Source: nerdist.com

8. New Mutants

(Marvel Comics)

The New Mutants were created out necessity, because there was a gap to fill. The X-Men were hugely popular, but all of the members were too old to be students, so the whole "school for superheroes" concept was being wasted.

After all, who the hell wants to watch Wolverine sit at his desk through an Econ lecture or see Cyclops cram for a midterm. I mean, me. I would want to watch that, but no one else would.

Marvel created the New Mutants, a young class of X-People, to fill the gap. The original team included some iconic team members, including Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, and Dani Moonstar. Eventually, Doug Ramsey and Warlock (no, not that one) joined, changing the lineup dramatically. Professor X and Magneto took turns teaching them, and they grew into heroes in their own right. Some of them went on to become the initial X-Force team, and others wound up joining the main X-Men and X-Factor. Cannonball and Sunspot even locked down spots on the Avengers roster.

The upcoming movie will probably ignore all of that, but still worth knowing!