Wait, Is Marvel Recycling an X-Men Idea Abandoned Five Years Ago?

The X-Men have been having a rocky time of things since the beginning of “From the Ashes”, the latest reboot of the X-Men status quo. Editor Tom Brevoort took over the X-office, and has since taken things in a much more hindbound direction, giving readers stories that dealt more with classic X-Men ideas than anything new. The latest big story is “Age of Revelation”, a story that definitely has the same flavor as tales like “The Age of Apocalypse” and “Age of X-Man”. “Age of Revelation” is going to take readers into a future where Revelation, once Doug Ramsey, has used his powers to take over vast swathes of territory and create a mutant homeland. While this is definitely very “AoA” coded, there are also ideas from the Krakoa Era in there, including one that may have been previously abandoned.

The Krakoa Era was extremely inventive, something that “From the Ashes” hasn’t been. House of X/Powers of X had a vibe to it, one that seemed to revolve around Professor Xavier and the building of a cult on Krakoa. Xavier was creepy, and there were fan theories about where everything was headed. Judging from what we learned from the end of the Krakoa Era, things took a different direction, but that doesn’t mean these ideas have been completely abandoned. “From the Ashes” needs a jumpstart, and an old Krakoa Era idea might give it to the X-Men books.

“Age of Revelation” Plays Doug Ramsey as Krakoa Era Xavier

So, to understand what I’m talking about, we have to go back to House of X #1. The issue began with a creepy scene that saw Xavier standing over a bunch of pod people we’d later find out were the X-Men. There was something about this scene, a creepy, cultish vibe that we had never gotten from Xavier before, and it’s something that X-Men fans noticed immediately. The Krakoa Era was quite different from what came before, and the way that Xavier was played in the early days of the Krakoa Era wasn’t the Xavier we had been getting for years. In the early Krakoa Era, Xavier felt like a more calculating character, and many fans assumed that it would be revealed that he was doing something evil.

Xavier, along with Magneto and Moira MacTaggert, was building a mutant society in Krakoa, and fans didn’t exactly trust him. Over the years leading up to the Krakoa Era, Xavier had been portrayed as a more sinister character, so it all fit. However, around 2020, things started to change in the Krakoa Era. The creepy, cultish vibe that we had been getting in certain books up to that time was gone, and instead, we got a massive party. Krakoa was suddenly portrayed as positive, instead of as a flawed ethnostate controlled by a cult of personality.

The origin of this change has been revealed in the many interviews about the Krakoa Era. The head of X-Men at the time, Jonathan Hickman, came in with a three-act story and recruited creators for the books. Their work changed Hickman’s initial ideas, so the Krakoa Era we got is much different than the one that we were originally going to get. Meanwhile, “From the Ashes” has tried to distance itself as much as possible from the Krakoa Era. “Age of Revelation” seems to be taking a page from “The Age of Apocalypse”, but I think there’s more of Krakoa in it — or the original ideas of Krakoa — than it seems.

Krakoa was created to be a mutant society, one where humanity had no place. Revelation’s society is the same thing. Revelation uses his mutant powers to enforce his rule and get mutants on his side. While Xavier never did this, it was heavily implied that there was some telepathic chicanery going on. However, mutant powers are what made Krakoa work as well, allowing it to exist as a society. At this point, it’s impossible to know whether Hickman first meant for Xavier to be one of the problems with Krakoa, but looking at Revelation and what we know of his actions, there’s a lot of Xavier from early Krakoa in there.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

One of the things about superhero comics is that they are a collaborative medium, and the Krakoa Era is a perfect example of that. Jonathan Hickman came in with a plan, and that plan changed when other creators got involved. Krakoa evolved, as it were, and the story went in new directions. However, back in the early days of things, there were more than a few indications that Xavier was manipulating the situation from the background. That idea has taken the front seat in “Age of Revelation”, as Revelation is using his powers to make everyone listen to him.

I remember the fan theories in the early Krakoa Era, and many of them revolved around Xavier using the Cerebro helmet to change everyone’s minds, editing their memories when he implanted them into new bodies in the Krakoan resurrection process. Revelation’s entire modus operandi is using his power to control people’s actions. It’s not a one-to-one, after all, we’re comparing a fan theory with a story that is about to be told, but it definitely feels like the current X-office is taking an idea from an old one and running with it.

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