The X-Men have over the recent years been perhaps the single most disparaged segment of the Marvel line, plagued by controversial story decisions and an apparent attempt to replace them with the Inhumans due to inter-company strife with Fox. With the upcoming ResureXion mini-relaunch, it looks like they are turning back in the right direction. So with a hopeful eye towards the real life line, I present my own personally crafted plan:
For me, the most irksome flaw in the X-Men right now is the perpetual presence of the teenage versions of the original five heroes. Their continued prevalence has dragged down the line as a whole, as books focus on past versions of characters fans already love as a cheap way of getting around needing to have readers embrace new heroes. As such, my first step would be a major mutant event which removes the O5 from the equation, along with the increasingly over-used Magneto and a few other key players. This sets the stage for a new world where mutants are for the most part accepted and the X-Men can safely look to the future for the first time in a long time. Mutant businessman Sunspot will be a major player across the board and heroes like Havoc and Nightcrawler will become fulltime Avengers. For the mutant-centric stories, three new teams will form alongside several solo titles. As these series move forward, interlocking plot lines between the individual books will build towards both a crucial role in the Marvel universe as a whole and a major X-Event years in the planning that will return at long last Charles Xavier to the land of the living.
I’ve picked Dennis Hopeless to helm this series. He’s done excellent work on the current “young X-Men” book, so no one is better suited to helm this new flagship title, as it itself is a return to the X-Men’s roots as a school for young heroes. Over the decades, dozens of new generations of X-Men have come and gone, with few holding true sticking power. The primary goal of the new line as a whole is to unite the many generations into a single unit moving forwards, while a new “first class” of young mutants to headline the future of a franchise built on youth that has slowly drifted away from its foundation over the years.
In the setting of this flagship series, the focus will be on the premier class of the reinstated Xavier Memorial Acadamy. Idie Okonkwo, Quenton Quire, and Broo mark mainstays from the most recent new generation, and are joined by new characters. Instructing them are Storm (as Headmistress of the Acadamy) Rogue, Gambit, Rachel Summers, and Forge. Their lessons and adventures will bring them into contact with a wide ensemble of X-Men and the wider Marvel universe as a whole. One of the key focuses of the story here is the destiny of the young heroes: Broo grapples with his biological impulses, Idie is molded into a future leader of the X-Men, and Quenton is set down the foreboding path of becoming the Phoenix. One character I did create myself to join them is Jack Diamond, a young mutant from a family of heroes. He will also be groomed for leadership, as an unwitting rival to Idie, while his family issues (particularly a rivalry with his brother, the one family member without an X-Gene) will lead to devastating consequences for the team. Together they join with iconic members of past generations of X-Men to pave a bold new path to a bright future.
While Storm heads up the public face of the mutant world as a cheery and optimistic group of future-builders, someone has to pick up the work of the paramilitary side of the X-Men, which has come in recent years to dominate the mutant line. That someone is Psylocke, who leads her mutant strike team in correlation with Storm’s public efforts to protect mutant interests worldwide. On her team are Wolfsbane, Hellion, Rockslide, Kestral, and Genesis, whom Psylocke has personally selected to train. (Later additions will include Quicksilver and Dani Moonstar) This book strikes a darker tone than “X-Men”, and such would fit well with the talents of someone like Jeff Lemire, who has seen mixed reception to his current X-Men series but would thrive in the shadowy world this team faces.
Central themes of the series include, like its sister book, destiny. Genesis continues to push the extent of his powers in spite of his fear of becoming the evil he was cloned from. This struggle to not step too far into the darkness affects all of the team members, however, as their varying moral codes come into conflict and Psylocke’s loyalty to Storm’s Xavier-inspired vision is tested by increased exposure to the tragic reality of the world. X-Force will also introduce the main over-arcing villain for the X-Line, who I’ll elaborate further on later.
