Best X-Men Hero Designs in From the Ashes, Ranked

With any comic book relaunch, there must always come a variety of characters with complete uniform redesigns. In this case, the X-Men are being widely transformed in the aesthetics department in Marvel’s From the Ashes initiative, and so far it looks amazing.

With so many X-Men team and solo books starting up, some characters get new looks to set them apart as their own heroes, while others receive more branded looks to fit in with the rest of their squad. Regardless of where some might fall, the fact remains that a lot of these new suits look stellar, and need to be openly praised. From Wolverine sporting his iconic suit to Juggernaut going all-black, From the Ashes has a lot to appreciate visually.

10 Forge Is Leading by Example in Action and Fashion Alike

One thing that has been sorely missed since the introduction of Krakoa is the unifying look of an X-Force squad that sports some matching uniforms. Luckily, fans no longer need to worry, because Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To are bringing it back, starting with the leader of the team: Forge.

Forge was mostly seen wearing the same look, which was fine because it was iconic. But now Marvel is taking advantage of this relaunch to introduce something new for him and the rest of his team. The X-Force is now fully decked out in black-and-red uniforms, which means Forge has to lead by example and wear one too. However, he brings a unique style to it by wearing his iconic bandana, an extra large popped collar, and letting his cybernetic leg go naked and free. He’s not the most high-profile redesign, but he stands out enough to make a statement.

9 Laura Kinney As Wolverine Looks More Fierce Than Ever

Undoubtedly one of the standout aspects of Laura’s character going into From the Ashes is that she seems rougher, tougher and angrier than normal — which, under the circumstances, is justifiable. With this more menacing iteration of Wolverine, it feels appropriate that the creative team on NYX (2024) gives her a brand-new look to match that dark vibe.

This new suit looks a lot heavier and makes Laura appear larger in frame than she ever has. It also takes elements of her past uniforms as Wolverine and X-23 and combines them, feeling like her character has come full circle. The grey, black and yellow feels like a great and fitting color scheme that should’ve been implemented way sooner. Most of all, it builds her up as an intimidating threat through the eyes of the series protagonist, Kamala Khan.

8 Kitty Pryde Fully Returns to Her Roots

Katherine Pryde is a character who has come full circle, as Ewing and Carnero’s Exceptional X-Men detail her supposed disillusionment with using her power for a greater purpose. Her character has a clear theme, as she returns to using the name Kitty rather than her preferred nickname, Kate, and settles back into the human world as a bartender. So, it also feels right that she would return to a version of arguably her most iconic look ever.

Kitty Pryde has worn several suits over the years, and all of them have been unique to her. But there’s always been something about the basic blue look that she started using in the old Excalibur days that’s stayed with fans. While her returning to this look seems like it’s intended to be part of a thematic character regression, fans still can’t help but feel relief to see her wearing it again.

7 Phoenix Looks More Like Her Own Superhero Than Ever

It’s about time that Jean Grey gets her own series again — and one that sees her and the Phoenix Force completely united and acting as one.Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo is an extremely refreshing take on Phoenix as a character where fans see her soar around the stars, saving planet by planet with her ever-amazing power.

Her new look plays a role in this too. It arguably takes her most iconic look and color and updates it to feel more modern. This suit feels like it was specially plucked from the original Phoenix saga and updated to lose that connotation of evil and instability that emanates from it. With a few alterations, Jean now looks like the intergalactic superhero she should have been, and it’s incredibly satisfying to witness.

6 Beast Has Finally Returned To Familiar Form

Hank McCoy has been through some drastic developments over the years, especially near the end of the mutants’ days on Krakoa. After allowing himself to delve into total moral bankruptcy, Hank ended up being dealt with by his own friends and family, and replaced with a younger clone from around the ’90s. And because Beast’s appearance evolves constantly, this development sets him back to an older look that readers haven’t seen in years.

There is a sense of familiarity, comfort and relief associated with this new retro Beast appearance that already gains it a couple of points. But it also looks great in Ryan Stegman’s art style and comes at a crucial time when Beast has recently reappeared in live-action and animation again. Beast has completely returned to the state fans know and love him in, and that’s incredibly refreshing.

There is a lot of symbolism in Magneto’s new look, as seen in the pages of Jed MacKay’s X-Men. After his last encounter with Charles Xavier in Marvel’s Fall of X finale, this new getup speaks volumes as to how much his character, and his oldest friend, have been affected by the mutants’ Krakoa days.

Max Eisenhart, thus far into the series, has been generally laid back and surprisingly non-explosive with anger. Instead, he spends most of his days in the factory, lounging around in a hoverchair, wearing his iconic helmet, and attire not too dissimilar to Charles Xavier pre-Krakoa. It seems as though his final confrontation with Xavier has stayed with him, and he has adopted some of his behaviors and traits. He has officially become Professor M.

4 Juggernaut’s New Looks Betray His Motives, but It Still Fits

Cain Marko has come such a long way that it still perplexes even the most seasoned X-Men fans out there. Gone are the days when the big guy would brawl with the X-Men as part of Magneto’s villainous brotherhood, for he now stands proudly alongside his former enemies as an X-Man himself.

The interesting thing is that his suit makes him look more outwardly evil than ever before. His most iconic look is the big red bulk of armor with the dome protecting his head. But now, he runs around in an all-black version of that same suit with even more of his face covered up and a bright red X on the face of his mask. However, this giant contradiction to his progression as a hero feels quite fitting for someone as unpredictable as Juggernaut.

Wolverine has made a lot of important reappearances as of late throughout projects like Deadpool and Wolverine, and X-Men ’97. So, after Ben Percy’s long-running Wolverine saga back during the Krakoa days, it feels refreshing to have him return to the iconic yellow-and-blue suit that fans love to see him in.

Wolverine has worn many suits over the years with many different color schemes, and pretty much every single one of them has looked amazing. However, it’s not easy to beat the classics, and this one is considered a classic for a reason. With From the Ashes being an overall new-reader-friendly initiative, it makes the most sense to have Logan return to this suit going into Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men and Saladin Ahmed’s Wolverine.

2 Temper Has Finally Found An Iconic Look To Set Her Apart

Temper is an X-Men mutant who has been around in the background of the superhero team’s stories for years. She largely took up minimal supporting roles and did not stand on her own as a character, nor did anyone expect her to. However, the From the Ashes relaunch has done quite a bit of work already in building Temper up and making her a lot more three-dimensional. One of the ways this was accomplished was through her new appearance.

Temper has a lot of baggage about humanity and Krakoa, and this is felt through her intimidating and striking new look. The contrast of orange and blue not only speaks to her powers as a mutant—it also symbolizes a lot of her hang-ups about the hypocrisy of mutants during the Krakoa days and her hatred of some humans.

1 Cyclops’ New Suit Toes the Line Between Fresh and Retro

Scott Summers has undergone a lot of development, and Jed MacKay’s X-Men does a great job of wrapping up all the complicated Cyclops history. One way it does that is by making Cyclops’ suit super easy on the eyes and feeling like a blend of all his former suits throughout the years. Cyclops’ new look works on different levels — it’s bright, it’s bold, and is by far the best of them all.

The design dances between Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, Dennis Hopeless’ All-New X-Men, and being its own completely new thing. And to top it all off, it’s more yellow than blue for the first time in a while, which contrasts with his yellow-less suit on Krakoa. It feels like it’s calling back to the original X-Men days in the ’60s to symbolize a fresh start in this relaunch, standing out among even his most iconic peers.