Marvel announces second X-Men fan election: Vote now for who you want on the superhero team!

Going into the new year, things are changing for the X-Men. Every current Marvel comic about mutants has come to an end over the past month, so when the miniseries The X Lives and X Deaths of Wolverine begins in a few weeks, it will be the only X-Men story. Come spring, we'll get a brand-new line of X-comics spinning out of that Wolverine event. But until then, amidst all this change, fans will be able to give some input.

For the second year in a row, Marvel has announced an X-Men fan election in which readers can democratically vote on whom they'd like to see take a spot on Krakoa's premier superhero team.

Last year's winner was the magnetically powered Polaris, who has starred in X-Men by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz ever since fans voted her in. The losing candidates in that election — Armor, Banshee, Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Forge, Marrow, Strong Guy, Sunspot, and Tempo — get a consolation prize in that they will all star in the one-off issue Secret X-Men #1, which will hit stands next month.

Marvel Marvel's poster for the second annual X-Men fan election

Marvel Comics Behold the candidates for Marvel's second annual X-Men fan election.

This time around, the choices are Armor, Avalanche, Bling!, Firestar, Gentle, Gorgon, Micromax, Penance, Siryn, and Surge. Armor, a young Japanese woman with the ability to generate a powerful psionic forcefield around herself, is the only repeat from last year's lineup, though Siryn is the daughter of previous candidate Banshee. Gentle is the first Krakoan mutant to originally hail from Black Panther's kingdom of Wakanda, and Penance previously starred in the X-Corp miniseries but now seems to have some time on her hands.

Gorgon was formerly a Krakoan captain tasked with protecting the most important members of the mutant government, but after dying in the crossover event X of Swords he's come back a little scrambled. Avalanche was formerly a longstanding member of the Brotherhood, but now that former enemies stand hand in hand on Krakoa, nothing's stopping a former Brotherhood member from joining the X-Men. The electrically powered Surge was one of the stars of the New X-Men: Academy X series in the early 2000s, but she hasn't been very prominent in the years since.

So who do you want to see join the X-Men? An up-and-comer who deserves a shot at the big time? A former villain in need of redemption? A supporting character finally ready for a promotion?

Fans can cast their votes here anytime through Thursday, Jan. 13. Results from the election will be revealed as part of the second annual Hellfire Gala event this June.

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