With the fall of Krakoa, the X-Men have officially entered their new comic book era, and considering that comics are currently having a resurgence in popularity, the relaunch of one of the greatest superhero teams in comic history comes as a great starting point for someone looking to get into comic book reading. So here is a summary of how the franchise got here, and a review of what has happened so far.
The Krakoan Era of X-Men was the era that lasted from 2019 to 2024. It was sort of used as a way to get the main popular characters back into circulation in Marvel’s comics. They had previously sold the rights to Fox, leading to two different film series that never met box office expectations in the grand scheme of superhero movies. Disney bought Fox in 2019 which gave the rights of X-Men back to Marvel and allowed them to make X-Men comics again. During the Krakoan Era, we saw many events such as the founding of a nation meant to house Mutants, Apocalypse becoming the leader of the nation leading to the official reformation of the X-Men, Storm’s formation of the Brotherhood of Mutants, and another case of Jean Grey being resurrected to save the day as Phoenix. The series ends with the X-Men leaving Krakoa and the Krakoans returning to their world now without hate or fear.
Today, we have multiple different series with diverse sets of characters. X-Men features a team with Cyclops, Beast, and Magneto, among others. This team is set in Alaska. Under Cyclops, they strive to bring about equality for the Mutant Race. Cyclops, during the Krakoan Era, had a character arc that turned him into an anti-hero figure and continued his long-standing character trait of paranoia. He often worried about others over himself. It isn’t exactly clear where these traits will take him and the team, but there is an equal chance that we’ll see either his anti-hero status be phased out, or see it finally break him. What makes the breaking point even more prominent of a theory is that he will be without his wife Jean Grey for the millionth time, at this point. The whole arc of Jean Grey has become rather redundant over the years. It isn’t really that it is a bad thing, because we see the toll it takes on Cyclops, but you’ve got to give him a break. He has been through SO much throughout his history.
Uncanny X-Men features more of the X-Men ‘92 roster. The team features Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, and Nightcrawler. In the series, they will act as more of the normal X-Men. They will occupy the X-Mansion area despite the fact that it will likely not be their main HQ throughout the story. Uncanny seemingly takes a darker and grim tone. This is demonstrated by the first issue’s side plot where the team goes to visit a Make-A-Wish kid, only for him to pass during their visit. This series will deal more with grief, and it will even be interesting to see how plots such as Gambit and Rouge’s romance and the partnership between Wolverine and Nightcrawler, along with seeing how the more power based X-Men will go. With Professor X no longer leading anybody, Rouge will take on that role. It will be interesting to see how this storyline goes, as it may very well be the best of them. I definitely recommend this series if you are interested in tragedy, since that is how this series could very well go.
The final of the three X-Men teams is Exceptional X-Men. This team features Kate “Kitty” Pryde leading a team with Emma Frost and Iceman. I have not personally read too far into the series, and I likely won’t, as it feels almost like an entirely different series that could’ve taken up another name. It very much has the vibe of Marvel needing a third X-Men series to solidify the relaunch. I do like that they have a more diverse character set. Making Pryde the leader is a surprisingly good choice. We’ve watched her since the widely popular Dark Phoenix saga where she was approached by Emma Stone to join the Hellfire Club before becoming an X-Man. The two being on the same team will have an interesting dynamic, and this series could take on a civil war approach. Iceman’s inclusion was also a nice addition. As a prominent character who has been surprisingly under-utilized, it is nice to see him nearly headlining one of the three main comics. It will be interesting to see how they use him. He could very well act as the one trying to keep the team together if it does go down the civil war route.
This new era also features many spin offs of individual characters. The current continuous stories we have are Psylocke, Wolverine, Storm, Magik, and perhaps most crucially, Phoenix. I can only really form opinions on Wolverine and Phoenix since the others just aren’t as appealing to my comic taste. However, I definitely recommend them if any of them happen to be your favorite hero picking them up. Marvel has always done a great job at solo arcs.
Wolverine’s series is pretty simple. It will revolve around his classic persona of being a humanized killer. His whole story may revolve around fighting his classic villains such as Sabertooth and Lady Deathstrike. Additionally, he teams up with Wendigo in this series. We could see the return of team Alpha Flight in a really big role. I’d personally love to see it since Alpha Flight in a way is just an X-Men team that simply didn’t work.
My personal favorite of the spinoffs is the Phoenix series. This is the first comic I have ever picked up. I got it on its release day. It is my favorite because my favorite Marvel character is Jean Grey. I love her story of mental telekinesis, plus the relationship she has with the Phoenix Force. There is not a better representation of PTSD from that event, and even better, her original persona was Marvel Girl. She was quite literally meant to be one of the faces of Marvel. Anyway though, the series revolves around Jean’s adventures in space with the Phoenix Force. We see a new sort of dynamic here, as it never seems to turn her into the monster that is the Dark Phoenix. We could potentially see it, but as of right now, there is really no sign of it. She will take on several of the prominent villains in this series including Gorr the God Butcher, and later, Thanos. She will also ride with a team that includes Captain Marvel, Nova, and Rocket Raccoon. It is a baseless prediction to make, but this story could potentially start to take on a theme of Jean becoming more violent as the Phoenix Force starts to inevitably lust for power. The only reason I say this is because the cover of the upcoming 7th issue features Jean doing something painful to Thanos. It will be interesting to see where this story goes. There is a reason that it is marketed as the big solo series in this line, and I HIGHLY recommend you read it. It may be my bias for loving a good Jean Grey solo series, but it is a great series and it takes the dynamic of one of X-Men’s most iconic characters into a space setting which is just perfect.
Overall, this new era for X-Men will be interesting for all of the series involved in it. X-Men worked well in the 20th century for its underlying theme of racism and civil rights. Along with that, they worked well during the Krakoan era, proving that without racism being a key issue in society, X-Men could succeed. I am interested in seeing how it plays out, along with how other comic fans will be. But all I can definitively say for now is, X-Men is back!
