10 Times the X-Men Lost

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The X-Men have lost many, many times over the years. While it happens to every superhero or superteam, the X-Men have a lot riding on their battles, and their defeats have often been pretty devastating. These ten X-Men losses are the worst the team has experienced.

10) “X-Men Disassembled”

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“X-Men Disassembled” was a mini X-Men reboot from 2018. Uncanny X-Men was relaunched as a weekly series, pitting the X-Men against X-Man, who had embraced his messianic side. X-Man wanted to fix the world, but he wanted to force his view of perfection on everyone, so the X-Men stood in his way. The team took some losses, and eventually X-Man merged with Legion, making him more powerful than ever. While the X-Men were able to survive the battle, X-Man was able to create his own universe and pull them into it. This counts as a loss in my book, since although they survived, they couldn’t stop the bad guy.

9) House of M

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House of M has a lot of problems for X-Men fans, and one of them is that they are the only losers of the story. The X-Men and Avengers met to decide what to do about the Scarlet Witch’s madness, and she creates a whole new world where mutants are the dominant species thanks to Quicksilver talking her into it. Wolverine and Layla Miller are able to give everyone back their memories and they all attack the House of M, learning the truth about the whole situation. Scarlet Witch goes even crazier, then she uncreates this new world, while also casting a spell that takes away the powers of the bast majority of mutants. The world was saved, but the X-Men were damaged to the greatest extent they ever had been.

8) “E Is for Extinction”

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Grant Morrison’s New X-Men is a classic, and it kicks off with a story that sees the X-Men lose big time, despite thinking that they won: “E Is for Extinction”. Cassandra Nova was about to commit mutant genocide when Wolverine and Cyclops discover her. She sent off the Mega-Sentinels to Genosha, fighting the two X-Men as 16 million mutants died. They beat her and brought her to the X-Mansion, but she broke free and fought her way to Cerebra. Her stated goal was to kill mutants with it, but she was stopped by Emma Frost, who broke her neck. However, instead, Nova used Cerebra to take over Xavier’s body, and then shot her own body, where she had put Xavier’s mind. The X-Men thought they won, but Nova had outclassed them in every way.

7) X-Men (Vol. 2) #2

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X-Men (Vol. 2) #1-3 pit the X-Men against Magneto and the Acolytes. In the first issue of the series, the X-Men Blue Team are able to overpower the Acolytes. Then, Magneto shows up. X-Men (Vol. 2) #2 sees the X-Men battling Magneto and the remnants of the Acolytes, and with Magneto’s help, the X-Men are defeated. Then, Magneto attacked the X-Mansion, taking Xavier and Moira MacTaggert prisoner as revenge for their role in de-aging him and messing with his mind. He’s able to take control of the X-Men, which leads to the last issue of the story, where the Gold Team comes to save the day. However, the X-Men still lost this fight, and Asteroid M is destroyed thanks to a traitor in the Acolytes.

6) “Old Man Logan”

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“Old Man Logan” is a Wolverine classic, and the X-Men losing plays a big role in it. In the past, the villains decided to get serious about attacking the heroes and went after them like an army. However, against the X-Men, they only sent Mysterio. Mysterio uses his powers on Wolverine, making him think that the X-Men are actually villains, and Wolverine runs through them, killing every single one of this friends. Now, yes, this is highly improbable, but it still counts as an X-Men loss even if you think there’s no way that Wolverine could beat them all.

5) “The Dark Phoenix Saga”

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“The Dark Phoenix Saga” is beloved by fans, and it revolves around the X-Men losing multiple times. First, they’re taken prisoner by the Hellfire Club. Then, Jean goes Dark Phoenix, and she beats the team the first time she fights them. The team is able to defeat her thanks to astute planning when she comes back from destroy an entire solar system, but then the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard show up. They put Jean Grey on trial for destroying the D’Bari solar system, and the X-Men choose a trial by combat. The Imperial Guard lay waste to the team, and this leads Jean to decide that it’s better for her to die than it is to unleash the Phoenix and win the battle. So, Jean kills herself. The X-Men did their best in the Phoenix affair, but in the end, their losses cost them one of their best friends.

4) “Days of Future Past”

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“Days of Future Past” took place in an alternate future where the Sentinels had taken over the world. The few remaining X-Men come up with a desperate way to stop this terrible future, sending Kate Pryde into the past to stop the assassination that they believe started everything. However, the rest of the team attacks the Master Mold, trying to end the Sentinels’ control over their nightmare future. The Sentinels make short work of the team, the last of the X-Men going out in a blaze of glory.

3) “Legion Quest”

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“Legion Quest” saw Storm, Bishop, Iceman, and Psylocke follow Legion back in time. Legion wanted to have a normal life, and he decided that the best way to do this was to kill Magneto, who Legion blamed for all of Xavier’s problems, in their shared past in Israel. The X-Men did their best to keep Legion from changing time, defending Magneto with everything they had. However, they weren’t able to keep Legion from the death blow. As Legion swung a first wreathed in psionic energy at the future master of magnetism, Xavier jumped in the way of the blow. Xavier was killed, and time itself broke completely, leading to an entirely new age. An age of apocalypse.

2) Avengers vs. X-Men

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Avengers vs. X-Men pit the X-Men against the Avengers with the Phoenix Force as the prize. Both teams took wins and losses throughout the 12-issue story, and in the end, everyone had to team up to take on Dark Phoenix Cyclops. Now, it’s honestly pretty hard to figure out who lost Avengers vs. X-Men. While the X-Men had mostly battled against the Avengers on the side of the Phoenix Five, they switched sides as the Phoenix Five got even more crazy. By the end, the only person on the X-Men side was Dark Phoenix Cyclops, and he lost the fight. So, while members of the X-Men were part of the winning side, the victory was considered an Avengers victory, making it an X-Men loss.

1) X-Men: Hellfire Gala (2023) #1

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The Krakoa Era changed the X-Men for five years, and it would end with a bloodbath. Every year, the Krakoans put on the Hellfire Gala, inviting people the world over to see the vote for the new X-Men. However, the third Hellfire Gala became a target for the Orchis Initiative, who had been working to set up the mutants for their downfall. Nimrod, the ultimate Sentinel, was dropped from orbit as the X-Men were being introduced, killing them all. Moira MacTaggert killed Jean Grey, Nimrod ended Iceman and then went after Juggernaut, and Orchis troops corralled everyone else. Doctor Stasis made Xavier surrender Krakoa to Orchis, using his powers to force every mutant, except the ones who knew the Red Triangle defense, off the island. Krakoa began with haughty ego and it ended in blood.

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