This Was the Perfect Time for X-Men’s Krakoa Era (And Marvel Totally Blew It)

The X-Men are Marvel‘s most important superheroes. There are some out there who would say that the Fantastic Four was the most important, since they kicked off the modern Marvel Universe back in 1961. Others would say that it’s the Avengers, since they made the Marvel Cinematic Universe popular. However, even if you take away the fact that the mutant team represented some of the biggest multimedia successes for Marvel, the team is still more important because of what they represent. The X-Men are about an oppressed minority fighting for their rights, and have spoken to generations of readers.

Now obviously, there are some differences between the X-Men and marginalized folks — mutants have superpowers and are somewhat dangerous — but the team’s central metaphor has spoken to people. There have been numerous mutant status quo shifts out there, but a favorite of many is the blockbuster Krakoa Era. This era took mutants to their own nation, giving them power and safety in ways that they never had before. It was the perfect idea at the perfect time, and somehow Marvel totally blew it.

The Krakoa Era Brought Joy to Marginalized Readers

There’s a concept known as “queer/trans joy”. It’s those moments when a LGBTQ+ person experiences this sublime sense of joy in who they really are. It’s a beautiful thing. Way back in the early days of the Krakoa Era, I remember reading posts on the X-Men subreddit from LGBTQ+ readers who loved the idea of Krakoa, of this giant party where a marginalized group of people would have a home where they could be themselves, many of them taking about that concept of queer/trans joy. I think that perfectly explains why the Krakoa Era came along at the perfect time.

The Krakoa Era wasn’t perfect, and would get less so as time went on and Head of X Jonathan Hickman left. It was also much more complicated than just a big party for mutants. Krakoa was an ethnostate built on secrets and lies, but there was something about the idea that spoke to readers who had watched a world become meaner to anyone who wasn’t the majority. There was a feeling of power to the whole thing that made members of marginalized groups living in US in 2019 and 2020 happy. It felt like Marvel was tapping into something and it was wonderful.

I remember back then people wanting a slice of life Krakoa book, a comic that would dig into the normal lives of Krakoans. There was something tantalizing about Krakoa for people who were kicked around by the world, and those who truly felt like the kind of outsiders that mutants were. It was the perfect moment for this kind of story. There’s a reason that so many fans wanted to spend more time on Krakoa; it made them feel like they had a home that they didn’t have in the real world.

Of course, it was never going to last. Marvel was always going to go back to their default setting of tormenting mutants. However, for a short time, there was a feeling that things were changing for the X-Men. Back then, a lot of fans (including myself) actually believed that there was a chance that if we just bought enough books and praised them enough, the publisher would make this into the new status quo. A lot of people laugh about that idea now, but there was hope for it back then. Then, we got the precipitous fall, as creators showed why the whole thing was a mistake that was always going to explode. Now, we’re back to the center-right politics that always ruin the X-Men comics.

The Krakoa Era Was Progressive X-Men at Its Best and Marvel Decided to Drop That Entirely

Krakoa brought together the various factions of mutants, gave them a home, and showed them fighting against the racist power structure of the world. It came after two years of an administration that emboldened many of the worst elements of society, and people were ready for this sort of thing. Marvel could have ridden that to the bank, and did for a short time. Instead of making a big change, they dropped it like a bad habit, ironically in 2024, when that same administration came back to power, replacing it with “From the Ashes”, which often goes out of its way to talk about how terrible an idea Krakoa was.

Marvel has always used contemporary politics to an extent and the X-Men have always been the model for that sort of thing. The Krakoa Era felt like it was on the cutting edge because of how queer and progressive it was. Instead of embracing that, the House of Ideas destroyed it, so that we can get back to the status quo of mutants under the gun, which will almost certainly lead them back to the mansion, which is really just a pretty reservation.

I’m not going to mince words — the X-Men aren’t exactly a progressive idea at its core. Basically, the X-Men risk their lives so that the people who hate and try to kill them will decide not to kill them anymore. There’s nothing progressive about that idea. However, the Krakoa Era finally found a way to make the whole thing progressive. Marvel destroyed that AND did their best to make the whole thing look dumb, that the only way to triumph was performative liberalism. The publisher blew it, and the failure of the current X-Men line can be laid at that decision’s feet.

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