants, living out Charles Xavier’s dream of acceptance as an Avenger. The Beast will forever be known as the first heroic X-Man to answer the call of the Avengers and finding new levels of popularity with readers while doing so.

Namor, the Sub-Mariner

Joined the team in Avengers #262 (1985)

This one is a bit controversial, but Marvel has established that due to his little ankle wings, Namor is in fact, a mutant. Namor joined the Avengers in the mid-80s and became a major member of that era’s team. The highlight of Namor’s time with the Avengers was his constant chest pounding feud of one-upmanship with fellow Avenger Hercules. More recently, he had some squabbles with T’Challa in the pages of New Avengers.

He wouldn’t have made our list if Namor didn’t join the X-Men during the Avengers vs. X-Men saga where he was one of five mutants to gain the powers of the Phoenix. He might have served briefly with each team and his status as a mutant may be questionable, but Namor was one of the few X Avengers during some very exciting times in both teams’ history.

Firestar

Joined the team in Avengers vol. 3 #4 (1998)

Ah, everyone’s favorite amazing friend. Angelica Jones just recently joined the X-Men but was a long standing member of the Avengers starting with Kurt Busiek and George Perez’s classic run in the late ’90s. This microwave wielding mutant powerhouse took part in many classic tales including Busiek and Perez’s Ultron story which pretty much everyone needs to read.

At first a member of the mutant Hellions and then the heroic New Warriors, Firestar joined the Avengers with her boyfriend Justice and basically earned her hero chops as a member of Earth’s Mightiest. She later took all her Avengers experience to the X-Men.

And no, Ms. Lion was not on any of these teams with the mighty Firestar.

Wolverine

Joined the team in New Avengers #6 (2005)

While he was the most popular member of the X-Men, Wolverine also joined the Avengers causing a firestorm of controversy as old time fans railed against the already hyper exposed feral mutant becoming part of Earth’s mightiest.

That didn’t stop Wolverine from taking part in some of the 21st century’s greatest Avengers stories, such as Civil War, Secret Invasion, Siege, and Age of Ultron all had Wolverine as a central Avenger. Plus, when the X-Men and the Avengers went to war in A vs. X Wolverine was caught smack in the middle of the conflict.

Wolverine originally joined the team because Tony Stark basically paid him a fortune (hey, Wolverine needed beer money), but he eventually became just as important to the team in the early part of the 2000s as Iron Man and Captain America. Fans may dream of seeing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine joining the Avengers on the big screen, but for a long time in the comics, Wolverine answered the call to assemble.

Storm

Joined the team in Avengers vol. 4 #19 (2011)

When the Avengers needed to swell its ranks against the forces of Norman Osborn and HAMMER, the call went out to some great heroes. None were greater than the X-Men’s most regal member, the then Queen of Wakanda, the weather witch, Storm. Along with Wolverine, Storm has always been the heart of the X-Men and her time with the Avengers was a testament to her status as one of the world’s mightiest champions.

Storm came to the Avengers by the recommendation of her then husband the Black Panther and quickly became one of the team’s most powerful members. She was torn from the Avengers’ ranks during the events of Avengers vs. X-Men but during her time with the team, Storm served admirably.

Havok

Joined the team in Uncanny Avengers #1 (2012)

The X-Men’s first field commander, Cyclops, may have never joined the Avengers, but his baby bro Havok did in the pages of Uncanny Avengers. Havok was hand picked by Captain America to lead the team of human/mutant heroes and quickly became a great Avengers leader, guiding his team through memorable conflicts with Apocalypse and Kang.

Like most X-Men and Avenger characters, Havok’s character continuity quickly became convoluted and timey wimey. You see, in an alternate universe, Havok married and had a daughter with the Wasp and then had to undo the timeline to save reality, sacrificing his daughter along the way and becoming hideously scarred and – you know what, skip it. Havok is awesome and made an awesome Avenger.

Cannonball

Joined the team in Avengers vol. 5 #1 (2012)

Fans have watched this long time member of the New Mutants, X-Force, and the X-Men grow up over the decades. The culmination of Cannonball’s heroic journey occurred when he and his best pal, Sunspot, were chosen to join the Avengers.

Cannonball has an awesome wide eyed innocent quality that really drives home just how cool it would be to serve as an Avenger. He was always the corn-fed kid as part of the X-Men and the New Mutants, but as an Avenger, Sam Guthrie came into his own as a hero and as a man.

Sunspot

Joined the team in Avengers vol. 5 #1 (2012)

Sunspot joined the Avengers at the same time as his pal Cannonball. While Cannonball has that innocent vibe to him, Sunspot has a swagger like he belongs on a team labeled Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He is arrogant, self important, and as heroic as they come. Like Cannonball, Sunspot served as a New Mutant, a member of X-Force, and a member of the X-Men before joining the world’s elite heroes.

