10 Most Controversial X-Men Moments From the Krakoa Era, Ranked

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From seemingly nowhere, Jonathan Hickman came along and upended the X-Men franchise in 2019. The twin mini-series of House of X and Powers of X established a new status quo like none seen before. The X-Men were no longer simply a superhero team, fighting to coexist with humankind. Instead, the team was now the heads of state of a brand-new world superpower. And instead of merely asking for coexistence, they now commanded it. All from their very own island nation-state of Krakoa.

But with major changes come major controversies. And throughout the five years of the Krakoan era, there was no shortage of them. While mutantkind’s new state of affairs was a refreshing change, not all readers went for it. Some missed the overall, longstanding dynamic of mutants existing as an oppressed minority. Others didn’t appreciate changes made to legacy characters. And many readers found the hundreds of issues comprising the far-reaching story simply too much to ingest. Not all the discontent came from the franchise’s overall direction, though. Specific key moments also played a role in making the era more divisive.

10

Krakoa Becomes a Mutant Nation

House of X #1

The controversy began in the very first issue of the new Krakoan Age, in House of X #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz. Krakoa wasn’t a new concept – Len Wein and Dave Cockrum had first introduced Krakoa, the purported Island-That-Walks-Like-A-Man, in 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1, also the first appearance of the modern-day X-Men. But the B-movie-style character has long been a little hard to swallow, even by 1970’s standards. Krakoa’s far-fetched nature was a likely reason few writers opted to use the character in the ensuing decades. At least, until Hickman brought it back into prominence.

Readers also had trouble with Krakoa, co-founded by the X-Men’s Charles Xavier and Magneto, suddenly functioning as an established nation, almost overnight in real time. The abrupt development quickly changed the nature of the X-Men themselves, as well. Hickman’s reimagining of the X-Men’s place in the world was a decidedly unique change to the franchise. It also overturned the mutants’ status as an oppressed minority, established in the beginning by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. And downplayed the X-Men as altruistic heroes constantly fighting to save a world that hates them, as put forth by long-tenured writer Chris Claremont. The redirection was too much, too soon for many readers, even as it brought new ones into the fold.

9

X of Swords Complicated an Already Complex Story

X of Swords: Creation #1

Following House of X/Powers of X, Marvel’s first publishing initiative within the Krakoan Age was the year-long Dawn of X. Dawn of X firmly established the new mutant status quo within the Marvel Universe. The initiative culminated with the Krakoan Age’s first crossover event, X of Swords. The 22-part event began in X of Swords: Creation #1, by Hickman, Tini Howard and Larraz. The event revealed the existence of Krakoa’s sister island, Arakko. Arakko had long ago split from Krakoa and has existed within Otherworld, aka Avalon, for millennia. But now, Arakko’s forces plan to invade and reclaim Krakoa. And the mutant nation must choose and arm ten champions – Magik and her Soulsword are among X of Swords’ participants – to defend their country against the invaders.

Dawn of X’s complexity was rooted in its focus on exploring the nature and workings of Krakoa and its principal characters. X of Swords, though, introduced another whole nation, culture and dimension into the mix. The event occurred just as Krakoa’s dynamic was taking hold. Casual readers who were barely hanging on trying to grasp the scope of Dawn of X found X of Swords to be akin to the unwelcome in-laws crashing an already large family gathering. And, the story relied on a tiresome Arthurian trope – times 10. The extra-dimensional, fantasy-esque X of Swords didn’t really gel with Dawn of X’s sociopolitical tone. And Dawn of X was already serving as an expansive pseudo-event. The storyline didn’t need the intrusion of another to conclude it.

8

The Gruesome Death of Wolverine’s Son

Wolverine (Vol. 7) #41

Marvel’s final initiative within the Krakoan Age was Fall of X, chronicling Krakoa’s tragic end, both as an island and as a mutant nation. One of the many tragedies within that arc was the grisly death of Wolverine’s son Akihiro, aka Daken. On Logan’s birthday, no less. Akihiro’s unfortunate end comes at the hands of, who else, Wolverine’s longtime arch-foe Sabretooth in Wolverine (Vol. 7) #41, by Victor LaValle, Benjamin Percy, Geoff Shaw and Cory Smith. But the savage mutant doesn’t just kill Akihiro. Sabretooth also dismembers him, spelling out a grotesque birthday greeting for Logan with Akihiro’s body parts.

