Summary

• Master inventor Forge is outfitting his new X-Force team with hi-tech costumes. It's rare X-Men gives its heroes abilities outside their own unique mutant powers.
• The suits are made of artificial vibranium, allowing them to fall from huge distances safely and go into 'stealth mode.'
• X-Force #1 will be available July 31, 2024 from Marvel Comics.

Marvel’s new team leader Forge has created special suits for the team that give them a huge power-up aside from their mutant abilities. Putting together a faux version of one of the Marvel universe’s strongest materials, Forge solidifies that his mutant ability to invent is only getting stronger.

The preview for X-Force #1 by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To shows the team on their first mission. X-Force prepare to stop a disaster, with Forge's latest invention able to predict world-threatening problems before they actually arise. Sage and Forge skydive into the mission, soon ed by Betsy Braddock and Rachel Grey.

As most of the new team roster descend on their mission in Japan, Sage discusses the upgraded boots created by Forge that are laced with artificial vibranium. The ForgeTech patent called Pseudonium distributes kinetic energy through the new X-Force suits, letting them safely fall from huge distances, with their boots absorbing the force of their landing. The suits also have a stealth mode, hiding X-Force from technological observation.

X-Men costumes have had additional powers before - for example being armored or hiding the wearer's X-gene from Sentinel scans - but rarely anything this creative.

X-Force Get New Stealth Powers Thanks to Team Leader Forge

The X-Men Spin-Off Team Have Their Own Vibranium

Forge adding artificial vibranium to X-Force's new black and red costumes makes for some of the most powerful superhero suits ever seen in X-Men history. Though each mutant on the team has their own unique power, ForgeTech’s Pseudonium puts each team member on a similar playing field in of stealth and unites them as a team more than the other X-Force units of the past. The new matching red X-Force suits not only give the mutants a uniform look to solidify their team status, but also shared stealth capabilities, while playing into Forge and Sage's technological genius.

Despite being able to invent anything he can imagine, and being essential to X-Men's recent Krakoan Era, Forge hasn’t actually led a mutant team since an X-Factor offshoot in the 90s. Finally getting a chance to lead a major team in X-Men's From the Ashes relaunch, Forge leading X-Force gives him a chance to show off his genius inventions as something to build a team around. X-Men comics are usually all about the characters' individual abilities, so it's a unique approach to outfit them with matching gadgets that set a baseline for 'powers' they all share. The costumes' capabilities turn them into a dedicated stealth unit who can drop into missions safely without being found out.

Forge Is X-Men's Latest Omega Level Mutant

When Marvel announced this new X-Force volume, it clarified that X-Force will see Forge reach Omega-level power. Since his 1984 debut, the level of Forge’s mutant ability has been vastly underestimated, even being classified as a low level threat by Nimrod in New X-Men #31 by Craig Kyle, Paco Medina, Brian Reber and Juan Vlasco. However, Forge can theoretically give his team any gadget they need, so it makes sense he'd outfit their costumes with a host of features that are useful for a covert strikeforce.

Though team Surge and Tank don't appear in the first preview for X-Force, it has already shown that Forge’s inventions will give this mutant team a substantial advantage in the field. With Forge’s status among fans being raised again after a beloved appearance in the X-Men ‘97 animated series, his role in the Marvel Comics universe is reflecting the potential he's always had. As X-Force come together under Forge’s leadership, their individual mutant abilities are complemented by genius inventions that make them a unified and powerful superhero team.

X-Force (2024) #1 will be available July 31, 2024 from Marvel Comics.