Marvel is much more straight forward than DC when it comes to tracking potential appearances. They don’t use digital titles and outside of Krakoa, you have a very reliable bet on what heroes are going to appear in what title. They also tend to favorite a wider spread of characters at any given time over DC, while also still showing a favoritism for classic characters. They don’t prefer Elseworlds in the same sense as DC, trying to focus primarily on the main universe. Characters have seasons, that can sometimes last for years, but eventually they have an off season.
The stats provided are for the first 26 week of 2021. Putting these lists together takes a lot of time and effort, so we focus on strong performers and those with guaranteed titles. If there are heroes you are curious about that cannot be found on this list, please reach out on Twitter. If the data exists, we will provide it.
The Predictions/Ratings Made Are For October 2021
(Overall Protagonist)
(Overall Antagonist)
X-MEN
Cyclops (Scott Summers) – 89 Points, 41 Appearances (11th Overall)
Cyclops is the 4th best Mutant character. That’s a level of respect he has not gotten in a long time. He’s the most present mutant, next to Logan who only beat him by One Appearance.
Titles: Inferno, X-Men
Jean Grey – 93 Points, 30 Appearances (10th Overall)
Jean beats Scott, keeping from him the Overall Top 10, as well as the top trinity of Mutant characters.
Titles: Inferno, X-Men
Polaris (Lorna Dane) – 31 Points, 11 Appearances (82nd Overall)
Polaris could get a lot of focus in the coming days as part of The Trial of Magneto and X-Men. I think she’s a better choice than all of the X-Men below her alphabetically.
Titles: The Trial Of Magneto, X-Men
Rogue (Anna Marie) – 32 Points, 16 Appearances (78th Overall)
Rogue averages 2 Points an Appearance. That’s awful.
Titles: X-Men
Synch – 37 Points, 10 Appearances (65th Overall)
Synch and Laura’s storyline parallels Moira and Xavier’s. I’m excited to see what happens with these two.
Titles: X-Men
Sunfire – 19 Points, 7 Appearances (134th Overall)
I think he’s likely going to be the weak link on this X-Men lineup. But only time will tell.
Titles: X-Men
Wolverine (Laura Kinney) – 29 Points, 11 Appearances (89th Overall)
I hope Laura racks up a ton of points for all her time spent in the Vault.
Titles: X-Men
QUIET COUNCIL
Cypher (Doug Ramsay) – 12 Points, 9 Appearances (182nd Overall)
Marriage hasn’t done Doug any favours lately.
Titles: Inferno, New Mutants
Emma Frost – 54 Points, 23 Appearances (35th Overall)
At one point Emma Frost and Jean Grey were neck and neck, but Jean has since left her far behind. She’s doing well amongst her Quiet Council peers, even as they begin to fall around her.
Titles: Inferno, Marauders
Exodus (Bennett du Paris) – 17 Points, 9 Appearances (29th Overall)
The perks of being on the council is you will likely get an appearance and a business power every time they convey. Exodus shows how little that can actually get you in the grand scheme of things.
Titles: Inferno
Kate Pryde – 39 Points, 17 Appearances (59th Overall)
Not the best year for Kate, not the worst. Emma Frost has kind of taken over focus on the Marauders book.
Title: Inferno, Marauders
Moira MacTaggert – 2 Points, 1 Appearances (327th Overall)
Moira is the secret mastermind behind Krakoa, but one of the worst parts about being a secret is how little you’re seen.
Titles: Inferno
Mr. Sinister – 28 Points, 16 Appearances (11th Overall)
One of the more prominent villains on the council, Mr. Sinister also has own title and the occasional guest appearance outside of the X-titles. Not a bad bet.
Titles: Hellions, Inferno
Mystique (Raven Darkholme) – 41 Points, 17 Appearances (5th Overall)
Mystique and Destiny lie at the heart of Krakoa’s potential unravelling, and I’m sure we will see some movement on that front through either The Trial Of Magneto or Inferno.
Titles: Inferno
Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) – 53 Points, 20 Appearances (36th Overall)
Kurt is having a stronger 2021 than 2020 thanks to his on-going title he shares with Legion. Unfortunately this book seems to be concluding in an Event around Onslaught.
Titles: Inferno, The Onslaught Revelation
Professor X (Charles Xavier) – 48 Points, 27 Appearances (45th Overall)
Among the mutants, Xavier is far from a bad pick. But amongst the council, he’s the middle tier. He doesn’t get much show time outside of doing Council things. And his powerset feels very limited in its portrayal.
Titles: Inferno, The Onslaught Revelation
Sebastian Shaw – 16 Points, 11 Appearances (35th Overall)
Sebastian Shaw has comeuppance coming his way for the murder of Kate Pryde. Emma putting him in a wheelchair really hurt him, but he’s up and about once again.
Titles: Inferno, Marauders
EXCALIBUR
Captain Britain (Betsy Braddock) – 26 Points, 8 Appearances (100th Overall)
She makes it into the Top 100, which is about where I think Betsy Braddock should sit. She’s the star of a single team book, with an occasional guest Appearance.
