First I did my picks for Team Cyclops, now its time for the Old Canuckle-Head, Wolverine. Once again, I will be basing my choices on three things. First comes past relationships between given characters. Second I took into account recent events that might help sway a character to one side or the other. Third is based on what the writers of the books have stated.
Example: Kieron Gillen, the writer of Uncanny X-Men, stated that his team in Uncanny X-Men, post-Schism, might be one of the most powerful teams of X-Men ever assembled. Given that he stated that, a big portion that helped me choose characters for Cyclops' team was due to power levels of characters. Again, character relationships, motivations, and recent events also helped, though. Just because a character is powerful, does not mean they would necessarily side with Cyclops. Get it? Okay good. So, onto the fun!
Wolverine and the X-Men (Team Wolverine): This title will be written by Jason Aaron. There are even less details about Wolverine's team/motivations than there are about Cyclops' team. The one thing that we do know is that just because Cyclops' team is going to be in the public eye more, it does not mean that Wolvie's team will be completely underground. Everything Wolvie's team does will be seen by the public, but they will not be known as the premier mutant team. Think somewhere in the middle of Cyclops "world class" team, and Wolvie's completely secret and underground X-Force team.
1. Wolverine: Of course he's on his own team.
2. Beast: Beast recently left the X-Men due to his lack of faith and disapproval of how Cyclops has been running things, as well as the recent decisions he's made, namely his decision to create the team of mutant assassins, X-Force. Beast up and left and joined Steve Roger's Secret Avengers team. With the X-Men being split down the middle into two teams and ideals, Wolverine may be offering exactly what Beast is looking for to slap a nice shiny "X" on his uniform once again.
3. Emma Frost: Cyclops has been treating his golden haired harlot like yesterday's news as of late. One needs only look at recent issues of any X-Men comics to see it. He talks down to her and has even gone so far as to tell her to "shut up" when she says something he doesn't like or agree with. It seems to me like all it would take is an excuse for Frost to jump the Cyclops ship and high tail it over to a more agreeable team.
4. Rogue: This is another character who is not too happy with Cyclops these days. She's still willing to follow him, but Cyclops has sidelined her in the recent past due to her mental issues after absorbing billions of minds when the Hecatomb attacked. Also, he's treated her with kid gloves after being captured and nearly killed by Sinister's Marauders during Messiah Complex. She may not actively hate the guy, but I get the feeling that all she needs is another choice, and she'll be gone. Wolverine could be that other choice.
5. Gambit: Known as being both traitorous and undevidedly loyal all at the same time, Gambit is a tricky character to predict. He's been shown to do anything for the ones he loves, while at the same time taking part in The Mutant Massacre of the Morlocks, and more recently, betraying the X-Men and willingly joining Apocalypse to be made into his Horseman Death. If there is one constant in his life it is his love for Rogue. I don't think Gambit has any significant loyalties to either Wolverine OR Cyclops, but I believe his love for Rogue will bring him to Wolverine's team.
6. Jubilee: Jubilee was recently turned into a vampire during the Curse of the Mutants story line. During that story, and also during the mini-series "Wolverine and Jubilee", Marvel has reestablished their long time friendship. I find it hard to believe that they would do that without some kind of effect. I think it would be a shame to waste all the work that was put into rebuilding this connection between the two. I would love to see Jubilee join Wolverine's team, especially now that she has a cool new power set.
7. X-23: Another young female character that looks to Wolverine as a mentor, X-23 is almost a no-brainer for Wolvie's team. Plus, I love the dynamic between the two.
8. Fantomex: The mysterious fake frenchman who's body is shared with a sentient ship. Fantomex has been a teammate of Wolverine's in Uncanny X-Force for a while now. He's shown loyalty to his team while also keeping everyone on their toes with his unpredictability. Regardless, his power of misdirection would come in handy, as well as his ship giving Wolverine's team a place to hang their hats.
And there you have it! My picks for Wolverine's team. I purposely left Xavier and Magneto out of the teams because I see them as wildcards. I truly feel that either of them could go either way. Like it or hate it, I think these characters would have a lot to offer Team Wolverine. Hope you enjoyed this!
~CDB