With a cinematic history dating back over 20 years, the X-Men are some of the first Marvel Comics characters to be adapted to the big screen. As such, there are dozens of mighty mutants who have appeared across the X-Men movies — even if their film depictions haven’t always been faithful to the source material.

However, not every mutant has been as lucky as Wolverine and Magneto, or even Magik and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. There are still plenty of fan-favorite X-Men characters who have never appeared in live action, or in any adaptation at all for that matter. Here are just a handful of beloved comic book mutants who have yet to make their movie debut.

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Rachel Summers

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Nearly a decade before her parallel-timeline brother Cable made his gun-toting, pouch-covered debut, Rachel Summers — the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey from an alternate future — first appeared in the classic “Days of Future Past” storyline, all the way back in 1981. In that acclaimed tale, Rachel is the one who uses her psychic powers to send the adult Kate Pryde’s consciousness into the body of her teenage self.

Rachel herself later traveled back in time and joined the present day X-Men. Her immense psychic powers made her one of the strongest members of the team — especially after she was strengthened by the remnants of her mother’s Phoenix powers — but her fiery personality caused her to clash with her teammates. Rachel eventually left the X-Men, but later joined the UK-based hero team Excalibur alongside Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler.

In recent years, Rachel has reconnected with her family, formed a close sibling bond with Cable, and joined the most recent incarnation of X-Factor, a team of mutant detectives. Most recently, she appeared in the pages of Knights of X by Tini Howard and Bob Quinn, in which she began a romantic relationship with Betsy Braddock — the original Psylocke and Current Captain Britain. Rachel may not be the most famous member of the Summers family, but she has a devoted fan following and an important place in the X-Men mythos.

Forge

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Created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. in 1984’s Uncanny X-Men #184, the man known only as Forge first entered the X-Men’s world as an enemy, albeit an unwitting one. In his debut storyline, Forge uses his mutant power to create any device he can imagine in the employ of the US Department of Defense. He builds the Neutralizer, a weapon that can erase the abilities of any superpowered individual, which is soon used on Storm by the ruthless bureaucrat Henry Peter Gyrich.

In the masterpiece story “Lifedeath”, Forge rescues Storm, offering her compassion as she sinks into depression over the loss of her powers. Before long, the two even begin to fall in love — however, when Storm learns that Forge built the Neutralizer that robbed her of her powers, she furiously cuts ties with him. The two would later reconcile in the “Fall of the Mutants” arc, which explores Forge’s backstory, from his past as a Cheyenne shaman to his trauma from the Vietnam War. Since then, Forge has been an on-and-off ally of the X-Men for decades.

Forge’s mutant gift means he’s most often found in a support role akin to Q from James Bond. But when needed, he’s more than willing to take his inventions onto the battlefield. Though he’s rarely found in the spotlight, Forge is nevertheless a nuanced and fascinating character. He’s both kind and ruthless, both boisterous and introspective. He’s never been an A-lister, but between his unique power and compelling characterization, Forge has proven popular enough to earn a place in the currently ongoing X-Men flagship book, written by Gerry Duggan.

Cypher

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Much like Forge, Doug Ramsey — aka Cypher — isn’t gifted with flashy powers. Rather, his mutation allows him to understand any form of communication. Cypher can perfectly interpret any language, written or spoken. He can expertly read people’s body language and unspoken subtext. He can even analyze an opponent’s fighting style, pinpoint structural weaknesses in a building, and hack computers with ease.

Of course, despite his versatile powers, Cypher isn’t a fighter by nature. Sweet, dorky Doug is far from the action hero type. He prefers to leave the combat to his fellow New Mutants while he supports them from the sidelines. However, Cypher isn’t completely vulnerable. In his early days at the Xavier School, Doug rescued a crashed alien cyborg named Warlock, who quickly became his best friend and loyal protector.

Nowadays, Cypher plays a crucial role in the comics as the interpreter for Krakoa, the living island who the X-Men now call home. He’s even gotten married to the fierce warrior woman Bei the Blood Moon. Perhaps someday Doug and Warlock will both join the other New Mutants on the big screen — hopefully in a better adaptation.

Destiny

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While Mystique has been one of the most prominent characters throughout the X-Men movies, she’s never once shared the screen with the most important person in her life: Irene Adler, aka Destiny. Debuting in “Days of Future Past” alongside the rest of Mystique’s Brotherhood, Destiny is a blind precognitive with the ability to see into all possible futures and predict which ones will come true. With this power, Destiny is cold, calculating, and enigmatic by nature, always playing the long game and holding her cards close to her chest.

However, there’s one person who has the power to break through Destiny’s icy exterior — her wife, Mystique. Since their creation, writer Chris Claremont envisioned Mystique and Destiny as lovers, but Marvel company policy prevented the explicit depiction of queer characters. However, fans and writers alike picked up on the subtext of their relationship, and in 2020’s X-Men Vol. 5 #6 by Jonathan Hickman, Mystique finally referred to Destiny as her wife on the page. Today, these morally ambiguous mutants are the deadliest power couple in X-Men comics, willing to deceive and backstab whoever they need to in order to protect each other. They may love one another, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

Exodus

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This 90s villain may not be the X-Men’s most iconic antagonist, but he’s seen a massive spike in popularity over the last few years. Born Bennet du Paris in 12th century France, Exodus was a crusader undergoing a crisis of faith when he discovered the tomb of Apocalypse. The ancient mutant awakened Exodus’ latent powers, transforming him into an omega-level telekinetic — one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. While he was at first in awe of Apocalypse, Exodus soon became disillusioned with his new master. Since then, Exodus has desperately looked for a savior to bring peace to mutantkind. In short, he’s a prophet in search of a messiah.

Throughout the 90s, Exodus believed that Magneto was the savior he sought, and loyally served him as the leader of the Acolytes. But eventually, Exodus lost faith in Magneto as well. Now, in Immortal X-Men by Kieron Gillen, Exodus has found a new messiah: Hope Summers, the adopted daughter of Cable. While it’s ostensibly a good thing that Exodus has finally placed his faith in a hero instead of a villain, his overzealous devotion may end up doing more harm than good.

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