Akihiro’s death wasn’t just grisly – it was gratuitous. And mean-spirited. Anyone who’s read Wolverine knows Sabretooth is a cold-blooded killer. So no one should be surprised that he’s capable of such a heinous act. But while Akihiro’s death was a surprise, the added sensationalistic aspect of it was grossly unnecessary. The moment was further diminished knowing Akihiro had already died before – by Logan’s own hand, in fact. And like before, Akihiro has since “gotten better,” now roaming around the Marvel Universe as Hellverine.

7

Death is Now Meaningless, Thanks to Krakoan Resurrection

House of X #5

Death in comics has long been a dubious concept. Few, if any, characters who faced their demise haven’t been brought back at some point. Well, Gwen Stacy remains dead – sort of. Clones and multiversal tricks aside, the reversal of a character’s death in modern comics is now just a matter of the right creator, pitching the right idea, to the right editor, at the right time. It’s no longer a matter of if a character will return, but when. Still, in the moment, a properly written death scene can have emotional impact on the reader.

That is, until Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz’s House of X #5. That issue shifted the idea of character resurrection from a likely possibility to a definitive certainty. At least for mutants on Krakoa. The combined powers of Cerebro and The Five (Egg, Proteus, Elixir, Tempus and Hope) now enabled the guaranteed resurrection of any mutant. An X-character’s death from this point on was now meaningless and carried no emotional impact. For the first time, characters and readers alike knew any hero, or villain, getting killed would be back in due time. The idea of conquering death sounds noble in canon, but as a reading experience it diminished readers’ emotional stake in any character’s well-being.

6

The Crucible Was Like a Religious Death Cult

X-Men (Vol. 5) #7

Guaranteed resurrection might sound nice, but it presents some logistical problems. Namely, how to deal with one million still depowered mutants following the Scarlet Witch’s “No More Mutants” decree. Mutants who are all willing to die so that they can be reborn, with their powers restored. That would create quite a rather long line in the resurrection queue. Not to mention, it introduces the disturbing notion of mass slaughtering one million people so they could be “reborn.” The whole scenario sounds like a mutant death cult in the making.

Enter The Crucible, introduced by Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu in X-Men (Vol. 5) #7, which essentially was exactly that. Especially as espoused by Crucible leader Exodus. Championed by Apocalypse, The Crucible was a gladiator-style tournament where depowered mutants would fight to the death against the ancient mutant. The deadly Apocalypse, to no one’s surprise, would readily defeat and kill a powerless mutant. But their death would then “win” them their own rebirth, complete with restoration of their powers. The whole idea of The Crucible was a weird, fanatical addendum to the resurrection protocols. And seeing legacy characters like Cyclops and Nightcrawler buy into this ethically questionable idea never really sat right with many readers.

5

The Eternals Attack Krakoa

A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1

Krakoa’s resurrection protocols eventually drew the attention of the Eternals. The immortal, god-like beings have discovered mutants now also have the key to immortality, and they’re not happy about it. The Avengers, meanwhile, put themselves in the middle to attempt to de-escalate the conflict between the two powerful factions. A.X.E.: Judgment Day, by Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti, played like another unwelcome crossover event. The Krakoan Age was in the midst of Destiny of X, the saga’s third stage.

Destiny of X already had a rich array of stories spanning a dozen or so titles, and like X of Swords, A.X.E.: Judgment Day felt like an intrusion. The event came across as an attempt by Marvel to keep selling readers on The Eternals, in the wake of the Marvel Studios film the previous year. X-Men readers weren’t necessarily buying, though. The Krakoa saga had been functioning just fine within its own ecosystem while organically integrating itself into the rest of the Marvel Universe. Within the sphere of the X-Men titles, A.X.E. felt forced, and never really fit in comfortably as a chapter of the Krakoan Age.

