Cyclops Assembles X-Men Heroes & Villains for Historic Team, All Members and Powers

Published Sep 7, 2026, 6:30 PM EDT Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words. Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II. Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno. Sign in to your ScreenRant account As the X-Men face the ultimate form of a classic villain, team leader Cyclops assembles a historic roster combining heroes, antiheroes and villains to save the entire planet. The new team assemble in the recent X-Men: Omega Red Dawn - a feature-length adventure set during the X-Men's early '90s era, from Steve Orlando, Alan Robinson, Yen Nitro and Clayton Cowles - as the X-Men go up against Russian supervillain, secret agent and serial killer Omega Red. After Omega Red attacks Xavier's school with his mutant death spores, iconic heroes like Jean Grey and Rogue are down for the count. With Xavier kidnapped, Cyclops is forced to recruit anyone who'll help to form an emergency team, with the fate of the world on the line. Cyclops, aka Scott Summers With Xavier gone, Cyclops takes charge of taking down Omega Red, assembling a team from the available heroes and using his mentor's funds to reach out to some familiar villains who are willing to save the world for a price. Cyclops' optic blasts are his most famous power (though he fires kinetic energy, NOT heat), but he also possesses an instinctual understanding of trigonometry and the ability to absorb a variety of forms of energy to charge his abilities, including Storm's lightning. Magneto, aka Max Eisenhardt When Omega Red kidnaps Xavier, he also steals Magneto's helmet, intending to use it to design a psychic amplifier that can transform the professor into a doomsday weapon. The villain's actions cause Magneto to seek out the X-Men, offering to work alongside them to retrieve his belongings and his oldest frenemy. An Omega-level mutant, Magneto has total control over magnetism, with the fundamental force of nature also allowing him to influence electricity and gravity. With the villains who star in this story, Magneto is the clear MVP, but more on them later... Wolverine, aka Logan After the team are hit with Omega Red's death spores, it's Wolverine's healing factor that allows most of them to recover. He's also a vital source of info on Omega Red and the wider SICKLE organization (Russia's answer to SHIELD) whose resources the villain now wields. Wolverine's healing factor makes him a key member of the team against Omega Red, whose death spores rapidly kill his targets in the reverse of Logan's healing factor. Likewise, his unbreakable adamantium claws are some of the only weapons that can cut Omega Red's own carbonadium tentacles, and his enhanced senses are ideal for finding the X-Men's kidnapped founder. Mystique, aka Raven Darkhölme Shapeshifter Mystique is no friend to the X-Men, despite being the mother of iconic members Rogue and Nightcrawler. She especially hates Wolverine, due to Logan betraying her and her friends the first time they met, back in the 1920s. However, Mystique is as pragmatic as she is mercenary, so she jumps at the chance to have both the X-Men and Magneto owe her a favor. Given that Omega Red is planning to use Xavier to essentially spread uncontrolled rage like a virus, even Mystique understands it's in her interests to save the world she and her longtime love Destiny live in. Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson The X-Men's most anarchic ally is also along for the ride, as Wolverine reaches out to the Merc with a Mouth, hoping his even more powerful healing factor will help take down Omega Red. The '90s saw Deadpool at his most morally flexible, but even he is concerned with preventing the end of the world, so long as he can deliver quips as he does it. Beast, aka Hank McCoy With Omega Red using Magneto's anti-telepathy tech to amplify Xavier's psychic might, Beast is essential to the team as a scientific consultant. Indeed, the X-Men only survive Omega Red's initial death spore attack because Beast is capable of synthesizing Wolverine's blood into an antidote. Alongside his genius, Beast boasts enhanced strength, agility and senses, as well as a minor healing factor that isn't in Wolverine and Deadpool's league, but is better than nothing against Omega Red. Storm, aka Ororo Munroe With the world at stake, Cyclops would be a fool not to bring along the X-Men's heaviest hitter. Able to control the weather to a godlike extent, Storm is perhaps the only X-Men leader as respected as Cyclops - ideal for a mission where multiple squads are likely to be needed, and where mercenaries like Deadpool and Mystique will need to be kept in line. Storm is also particularly skilled at combining her powers with Magneto's, with the two Omega-level mutants becoming a true force of nature when they work together. Jubilee, aka Jubilation Lee Jubilee isn't part of Cyclops' strike force, but she's a vital member of the team who stays behind at Xavier's Mansion to protect the mutants who haven't yet recovered from Omega Red's attack. Jubilee can create explosive 'fireworks' and it's become a reliable cliché in X-Men stories that everyone underestimates her firepower until it matters. It may sound like Jubilee will be on the sidelines for this story, but with Omega Red planning to bombard the planet with a rage-inducing psychic blast, she has her part to play... Gambit, aka Remy LeBeau An underestimated powerhouse, Gambit can convert mass to kinetic energy, basically turning anything he touches into a grenade. Remy also possesses a low-level hypnotic charm and can apply his energy power in unexpected ways, such as collapsing inorganic matter at a touch. Gambit's specialty with inorganic matter is pretty much the perfect power for the villains the X-Men will face in this particular story... The Villains: Omega Red and the Cursed Colossi A vicious killer, Omega Red is forced to drain the lifeforce from others in order to survive, blaming Wolverine for the toll his incomplete powers take on his body. Usually a brutal fighter, Omega Red Dawn sees Omega Red operating with the full resources of SICKLE, including black sites, a robot army, advanced tech and the 'Cursed Colossi.' The Cursed Colossi are a cadre of Russian soldiers experimented on by SICKLE, receiving skin grafts from X-Men's Colossus to grant them metal skin and enhanced strength. However, the skin sample was irradiated, granting the Cursed Colossi superpowers while also slowly killing them. Extremists who blame mutants for their fate, they'll do anything to help Omega Red strike at the X-Men, including sacrificing their lives. Not all of the story's villains are quite so monstrous. Omega Red's weaponization of Xavier's powers means that if he succeeds, innocent people will be overcome by their violent impulses and need to be stopped - some of them potentially superhuman. X-Men: Omega Red Dawn Is an Old-Fashioned Superhero Story Originally published in digital form, X-Men: Omega Red Dawn is a complete story from X-Men's most popular era, bringing together all the characters that fans love most against a truly apocalyptic threat. It's the type of story that fans don't need to be following ongoing X-Men comics to enjoy, designed from the ground up as a bombastic, fan-service romp, with a roster of characters who fans rarely get to see on the same side. X-Men: Omega Red Dawn is available from Marvel Comics now. Movie(s) X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024) Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994) First Film X-Men (2000) Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23 Comic Release Date 213035,212968