X-Factor United: The X-Men and the Inhumans have been at the center of contention both on and off the page for the past few years, with many believing Marvel was attempting to replace the mutants to spite Fox. If that was truly their agenda, then they certainly failed, and it’s high time the two races put aside their differences. That is the purpose of this latest installment of X-Factor, a unity squad in the same vein as the Uncanny Avengers, which brings together both Inhumans and Mutants on a single team to tackle threats both on this world and others. Mark Waid would be a good fit here, along with Charles Soule. The mutant side would feature Colossus, Kittty Pride, Jubilee, Anole, and Xorn while the Inhumans bring Crystal, Flint, Inferno, and Naja. Together they make the perfect team to face some of the most bizarre threats to both worlds.
Wolverines will put Logan and Laura together on the road, as they bond and help each other grow emotionally. The father/daughter dynamic provides a unique take on the characters as they travel the world together to determine their place in it in the aftermath of the recent events.
Archangel (penned by Cullen Bunn, a master at writing dark protagonists) finds Warren also doing some soul-searching as he struggles to find who he truly is: The free-spirited playboy, the morose assassin, or something somewhere in between. His past will come back to haunt him in many ways, not the least of which is a very personal tie to the X-Line’s main villain when he recruits the son Warren never knew he had.
Mystique (by Becky Cloonan) leads directly out of the relaunch event which saw the disappearance of Magneto and Xavier’s vision seemingly coming to fruition at last. Mystique now sets out to find a new life for herself as a high-price assassin, but once again that pesky theme of destiny and self-identity come into play, as she realizes there are many mutants who still adhere to Magneto’s philosophy, and view her as their new leader. Lastly,
Deadpool (x2) really doesn’t offer much need for change. He’s typically off by himself, and functions the best that way, having his own little comedic, morally-grey adventures.
Line Plot: The editorial staff will oversee the unity of each individual series to tell unique stories while all building a long-term plot both in the mutant line specifically and the Marvel line as a whole. At the center of the story is Dr. Crane, a geneticist dedicated to replicating mutant powers in non-mutants. It is revealed that he hails from a dimension in which, as the mutant race began to fully replace homo sapiens, humanity’s “last stand” wipes out most of life on Earth and poisons the X-Gene. He has come here to essentially steal the genetics of the 616 mutants to save his home population. Alongside his right-hand man The Woodsman, (Later revealed as his world’s Logan) he assembles a team of both mutants and humans with their own personal grudges against the X-Men to serve as his soldiers and test-subjects. These include the abused son Angel never knew he had and the bitter brother of new X-Man Jack Diamond, who desperately wants the powers bestowed upon the rest of his family.
Ultimately, The Woodsman will betray Crane and sell in with the Hellfire Club to summon the Goblin Force and remake the Earth. This event will stretch across the whole Marvel line and the mutants in particular will run the gauntlet, facing numerous casualties. In the end, however, Quenton Quire will save the universe by becoming the Phoenix. In the aftermath of the event, Idie will emerge as a full-fledged leader, Genesis will be in full control as perhaps the world’s most powerful mutant, but unsure of just how to use these powers, and Quenton/Phoenix will leave for space to learn how to handle his immense power with help from Blue Marvel. Crane’s warnings about the supposedly inevitable fate of mutant/human relations however, drives a wedge through the peaceful community of mutants as Mystique’s new militaristic Brotherhood gains power. It all culminates in a trip to Crane’s world, where that world’s Legion has trapped the consciousness of numerous Charles Xaviers within his own mind. The 616 Xavier is freed, Genesis helps reform their world, and they return in time to avert a devastating declaration of war by the Brotherhood. Thus, Charles Xavier is back, but in a world that has moved on without him to make his dream a reality, what role can he, and should he play? In the end, a drastic new status quo is set for the mutants, as the grapple with serving both their people and the world that holds a tedious trust with them while cautiously knowing the mutant evolutionary destiny that the future holds and the dangers that come with it.