Custom Image by Andy Behbakht
Published Mar 26, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT
Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.
Sign in to your Screen Rant account
Heads up! Light spoilers ahead for Inglorious X-Force!
The X-Men franchise has a new X-Force team, but it's missing two fan-favorite mutant heroes that Marvel cut from the roster. Every X-story starts with a negotiation: the writer asks to use certain characters, and Marvel says yay, or nay. This makes every X-Men book its own "What If?", and Inglorious X-Force is no exception.
In an interview with AIPT, Inglorious author Tim Seeley cited time traveler Bishop and Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, as two characters he wanted to include, but wasn't allowed to.
How did that shake-up Inglorious X-Force, and what could that mean for these two mutant heroes? Let's get into it.
Marvel Nixed Multiple Man And Bishop From The New X-Force Squad
Inglorious X-Force #3; Written By Tim Seeley; Art By Michael Sta. Maria; Available Now From Marvel Comics
We'll get to Tim Seeley's full quote in a moment, but let's start with who didn't make the cut for Inglorious X-Force. Speaking about his pitch for the team, Seeley said::
The characters I got shot down on were Multiple Man and Bishop!
Now, this is part of the natural creative evolution of an X-Men story. Why? Usually because Marvel has other plans for a character.
We know that's the case for Bishop, who has a new five-issue solo series coming in June. That means there's a good chance Marvel has something cooking for Multiple Man, too. As for Inglorious X-Force, it's still early in the series, so it's hard to say what X-fans are missing out on without them in the mix.
Cable is once more leading this incarnation of X-Force. Of course, fans know he has a lot of history with Bishop. The new series would've offered an opportunity to reprise their antagonistic dynamic, or flip it. Multiple Man would've likely proved to be an interesting wrinkle in Inglorious X-Force's overarching story.
Multiple Man And Bishop Were Replaced With Archangel, Domino, & Hellverine In The "Inglorious" Creative Process
Time Will Tell How That Changed Inglorious X-Force On The Page
Here's the gist of Inglorious X-Force's plot: Cable puts together a new X-Force team, including present-day Kamala Khan, to prevent the future assassination of President Kamala Khan. The twist? The team are also the primary suspects. It's a very fun premise. And part of turning that into a fun book is how the series' supporting cast contributes to the story.
Multiple Man make sense as a one-mutant security force for Kamala. Yet if even one duplicate was compromised, he could turn out to be a serious threat. Dramatically, he would have been perfect for Inglorious X-Force, if that's how Tim Seeley was going to use him. Unfortunately, losing Multiple Man was one of the compromises the author had to make.
And ultimately, neither Multiple Man or Bishop were must-haves for the series. Here's the rest of what Seeley said about the development of Inglorious X-Force:
It was very much a back and forth with the X-editors. My personal requirements were Cable, Ms. Marvel, and Boom-Boom, since my initial pitch totally revolved around the relationships of those characters. And then we chatted about how to make it a team that had members from across multiple eras of the book, which led us to Domino and Archangel. Akihiro was a suggestion of Mark Basso, and admittedly, I was skeptical at first, but then I talked to some of my comics friends like Jordan Blum, Ben Percy, and Steve Orlando, and saw lots of potential for him based on their endorsements.
In other words, the core of Seeley's pitch was preserved, and then he modified the story around that. And so, what's happening with the mutants who did make it into the book?
"Inglorious X-Force" Is Teasing Another Fall From Grace For An Original "X-Men" Hero
Who Was Originally Planned For Archangel's Role?
It seems Inglorious X-Force is building toward an Archangel heel turn. Of course, the full story will likely turn out to be more complicated once it plays out, but preview material for upcoming issues of Inglorious X-Force certainly paint an ominous picture for the OG X-Men hero. "The secret of Archangel changes everything," teases the synopsis for Inglorious #4.
Meanwhile, the cover for Inglorious X-Force #5 has Archangel perched on the graves of the rest of the team. Whatever twists and turns this book has in store for readers aside, there's the "What If?" question out there of whether Bishop or Multiple Man might have played Archangel's role in this series if Marvel had permitted it.
Inglorious X-Force is one of the X-franchise's must-reads right now. Even if the story fails to connect with fans, it will be a glorious and fun failure. And if fans don't like what it does with its cast of X-Men characters, they can point to Marvel's mandated changes in the writing process.
Inglorious X-Force #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.
What do you think, X-fans? Would Inglorious X-Force have been better with Multiple Man or Bishop in it?
First Film X-Men (2000)
TV Show(s) X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024)
Video Game(s) X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
Character(s) Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
Comic Release Date 213035,212968
English (US) ·