Sunspot’s Avengers run was memorable. During his time as an Avenger, Sunspot took down one of the Avengers’ greatest groups of antagonists, the cadre of mad scientists known as AIM. How did Sunspot defeat AIM? Did he bust into AIM HQ using his solar energy powers to destroy the group? Nope, Sunspot purchased AIM, bee keeper helmets and all, and proved that Tony Stark wasn’t the only Avenger with the swag to throw around billons.

Rogue

Joined the team in Uncanny Avengers #4 (2013)

Rogue’s history with the Avengers goes way back, not as a hero, as she was first an adversary. It was Rogue who put Carol Danvers out of action for a long time when she drained the powers and the psyche of the former Ms. Marvel. Back then, it would be hard to imagine that the woman who so devastated one of the Avengers’ finest heroes would ever join the team’s ranks, but she became a core member of Uncanny Avengers.

Sunfire

Joined the team in Uncanny Avengers #5 (2013)

Sunfire was not an X-Man for long. He joined the all new, all different X-Men as the same time as Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler only to leave the newly formed international team like seven seconds later. He also didn’t spend very long as part of Havok’s Uncanny Avengers but we freakin’ love Sunfire’s costume so we had to stick him on the list.

His time as an Avenger may have been short, but during his tenure, Sunfire took on Kang and a Celestial and even died for a bit (he got better).

X-23

Joined the team in Avengers Academy #39 (2012)

Wolverine joining the Avengers almost broke fandom but when his clone X-23 joined the Avengers Academy, well nothing really dramatic happened except some really good stories. X-23 was a neophyte hero when she entered the Avengers’ school and had to repress her savage nature in order to excel. She was a member in good standing of the school’s upper class and gave an edge to the Avengers Academy title for a number of years.

X-23 took the lessons she learned from the Avengers and is now a member of the core X-Men team, dating a time lost version of the teenage Angel. Who just gained cosmic powers. And lives in the same timeline as his older self. Who has amnesia and thinks he might be a real angel. Oh, comics.

Anyway, X-23 was once a student of the Avengers, so yeah, there you go.

Sabretooth

Joined the team in Uncanny Avengers Vol. 2 #1 (2015)

It’s hard to believe that one of the most vicious, feral villains in the Marvel Universe was on any superhero team, and this psychopathic killer has been on two. Victor Creed once attempted to reform and even convinced the X-Men he had seen the error of ways back in the early ’90s, even going on a few missions with the team until he reverted to his true colors and gutted a few X people. After the inversion of Axis, Sabretooth was converted into a hero who tried to make up for his bloody past. Again. It didn’t last.

Deadpool

Joined the team in Avengers #0 (2015)

Deadpool is a super star of comics, film, cosplay, and Hot Topics across America, but the Merc With a Mouth was also an Avenger. Now, if Wade Wilson shows up anywhere near Avengers 5, fandom might shatter out of pure glee. But if you want to see Deadpool cut wise and cut bad guys as a card carrying Earth’s Mightiest Hero, check out issues of Uncanny Avengers post-2015.

Deadpool was originally recruited by Captain America, but when Cap broke bad and went HYDRA in Secret Empire, it really threw the suddenly hopeful and heroic Deadpool for a loop and ignited some really great character moments. Deadpool was actually a really solid Avenger because he was constantly out to prove himself a worthy member of the Earth’s Mightiest. He even (mostly) refrained from putting peeps in the ground when he hung with the A team.

Cable

Joined the team in Uncanny Avengers #4 (2016)

Deadpool’s time traveling badass film co-star Cable also joined the Uncanny Avengers and served as the team’s strategist and moral compass, guiding the team through some tough times. Like Deadpool, Cable also turned the volume down on the killing when he joined the Avengers, but there was just something odd about seeing the grizzled old psychic mutant and his giant hunking gun race into battle as an Avenger.

read more: A History of Cable?

So what brought Cable to the Avengers doorstep? Oh, the fact that the Red Skull had stolen and was using the brain of the deceased Professor Charles Xavier. Um, ewww. You can see why the Uncanny Avengers needed a psychic as powerful as ‘ol Cable.

Dazzler

Joined the team in A-Force #2 (2016)

Sadly, this was not the disco version of Dazzler, but a more adult, punk rock version of the mutant rock star. Whatever the case, we always have and always will love Dazzler, and at this time of her career Dazzler needed a friend due to the fact she was recently kidnapped by Mystique. The shape shifting mutant fatale replaced Dazzler and kept the songstress in a coma so Dazzler could be experimented on. That’s messed up, comic book Mystique! Reasons like this are why we like Katniss Mystique better!

Anyway, Dazzler needed time to heal after her ordeal and joined the all-woman Avengers team known as A-Force. With A-Force, Dazzler bravely served and forged new bonds that helped her become a hero once again.

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Marvel Superhero The Avengers X-Men

Written by

Marc Buxton

Marc Buxton is an English teacher/private tutor by day,and a super-hyper-uber geek by night. Marc spent six years on the frontlines as a comic retailer before…