The X-Men have been able to become Marvel‘s most popular team, and the most popular superhero team ever. We talk a lot about the MCU Avengers, but Marvel’s merry mutants were at another level in the ’90s, with their animated series viewership bringing the team to a whole new generation, all while selling millions of comics (which the Avengers have never done). Since then, the group has had its ups and downs, but throughout those ups and downs, a rabid fan culture sprung up. In some ways, this is the fault of the team’s history itself; the often times complicated continuity and the amazing bevy of character relationships reward fans who are more obsessed than others.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Calling the X-Men fan community tempestuous is an understatement. This group has created an orthodoxy of sorts, and Internet flame wars have been started by those who don’t support the orthodoxy (I could tell war stories from the X-Men subreddit for hours). However, this orthodoxy isn’t always correct and these five ideas are perfect examples of Marvel fans being wrong about the team.
5) The X-Mansion Is Bad
For the vast majority of X-Men fans, the first time they fell in love with the team, it lived in the X-Mansion. The Xavier Institute was the perfect home for them, and eventually became a symbol for the X-Men. There’s a certain homely quality to it; it’s a safe space for the mutants who lived there. However, that’s the problem. The X-Mansion is basically a reservation, a bubble of calm that hurts the metaphor of the X-Men. They’re living in a mansion, in comfort, while most mutants are fighting for their lives. It makes the team seem like hypocrites. On top of that, it feels like most of the time, people just want to destroy it and rebuild it over and over again. It’s a symbol of the X-Men’s most hypocritical years, a place where they could hide. The group doesn’t need to hide, it needs to be in the fight.
4) Fan Reaction Ruined the Krakoa Era
The Krakoa Era was extremely inventive, and that paid off. Fans loved it, and it’s become one of the beloved eras in X-Men history. It came after years of mutant marginalization by Marvel, and it was great to see the team thrive again. They created a mutant nation, and fans loved it. However, they seemingly missed on the creepy, cultlike aura of the ethnostate that allowed only mutants as citizens. It was seemingly a paradise, but there was supposed to be something rotten in Denmark. However, fans were so happy to have the X-Men back in the saddle that the creators and Marvel, flush in success and aglow with the avenues they could take things without the creepy parts that turned fans off, extended it. There were a lot of great things about Krakoa, but fans weren’t supposed to ignore all of the bad parts. Fan reaction drove the creators to want to play in this sandbox longer and that led to the very watered down ideas we were getting as it went on.
3) Wolverine Is Better than Cyclops
Wolverine and Cyclops have been rivals for years. Wolverine wanted to get with Jean Grey, and was mouthy to authority figures, so the two of them clashed. They developed a grudging respect for each other, one that often seemed like it was on the verge of collapse, but was actually a very strong relationship and friendship. Their “rivalry” has driven fans to either of their camps, and many X-Men fans think that Cyclops is better. However, he isn’t. The proof is in the pudding. Wolverine is a much better solo character than Cyclops; the mutant leader is great playing off others, but he’s not as interesting on his own. He’s a great character, but he’s never going to be a solo star. Marvel has tried (and is about to again) and the hero has never been able to succeed enough on his own for long periods of time. Both of them are great on teams, but Wolverine is great on teams and solo. Cyclops isn’t.
2) Magneto is Better as a Villain
Magneto is now a hero, but that was obviously not always the case. He was the X-Men’s first villain, and served as an amazing rival for the group. Magnus was right about humanity — some of them would always go after anyone different than them, and inflame the rest of the world against these enemies. His problem was just that he did monstrous things and was a mutant supremacist. However, he’s since joined the X-Men, and has become everyone favorite’s leftist murder grandpa, righteously killing all the bigots. This has been fun, but the X-Men need someone like Magneto to fight. They need an enemy that is fundamentally right, but takes that knowledge and does the worst things with it. Leftist murder grandpa is cool, but the X-Men need real villains more. The team actually already has several leftist murder grandpas, so they won’t miss him too much.
1) The Early ’90s Weren’t Great
The ’90s were the decade of the X-Men. Millions of fans began to love the group back then, and there are some fondly remembered stories. The early ’90s are especially beloved by the fans. Many fans started out back then, in the days of Jim Lee, Whilce Potracio, and Rob Liefeld. X-Men architect Chris Claremont was still around for ’90 and ’91, but he would leave and we would get the artists in control until they left for Image in 1992. Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza became the writers of the books after this exodus, and they kept their lofty place at the top. Many fans love the period from 1990 to 1994, but let’s be real — even the good parts, the Claremont-written parts, were as great as what came before. A big part of that is the artists getting more power; they weren’t bad writers, but they weren’t good writers either, and their ideas mostly revolved around imagery that would go nice and merch and get them big royalties. The X-comics became the ultimate style over substance books of the early ’90s until the artists left for Image. The early Lobdell/Nicieza issues were fine, but they were nothing as great as before. Fans like this era, but it just wasn’t good (except the art, which as long as it didn’t come from Liefeld was pretty great).
What are your favorite unpopular opinions about the X-Men? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Valve -
Toei Animation
