The X-Men are one of Marvel's most popular teams and probably the most important concept in all of comics, as it celebrates diversity and discusses tough subject matter with grace. Consisting of some of the most respected mutants ever, the team has long been one of the most popular teams in comics. They battle both bigotry and the most dangerous villains around and have legions of fans.
However, for whatever reason, the X-Men are also one of the most confusing comics in the history of the industry. There are few concepts in comics that are as convoluted as the X-Men and while it's okay for long-time fans, it can daunt newer ones. There are lots of ways, however, that Marvel could fix the problem.
10 They Need To Stop Making Villains Into Heroes
One of the biggest problems with the X-Men is that when ever a villain gets kind of popular, they make them into a member of the team. Take Magneto, for instance. While he's nobler than most villains, it's still bizarre for people who only know him as a villain to see him as an X-Man. The recent retconning of Apocalypse's origin to make him more altruistic is yet another problem.
Marvel needs to stop doing this sort of thing. It takes away the X-Men's best villains and it just serves to confuse readers who are trying to get into the team who may not know about the latest goings-on with the villains.
9 They Need To Stop Radically Altering The Status Quo Every Couple Of Years
One of the great things about the Avengers and the Fantastic Four is that the teams are pretty much always the same. It's kind of hard to radically alter the status quo of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four- one's Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the other is a family of adventurers and scientists.
The X-Men have a similarly simple status quo as well, but that doesn't stop Marvel from radically altering it every now and again.
8 They Need To Stop Trying To Kill Off The Mutant Race Every Couple Years
For some reason, Marvel has tried to kill off the mutant race a lot. It kicked off in 2005, mostly as a way to both undo Grant Morrison's work at the publisher and to push the Avengers as more important, which they hadn't been since the '80s.
It honestly got really frustrating for X-Men fans to have the team constantly on the verge of death as a race for almost two decades. While they've taken steps to fix this, they need to stop doing this completely.
7 Cut Down On Some Of The Ancillary Teams
Right now, Marvel is publishing more X-Men books than they have in years and while it's a great time to be an X-Men fan, some of the books are completely superfluous. In fact, this has been a hallmark of the X-Men since the '90s- too many books and a good portion of them are completely unimportant. It's just a cash grab and it's obvious.
Cutting down on some of the ancillary teams is a great idea. Some concepts just don't work anymore- Excalibur was amazing in the late '80s and early '90s, but it hasn't worked as well since series creators Chris Claremont and Alan Davis left; it's now just sort of there. Cutting down on the fat will do the line wonders.
6 All Of Those Alternate Futures Get Confusing
The X-Men brought alternate timelines to the greater Marvel Universe and have always been Marvel's king of them. However, pretty much all of them boil down to the same thing- Sentinels or some other anti-mutant power having taken over the world and destroyed everyone but a couple of X-Men. Sure, it can be fun, but it's getting old.
It's only been compounded with the Dawn of X retcons. Alternate futures are great but every single X-Men one is exactly the same. Cut down on some of them or just stop doing it- readers will be thankful.
5 Find A Way To Make Sense Of Magneto And Xavier Retcons
There are no two characters in X-Men lore who are more retconned than Xavier and Magneto; Wolverine comes close but no cigar. The biggest came recently, as it was revealed that Xavier, Magneto, and Moira MacTaggert have been secretly working to make the Krakoan nation happen for decades.
Beyond that, nothing has really been explained and that's not good. The hoops to make Magneto a hero are tough enough to jump through, as he's just as much a racist as the human he hates; how do all of the other retcons involving him and Xavier work? They need to sort this out.
4 Stop With The Multi-Year Story Arcs
One of the reasons that the X-Men got their complicated reputation is because of the way X-Men pioneer Chris Claremont wrote Uncanny X-Men in the '80s. Claremont would lay seeds for a story years in advance and slowly but surely pay them off. This worked so well because he was pretty much in charge of the entire X-Men line- it was basically just him and Louise Simonson writing everything.
However, as the years went on, more books were added, which meant more creators. This muddied the water and made the long-term storytelling that Claremont had pioneered much harder. Just about every other book Marvel publishes goes for a more short-term approach- except the X-Men ones.
3 Eliminate All The Clones And Duplicates
Everybody loves Cable, right? Well, Cable has a clone, Stryfe. Same with Jean Grey. Same with Laura Kinney. This can complicate things immensely and it's not really needed at all. Clone stories are always pretty frustrating and they rarely work out as well as creators think they will.
On top of that, there are the alternate universe characters that are often floating or versions from earlier or later points on the timeline. All of those duplicates can mess things up. The X-Men are confusing enough and the team doesn't need all the clones and duplicates. There can be two Wolverines, but having a young Cable and an old Cable is a little much.
2 Quit With The Alternate Universe Shenanigans
The Age Of Apocalypse is one of the most popular X-Men titles of all time and Marvel has tried to milk its legacy for everything it's worth. They've brought the characters back multiple times and even tried to do spin-off events like Age Of X or Age Of X-Man. Beyond those, Marvel loves using the X-Men as alternate universe fodder.
Alternate universes are fun but Marvel actually makes them a part of X-Men continuity in weird ways and they never do that with any other of their properties. It just serves to confuse new readers and is seemingly just meant to sell more collected editions of the stories that are being referenced.
1 All Of The Retcons Need To Stop
Comics and retcons go hand in hand but it's gotten a little ridiculous with the X-Men over the years. It feels like Marvel is always retconning the X-Men in ways it never does with other titles. In fact, the latest X-Men renaissance is entirely based on a retcon and while it's a great story, it can still be a bit much for new fans.
Retcons are best used to fix weird inconsistencies from the past, not to base entire years long story arcs on them. Marvel does that with the X-Men all the time and it's not great for new readers. It just complicates things a bit too much.
0 Comments