2024 Crowned Rogue X-Men's Strongest Hero, Vastly Expanding Her Official Powers

Even in a huge year for the entire X-Men franchise, 2024 has drastically evolved Rogue's role and powers. Not only did the iconic Southern Belle reveal she's been hiding her full strength, but she also gained an extra superpower that she's been using to keep her team of rebel mutants alive. We're going to look at how Rogue's true strength was exposed and how she gained her new mutant ability.

2024 saw the transition from X-Men's 2019-2024 Krakoan Era to its new 'From the Ashes' relaunch, with a host of new series setting up the status quo that will apply to Marvel's mutant going forward. In Gail Simone, David Marquez, Clayton Cowles and Matt Wilson's Uncanny X-Men #1​​​​​​​, Rogue gathered a team including Wolverine and Gambit, taking responsibility for protecting a quartet of young mutants known as the Outliers.

The Outliers are being pursued by the horrifying Hag - a vicious killer who has been attempting to capture the young mutants as part of a vendetta against Charles Xavier. When Wolverine fought the Hag, she tore the seemingly unkillable mutant to pieces. Thankfully, when Rogue flew to the rescue, she ended up revealing that she's been downplaying her strength.

X-Men's Rogue Has the Strength of Two God-Tier Avengers

She's Been Keeping Her True Strength Secret Until Now

In Uncanny X-Men #4, Rogue senses that Wolverine is in trouble, charging into battle against the Hag. Despite the Hag's immense strength and her 'somber steel' claws (a new match for Wolverine's adamantium), Rogue managed to do real damage. She revealed this was because she possesses the combined strength of both Wonder Man and Captain Marvel - two Avengers heroes who exist in the upper echelons of Marvel's physical strength.

Rogue has long possessed an early version of Captain Marvel's powers, stolen by force back before her redemption alongside the X-Men. However, it appeared these powers had been replaced by Wonder Man's after Uncanny Avengers volume 1​​​​​​​, when the superstrong hero voluntarily gave Rogue his abilities to help her save the entire world. It was a redemptive moment for Rogue, who went from a hero using stolen powers to someone trusted with godlike strength.

However, in Uncanny X-Men #4, Rogue admitted it wasn't that simple. While beating down the Hag, Rogue reveals that she's "still got a li'l mess 'a Captain Marvel hidden on the back shelf," despite also having Wonder Man's incredible ionic strength. Captain Marvel and Wonder Man are incredibly powerful, with only the Hulk existing on a distinct higher level. This makes Rogue one of the strongest beings in the Marvel Universe, and certainly the strongest of the X-Men.

However, the revelations didn't stop there, as Uncanny X-Men went on to reveal that, in addition to exposing her true strength level, Rogue has acquired a brand new power that it seems Marvel intends for her to keep.

Rogue Also Has a Brand New Power

The Uncanny X-Men's Leader Absorbed Harvey X's Precognition

Rogue is only able to fight the Hag in the first place because she inexplicably senses that Wolverine is in trouble, then somehow knows where to find her enemy. It was initially unclear whether Rogue's powers had evolved further, allowing her to sense other mutants, or whether the Hag's magic was at work, and it eventually turned out that neither was the answer. Early in Uncanny X-Men, Rogue and her team paid a visit to 'Harvey X' - a young mutant with a fatal brain tumor. In Uncanny X-Men #5, it's revealed that Rogue accidentally absorbed Harvey X's powers, giving her precognitive instincts.

While they believed Harvey to be a low-level mutant at the time, it was later revealed that he was an incredibly powerful precog, able to see and manipulate the future. Harvey set up Rogue's team to encounter and protect the Outliers, while also making sure his powers were passed onto Rogue, giving her an intuitive understanding of the future. An imprint of Harvey X's mind lives on within Rogue's subconscious, sharing hints of the future to help her on her mission. And that's just where this new power starts...

X-Men's Rogue Can See the Future, Becoming the New Cerebro

And Marvel May Actually Let Her Keep This Upgrade

It's been shown that Harvey X has an immense gift, the full extent of which Rogue hasn't yet accessed. Harvey has shared visions of the future including the new 'Bloodhound' Sentinels killing Colossus, Xavier putting on Magneto's helmet, and a new Cyclops taking Scott Summers' place. So far, Rogue can't see the future in this much detail, with the Harvey X remnant feeding her instincts and hunches that will help her face mutantkind's enemies. However, in the future, she may be able to tap into Harvey X's full power.

Rogue's new power is a huge status quo shift, but it's also a small enough upgrade that Marvel won't need to quickly remove it once it has served its narrative purpose. It's possible that from hereon, Rogue will always have precognitive flashes, allowing her to operate as a one-woman Cerebro - sensing the location of mutants in trouble. That's all the more likely given the X-Men are on the outs with Xavier, and don't have access to the equipment they used to pinpoint mutants in need.

2024 turned Rogue into one of the two new pillars of the X-Men franchise, but that added responsibility comes with extra power, as the X-Men franchise increases Rogue's already impressive strength and equips her with enough precognitive power to keep her friends alive... at least so far.

Uncanny X-Men #1–#8 are available now from Marvel Comics.