In 1982, during his now-historic run on Uncanny X-Men, legendary comics writer Chris Claremont introduced a new student class of young mutants in The New Mutants Graphic Novel. This new cast of characters, Dani Moonstar/Mirage, Sam Guthrie/Cannonball, Roberto da Costa/Sunspot, Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane, and Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma, would make up the roster for a spinoff to Uncanny X-Men called New Mutants. As the title went on, Claremont would add additional characters such as Amara Aquilla/Magma, Illyana Rasputina/Magik, Doug Ramsey/Cypher, and the techno-organic extraterrestrial named Warlock. Claremont had a tendency to frequently change up the roster during his X-Men run, which allowed him to explore new character and relationship dynamics as new characters were brought in while others that had been on the book for a while were cycled out or relegated to new roles.
The addition of these “New Mutants” is another example of Claremont building out the world of the X-Men by continuing to grow Marvel’s ever-expanding mutant population. Since their initial introduction, many of these characters have become mainstays in the X-Men universe, and have made appearances in other media such as television, movies, and video games. Some characters have even made appearances in other Marvel titles, such as when Cannonball and Sunspot were briefly members of the Avengers.
The “New Mutants” represent the next generation of mutandom following Charles Xavier’s original five students and the Second Genesis team, which kicked off Claremont’s run. Besides Charles Xavier, Scott Summers/Cyclops and Ororo Munroe/Storm were clearly the two characters of that generation of mutants who were most likely to carry on Xavier’s idealistic dream of coexistence between mutants and humans. Both Cyclops and Storm possess qualities that make them natural-born leaders who are charismatic and inspire trust and loyalty in those who would voluntarily follow them into combat situations. We see these qualities in Dani and Sam as well, who act as co-leaders for the New Mutants team. However, neither Dani nor Sam has led an X-Men on their own the way that Cyclops and Storm have.
Dani and Sam are both prominent characters in the “Age of Revelation” event, but neither one is on an X-Men team during the event. Following the gene bomb detonation that released the X-Virus and allowed Doug Ramsey, now the heir of Apocalypse and going by the name Revelation, to seize control of the U.S. and assert his will as a mutant dictator, several factions and countless individuals have formed resistance movements against Revelation’s authoritarian rule. X-Vengers #1 sees the formation of a new Avengers team with Dani Moonstar acting as team leader. In the issue, we learn that many prominent Marvel characters such as Cassandra Lang, Kate Bishop, Janet Van Dyne, and Sharon Carter, Edwin Jarvis, and Aaron Fischer have died, including Steve Rogers/Captain America. We also find out that Steve passed his shield and leadership of the Avengers to Dani before his death.
Dani assembles her new team of Avengers. Credit: Marvel Comics
Dani’s Avengers team consists of veteran Avengers characters Scott Lang, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Shang-Chi, and Vision, who were exposed to the X-Virus and are now mutants themselves. Rounding out the team is Dani’s former New Mutants teammate Sam Guthrie. Dani, as a mutant, is the perfect leader for a team of experienced Avengers who are adjusting to their new mutant abilities. In an interview with AIPT, series writer Jason Loo talks about Dani’s role as the leader of this new team of A-list Avengers who have been transformed into mutants who are struggling with their status as newly formed mutants. Loo says that Dani is the perfect choice to lead a team of veteran heroes who must relearn everything they know how to do within the unique challenges that their mutations present. For example, Hawkeye now has six arms instead of two, Natasha’s entire body is made out of water, and Shang-Chi is so powerful that he must now be super precise to prevent destroying everything his fists come into contact with.
Despite Dani taking on leadership roles before, she finds herself questioning whether she is the best person to carry Captain America’s shield and lead the Avengers. She wonders to herself if Steve selected her out of convenience and because she just happened to be the last person to be with Steve before his untimely demise, or if Steve selected her because he truly believed her to be the best person to lead the Avengers in his absence. Steve Rogers passing his shield to Dani is reminiscent of Binary #1, in which Jean Grey chose Carol Danvers to be the new host of the Phoenix Force before her death. Both Carol and Dani experience some form of imposter syndrome, where both question whether they are a worthy successor, but will try their best to prove that they are worthy by carrying out the responsibility in a way that would make Jean and Steve proud.
In Steve Rogers’ final moments he passed his shield on to Dani Moonstar, who now wields the shield as the new leader of the Avengers. Credit: Marvel Comics
X-Vengers finally gives Dani Moonstar the opportunity to prove herself as a competent and capable leader of a superhero team. The issue proves why Dani deserves to lead a superhero team and shows that when given a chance to demonstrate her capabilities as a field leader, she is able to rise to the occasion. I know I speak for many fans of the character when I say that I hope Dani Moonstar is given a leadership role on an X-Men team book in the “Shadows of Tomorrow” event next year after Age of Revelation concludes in December. In the meantime, we can anticipate watching Dani continue her role as leader of the Avengers in X-Vengers #2 in November and X-Vengers #3 in December.
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