Titles: Excalibur
Gambit (Rem LeBeau) – 17 Points, 10 Appearances (144th Overall)
Gambit doesn’t seem to be the focus of Excalibur, but where he ended up to stay close to Rogue.
Titles: Excalibur
Jubilee – 26 Points,18 Appearances (102nd Overall)
Jubilee is doing better than I expected. She’s got a lot of guest Appearances racked up.
Titles: Excalibur
Rictor (Julio Rictor) – 27 Points, 13 Appearances (97th Overall)
Rictor is actually the best performing member of Excalibur. Hellfire Gala did good by him.
Titles: Excalibur
HELLIONS
Empath (Manuel de la Rocha) – 16 Points, 11 Appearances (68th Overall)
Empath is not doing nearly enough. He’s the butt of the joke, which isn’t the worst use of Manuel I’ve ever seen.
Titles: Hellions
John Greycrow – 17 Points, 7 Appearances (29th Overall)
John Greycrow was a surprise breakout character and one of the few members of the team that made it through X of Swords to return to Krakoa. Not a bad bet in the final rounds.
Titles: Hellions
Havok (Alex Summers) – 24 Points, 12 Appearances (112th Overall)
Havok’s had worse years, but this isn’t really a good one.
Titles: Hellions
Psylocke (Kwannon) – 48 Points, 14 Appearances (44th Overall)
2021 has been a really good year for Psylocke. A crossover with Excalibur centered around Betsy was really good for her character.
Titles: Excalibur, Hellions
MARAUDERS
Bishop (Lucas Bishop) – 31 Points, 10 Appearances (81st Overall)
Bishop hasn’t got much focus this year. I don’t know if that will change in the back half.
Titles: Marauders
Iceman (Robert Drake) – 59 Points, 17 Appearances (28th Overall)
Iceman has appearances outside Krakoa forever on his horizon thanks to appearing in a Spider-Man cartoon in the 1980s.
Titles: Marauders
Pyro (John Allerdyce) – 27 Points, 13 Appearances (14th Overall)
Pyro is not the Marauder to bank on. As a villain, he does well. As a Mutant, he’s not breaking the top ranks.
Titles: Marauders
NEW MUTANTS
Anole – 14 Points, 9 Appearances (165th Overall)
Anole and his friends have been getting in deep with Shadow King. This storyline should have a big payoff.
Titles: New Mutants
Cannonball (Sam Gunthrie) – 16 Points, 13 Appearances (150th Overall)
So Sam’s shown up a lot, but not done a whole lot.
Titles: New Mutants
Karma (Xi’An Coy Manh) – 29 Points, 10 Appearances (88th Overall)
She’s been one of the main threads of Vita Ayla’s New Mutants run, so she’s having a decent year.
Magik (Illyana Rasputin) – 44 Points, 20 Appearances (49th Overall)
Magik is one of the best mutants to have on hand, because of her connection to multiple eras of X-Men and also the Magic community.
Titles: Death Of Doctor Strange, New Mutants
Pixie (Megan Gwynn) – 49 Points, 17 Appearances (42nd Overall)
Pixie is in the top 50 Protagonists at Marvel. That’s a pretty damn good year for her, but she’s also starring in the best X-Men book.
Titles: New Mutants, Way of X
Mirage (Danielle Moonstar) – 61 Points, 15 Appearances (24th Overall)
Dani Moonstar is in the top 25 Heroes of Marvel. That’s a huge glowup for Dani, that I hope she could hold on to in the back half of the year without the Valkyrie boost.
Titles: New Mutants
Sunspot (Roberto DaCosta) – 22 Points, 10 Appearances (121st Overall)
Roberto pops up all over the place. He doesn’t do much though.
Titles: Marvel Voices: Comunidades, New Mutants, X-Corps
Warpath (James Proudstar) – 13 Points, 8 Appearances (172nd Overall)
Warpath isn’t doing great numbers, but he’s doing more than he was in 2020.
Titles: New Mutants
Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair) – 10 Points, 6 Appearances (200th Overall)
Rahne had a lot ripped from her in 2020, but New Mutants in 2021 has tried to address the loss of her child. Doing so has really hurt her performance though.
Titles: New Mutants
S.W.O.R.D
Abigail Brand – 16 Points, 6 Appearances (149th Overall)
Not the best year for Abigail, but she’s getting regular Appearances. She is the weakest member performance on S.W.O.R.D thus far in 2021.
Titles: Last Annihilation, S.W.O.R.D
Frenzy (Joanna Cargill) – 21 Points, 11 Appearances (125th Overall)
To go from next to nothing for years to 11 Appearances in a year is a nice jump in profile.
Titles: Last Annihilation, S.W.O.R.D
Manifold (Eden Fesi) – 31 Points, 12 Appearances (83rd Overall)
Eden is having a really solid year. As Black Panther shifts some focus to Planet Arrako will we perhaps see a new development in Shuri and Eden’s flirtation?
