The change from the original X-Men to the newer team really tests Scott as a leader. He’s used to working with people who learned together under Xavier. After the Krakoa rescue,…

The change from the original X-Men to the newer team really tests Scott as a leader. He’s used to working with people who learned together under Xavier. After the Krakoa rescue, he’s helping lead a very different group, with Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Wolverine bringing their own experiences and personalities into the school. Wolverine especially is not somebody Scott can just point toward an enemy and expect to stop thinking about. There’s friction over authority, methods and Jean. The team still has to function through all of it. Scott’s job includes working with people who don’t necessarily like how he does things. Uncanny X-Men #175 is a good example of what his experience actually gives him. With Mastermind manipulating the situation and his own teammates coming after him, Scott has to work around the people whose abilities he normally coordinates. Knowing how they fight becomes as important as his own power. A bigger blast would be the easy thing to focus on, but that situation calls for knowing the room, anticipating reactions and finding enough time to expose what’s really happening. He is also trying to survive without treating his friends as enemies he can simply destroy. That’s the practical side of all those years of training. Scott has spent a lot of time watching these people, learning their strengths and figuring out how they fit together. When the team is turned against him, all of that becomes very personal.