The Avengers are known as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, with the world often depending on them to save the day. However, as good as the Avengers can be, they don’t have anything on the X-Men. The Avengers may have more powerful members, like Thor, but the X-Men have dealt with situations that the Avengers couldn’t handle.
The world may hate and fear the X-Men, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t the world’s greatest superteam. The Avengers often get all the plaudits, but the X-Men are no slouches. They’ve spent years quietly saving the world, and the Marvel Universe would be quite different without their influence.
10/10 The X-Men Have More History With LGBTQ+ Members
The X-Men have many queer members and are proud of it. Over the years, the X-Men have been home to more members of the LGBTQ+ community than any other Marvel team. Currently, the vast majority of queer superheroes live on Krakoa, the mutant nation. Several members of the governing Quiet Council are also members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Avengers haven’t really had any LGBTQ+ members. Living Lightning comes to mind, but he was in the closet when he was part of the Avengers West Coast. Other than that, there have been very few. The Avengers would certainly welcome LGBTQ+ members, but they just don’t have as much history with them as the X-Men do.
9/10 The X-Men Have Founded Nations
Both the Avengers and X-Men have experience as heads of nations, but only the X-Men have had to found them. It all started with Utopia. As Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers attacked the X-Men, they brought up the remains of Asteroid M from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and melded it was Alcatraz Island, becoming an outlaw nation off the coast of the US.
The X-Men ran Utopia, getting food and supplies while they were basically enemies of the state. Since then, they’ve founded the nation of Krakoa, using Xavier’s wealth and the power of Krakoan pharmaceuticals. Magneto also ran the rogue nation of Genosha prior to Utopia’s founding. The Avengers are talented, but they’d never pull off what the X-Men did.
8/10 The X-Men Spent Years Dealing With Governments That Hated Them
The Avengers have been the darlings of the US government for ages. They’re used to being well-treated and deferred to. The only time this wasn’t the case was when Henry Peter Gyrich was the government representative to the team. The Avengers basically had no idea how to deal with Gyrich, and it adversely affected the team. For the X-Men, people like Gyrich were an everyday issue.
The X-Men have rarely, if ever, dealt with a government that didn’t hate them until they founded their own. They were used to arbitrary rules that targeted them and for people who were supposed to be working “with” them working against them. Gyrich himself tried to pull his stunts with the X-Men, but they were always ready for him.
7/10 The X-Men Can Resurrect Themselves On Demand
The X-Men’s Omega Class mutants are very powerful on their own, but working together, they can do amazing things. On Krakoa, the X-Men and other mutants have begun to experiment with using their powers in unison, creating mutant circuits. One of these circuits is extremely important, as it is the engine of Krakoan resurrection.
The Five — Hope Summers, Tempus, Egg, Elixir, and Proteus — can use their powers in concert, along with a genetic sample and a Cerebro helmet to access the downloaded memory cache, to resurrect any dead mutant. The X-Men have conquered death. The Avengers haven’t.
6/10 The X-Men Are Much Better At Infiltration
The Avengers are pretty good at just about everything. However, one place where they are deficient is infiltration. The Avengers can be stealthy, but it’s mostly through tricks like Pym particles. The X-Men, on the other hand, have multiple members who are amazing at it, especially the deadly alums of Weapon X — Logan, Laura, and Gabby.
Beyond that, several other X-Men have powers that make infiltration much easier. Nightcrawler can blend in perfectly with the shadows. Kate Pryde can walk through walls, floors, and ceilings. Additionally, the telepaths can mess with the guards’ senses. The X-Men are the masters of infiltration.
5/10 The X-Men Build Better Bases
The Avengers have had several great bases, from Avengers Mansion to Avengers Island to Avengers Tower. Nowadays, they have Avengers Mountain, a definite contender for Marvel’s coolest secret base. These are all great bases, but the X-Men have pretty much always done better. The X-Mansion was a state of the art facility that rivaled Avengers Mansion and surpassed it once the Shi’Ar tech was put in and Forge showed up.
Utopia benefited from being a melding of Asteroid M and Alcatraz, with technology designed by Doctor Nemesis. Krakoa and its biotech, augmented by the mutant geniuses of the island, let the X-Men to create bases that are better than anything else. The team’s Treehouse and various habitats like Summers House on the moon prove that.
4/10 The X-Men Are The Best Trained Team In The Marvel Universe
Captain America is a drill sergeant, literally. Training is important to any Marvel team, and Cap has done his best to make the Avengers a well-oiled machine. He’s done an admirable job, but the Avengers’ training is elementary compared to the X-Men. A heavy part of the X-Men’s charter is to teach mutants to master their powers, and they do that by training in the Danger Room, while learning teamwork and discipline.
The X-Men are so good that they know exactly how each member is going to react. They’re masters of teamwork, working together seamlessly. Between that and mastering their powers, the X-Men are easily the best trained team ever.
3/10 The X-Men Are Much Better At Redeeming Villains
Several former villains have joined the Avengers, most notably Hawkeye, Black Widow, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. However, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have both went back to being villains in the past. The Avengers aren’t really a team for giving former villains a chance. The X-Men, on the other hand, are amazing at it.
Before the villains joined the nation of Krakoa, the X-Men had been redeeming villains. Even members like Wolverine and Gambit were made better people by becoming X-Men. The X-Men have also been able to redeem their greatest foe, Magneto, something the Avengers could never do with one of their arch foes.
2/10 The X-Men Have Created Multiple Successful Spin-Off Teams
The Avengers have often had more than one Avengers team. Starting with the West Coast branch, there’s also been the New Avengers, the Secret Avengers, the kids of the Avengers Academy, Pym’s Avengers A.I., and the Avengers Unity Squad. However, these groups have ended, leaving just one Avengers team.
The X-Men have multiple spin-off teams, several of which, like the experienced heroes of the New Mutants and X-Force, have existed for years. The X-Men are also much better at bringing talent up through this “farm system,” as it were. They’re much more successful at this sort of thing than the Avengers could hope to be.
1/10 The X-Men Have The Most Powerful Telepaths On Earth
Marvel contains some great manipulators, and many have powers that make it much easier. Telepathy in particular and psionic powers in general are perfect for that sort of thing. The X-Men are stacked with telepaths. Xavier, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Psylocke, Captain Britain, Quentin Quire, Karma, Mirage, Rachel Summers, the Stepford Cuckoos, and so many more all fill out the team’s ranks or one of its subteams.
The Avengers have barely ever had any telepaths in the group. It’s a huge blindspot that has given the X-Men a major advantage over their enemies. Beyond that, even the non-psionic X-Men are trained in ways of protecting their minds from mental attack. The X-Men have the Avengers beat completely when it comes to mental powers.