Titles: Last Annihilation, S.W.O.R.D
Storm (Ororo Munroe) – 131 Points, 37 Appearances (5th Overall)
Storm is the second best performing Mutant and is the newly appointed Voice of Sol on Planet Arrako. She’ll have an interesting back half of 2021.
Titles: Black Panther, Black Panther: Origins, Last Annihilation, S.W.O.R.D
Wiz Kid (Takeshi Matsuya) – 18 Points, 6 Appearances (139th Overall)
Another years absent Mutant returing to the fold, he doesn’t fear quite as well as Frenzy but better than Abigail Brand.
Titles: Last Annihilation, S.W.O.R.D
X-CORP
Angel (Warren Worthington) – 33 Points, 12 Appearances (74th Overall)
One of the new CXOs of X-Corps, Warren has seen a significant boost in profile this year.
Titles: X-Corp
Monet St. Croix – 25 Points, 11 Appearances (107th Overall)
Monet is a very impulsive person to be leading a company and I hope 2021 develops her into a better leader before something terrible happens.
Title: X-Corp
Multiple Man (Jamie Madrox) – 26 Points, 15 Appearances (101th Overall)
This is a really cool era for Multiple Man, who is very essential to many aspects of Krakoa.
Titles: X-Corp
Trinary – 8 Points, 2 Appearances (230th Overall)
A minor character that is hopefully carried over a 100 places in X-Corps.
Titles: X-Corp
X-FACTOR
Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) – 21 Points, 12 Appearances (126th Overall)
Of the twins, Aurora is not the one I would bet on. She is the worst performer on the team.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Daken – 29 Points, 12 Appearances (90th Overall)
The son of Wolverine, that could mean huge things if Wolverine decides to acknowledge him. The Wolverine Family are all point grabbers though, so he’s a good bet.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Eye Boy (Trevor Hawkins) – 34 Points, 11 Appearances (70th Overall)
Leah Williams brought Eye-Boy to a height where he’s outscoring most of his Mutant Peers and he’s in the top 100 Heroes at Marvel. That’s remarkable, I’ll miss this.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Magneto (Max Eisenhardt) – 58 Points, 22 Appearances (30th Overall)
Magneto falls from grace begins. It’ll be a great storyline, but will it have a lot of action? That remains to be seen.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) – 28 Points, 11 Appearances (92nd Overall)
He’s the leader of X-Factor, but he’s far from the best performer on the team.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Prestige (Rachel Grey) – 44 Points, 16 Appearances (48th Overall)
Rachel is a sleeper character, who has not one but two titles on Krakoa. It helps to be a part of the Summers-Grey clan. She is the strongest performer on the team.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
Prodigy (David Alleyne) – 41 Points, 14 Appearances (54th Overall)
Prodigy has ties to the Young Avengers that could be exploited in a 2021 where they return. But for now, he’s far from the worst mutant on Krakoa.
Titles: Trial Of Magneto
X-FORCE
Beast (Hank McCoy) – 43 Points, 22 Appearances (51st Overall)
Beast manages to crawl his way into books all the time. He’s become a fascinating idea in the X-Force title, rather than a proper character, and it’s the best use of him in some time.
Titles: Inferno, X-Force
Black Tom Cassidy – 11 Points, 5 Appearances (69th Overall)
He’s literally the defense system of Krakoa. If you bring the war to the island, you’re going to see Black Tom.
Titles: X-Force
Colossus (Pitor Rasputin) – 13 Points, 13 Appearances (174th Overall)
He’s at a One Point Per Appearance average. That’s awful.
Titles: X-Force
Domino (Neena Thurman) – 45 Points, 14 Appearances (46th Overall)
Domino is an excellent grab in the mutant community. Her power can be accounted for in a variety of ways and she tends to show up outside the island.
Titles: X-Force
Forge (Jonathan Silvercloud) – 24 Points, 12 Appearances (112th Overall)
Forge is having a much better 2021 than 2020 was for him. He does a decent amount when he shows up.
Titles: X-Force
Kid Omega (Quentin Quire) – 56 Points, 15 Appearances (33rd Overall)
Quentin being almost a top 30 Marvel Character makes me really happy.
Titles: X-Force
Sage – 34 Points, 11 Appearances (71st Overall)
Sage shows up a lot, acting as the communications hub of a community filled with telepaths. She’s also extremely overpowered and can kick ass when called for.
Titles: Inferno, X-Force
Wolverine (James Howlett) – 174 Points, 42 Appearances (3rd Overall)
The King of Krakoa.
Titles: Deadpool: Black, White & Red, X-Factor, Wolverine
REIGN OF X OUTLIERS
Legion (David Haller) – 19 Points, 3 Appearances (132nd Overall)
After only 3 Appearances, Legion has almost cleared the 100th Percentile. He’s not a bad horse to hitch your wagon to.
Titles: The Onslaught Revelation, Way Of X
Shadow King (Amahl Farouk) – 20 Points, 6 Appearances (22nd Overall)
It’s been a solid little year for the Shadow King.
Titles: New Mutants
Categories: Previews
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