With the X-Men Entering the MCU, These 5 Eras Deserve New Miniseries

The X-Men coming to Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Doomsday is something that fans never thought they’d see happen. Even with the later flops, Fox wasn’t giving up their mutant film rights, but Disney was able to pick up the whole company and several major Marvel licenses returned to the the comic publisher. The House of Ideas is all about synergy – they ended the Krakoa Era early in order to put out more ’90s-focused X-content because of X-Men ’97 – trying to entice MCU fans to buy comics. While the MCU doesn’t really guarantee any uptick in readers and synergy often angers the people who do read the comics, there’s something to say about going back to old eras. To begin with, it allows newer readers to experience eras of the group that they’d have to spend a lot of time and money to get to see otherwise.

Marvel has been putting out X-Men miniseries set in numerous time frames a lot – we’re getting X-Men: Outback right now, returning to the ’80s for one of Marvel’s most beloved periods. MCU fans who do come to comics like to know as much as possible, so putting out miniseries set in other eras is honestly a really profitable idea. These eras have their own flavor, and there are still more ideas from them that can be mined in the present. These five X-Men eras would make fodder for amazing miniseries, ones that would be perfect for new MCU fans.

5) The Krakoa Era

The Krakoa Era changed the X-Men completely for five years, running from 2019 to 2024. While it’s only been gone for two years, Krakoa still holds a sway over X-Men fans (although not over Marvel editorial, who seems to hate it now). This era saw the mutant race unite and move to the living island of Krakoa. Heroes and villains worked together, as humanity sniffed around the edges, working to undermine the new nation through the Orchis Initiative. This era can star basically every mutant character and there is still so much that can be talked about. There are numerous dropped plotlines from the era that never really got finished and beyond Krakoa, we also have Arakko, home of some of the most interesting mutants ever. The Krakoa Era never had to end; it could still be going on today. Returning to Krakoa would pay dividends, both with new fans discovering it and those of us who miss it dearly.

4) Giant-Size X-Men Era

The X-Men were the least popular of Marvel’s original Silver Age offerings. Their book became a reprint comic in 1970, but eventually the House of Ideas decided to give them another try with 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1. Professor X and Cyclops recruit a new team of mutants to save the original team from Krakoa. It introduced Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Thunderbird, brought Sunfire and Banshee back to the team, and, of course, brought Wolverine to the team in his second appearance. This era of the team didn’t really last very long – X-Men #94 to #101, when Jean rejoined the team and Banshee and Sunfire left – which is why it should be revisited. There were two months between Giant-Size to issue #94 and maybe there was an adventure there. On top of that, it could give readers more Thunderbird, who died in issue #95. He’s an underrated hero that was resurrected in the Krakoa Era and no one has used him very much. It would be great to see him with the X-Men from an underrated era of the team.

3) Post-“Onslaught” Era

“Onslaught” is better than its reputation and it led to an interesting time in X-Men history. Professor X was taken by the government and the seeds of “Operation: Zero Tolerance” were planted. Apocalypse returned, Wolverine went feral, and there was an awesome space adventure. This era basically lasted from 1996 to the end of 1999, with major stories like the aforementioned “Operation: Zero Tolerance”, “Psi-War”, “Children of the Atom”, “Hunt for Xavier”, “Magneto War”, and the build-up to “The Twelve”. The team was frazzled and on edge, trying to figure out who they were in a world where the Avengers and Fantastic Four were “dead”. This era is perfect for fans who have been absorbed in X-Men ’97 and it’s weird that Marvel hasn’t done more with this era, especially since they ended Krakoa so they could synergize with X-Men ’97. It isn’t the most respected era of the group, but it’s fertile ground for all kinds of X-Men stories you don’t get anymore.

2) Utopia Era

The Utopia Era of the X-Men began when the team moved to San Francisco after the destruction of the X-Mansion after “Messiah Complex”. At first, the team had the X-Center, a building funded by Mutantes Sans Frontieres. However, after “Avengers/X-Men: Utopia”, they moved to the island of Utopia, created by moving Asteroid M to an island in the Bay. It became home to the post-“House of M” remnants of the mutant race, constantly dealing with threats to their species. Eventually, the schism between Wolverine and Cyclops would see the establishment of the Jean Grey School. The era lasted about four years, all told, ending with Avengers vs. X-Men. It was an awesome time in mutant history; it was sometimes a little too grimdark, but the stakes were always sky high and readers got some awesome stories. There’s so many characters and events that can be looked at closer, taking readers back to one of the darkest eras of the group.

1) New X-Men Era

The ’90s made the X-Men household names, but the team needed a major reboot in the 21st century. Marvel tried bringing back legendary writer Chris Claremont for a run that doesn’t have the best reputation, forcing them to go back to the drawing board. In 2001, the company gave the team to Grant Morrison and Joe Casey, who used aspects of 2000’s X-Men, like the school and the black leather costumes, to take everything old about the group and make it new again. New X-Men is the best X-comic of the 21st century and the three year era of the book is amazing. Morrison was able to refresh everything about the team and it’s long past time that we got back to it. While this period of X-history wasn’t all rosy – we got the abysmal Chuck Austen run on Uncanny during this period – it’s still a beloved era for them. X-Men ’97‘s second season looks to be using the costumes from this era at some point according to released images, so now is the best time to return to this period.

What’s your favorite era of the X-Men? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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