4

Charles Xavier is a Creation of Mr. Sinister

Immortal X-Men #10

The far-reaching Sins of Sinister event was another Dawn of X-era storyline. But unlike A.X.E., Sins of Sinister grew naturally from self-contained developments within the X-Men titles. The ambitious event saw Mister Sinister meticulously manipulate the reality-resetting powers of Moira MacTaggert. Combined with his scientific machinations, Sinister successfully crafted his own reality. And did so by imbuing his DNA into the Krakoan resurrection process. The first resurrected mutant revealed to be corrupted by Sinister was none other than Charles Xavier himself.

The revelation happened in Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck’s Immortal X-Men #10. Some readers were none too happy about it, though. The sight of an “evil” Professor X conjured up bad memories. Memories like Captain America’s surprise utterance of “Hail Hydra,” or Iron Man’s infamous turn to villainy in the Avengers event “The Crossing.” But Sins of Sinister went on to explain how Sinister corrupted everyone who went through the resurrection process. Sinister later lost control of his own attempt at universal domination. And Moira later defeats him, restoring reality to normal. But the Charles Xavier reveal still irritated some and was a microcosm of readers’ dissatisfaction with the event as a whole. Many felt it was simply too ambitious and far-reaching.

3

Mystique is Nightcrawler’s … Father?!

X-Men Blue: Origins #1

The connection between Mystique and Nightcrawler goes back decades, almost dating back to Mystique’s first appearance. She was eventually established as his mother, with the demonic mutant Azazel revealed to be his father well after that. And for the next 20 years or so, that was the accepted family dynamic. That is, until X-Men Blue: Origins #1 by Si Spurrier and Wilton Santos upended that familial relationship. That issue explained Mystique wasn’t Nightcrawler’s mother, after all – she was instead his father.

Yes, his father. Not Azazel. But how is that possible? The issue reveals Mystique’s shape-shifting powers are far more nuanced than previously known. Taking the form of Azazel, right down to his genetic structure, she impregnates her lover Destiny in a flashback sequence. The result of their sexual encounter is Destiny eventually giving birth to Kurt. Meaning Nightcrawler’s respective mother and father are Destiny and Mystique, not Mystique and Azazel. The gender-shifting of Kurt’s lineage was a tough sell for many readers, as was the revelation of the true extent of Mystique’s powers. But it was certainly one of the biggest character changes to come out of the Krakoan Age.

2

The Beast Becomes a Demented Fascist

X-Force (Vol. 6) #10

Henry McCoy, aka The Beast, had long been one of Marvel’s most jocular characters. Beast had also seen many physical transformations throughout his existence. But none of those were as extreme as his gradual ethical transformation during the Krakoa era. His dark journey began in Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara’s X-Force (Vol. 6) #10. In that issue, Beast engineers a deadly telefloronic virus that wipes out an entire nation. It also comes to light he has built a clandestine prison to house mutants for grisly experimentation. All unilateral, authoritarian moves on his part. Justified by him as being for Krakoa’s greater good.

Beast’s horrific deeds only get worse as the Krakoan Age progresses. And the transformation turns one of Marvel’s most beloved mutants into one of its most reviled. Readers felt that a founding member of the original X-Men should never have been sent down such an irredeemable path. Especially since this territory had already been covered by way of Dark Beast, a byproduct from the Age of Apocalypse event. The conclusion of X-Force saw the demise of this evil incarnation of Beast. A clone housing an older, pre-villainous version of his mind took his place. But the damage done to the character, and the staining of his legacy, is something many won’t soon forget.

1

The End of the Krakoan Age

X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1

For all its controversies, the X-Men’s Krakoa Era delivered some of the franchise’s freshest and longest lasting change. Those changes outlasted many ushered in via countless previous relaunches. And the Krakoan Age was a genuinely inventive take on the age-old battle for human vs. mutant supremacy. But the departure of line editor Jordan D. White saw the end of the Krakoan Age. And with it came the subsequent return of many of the previous mutant repression tropes.

Gerry Duggan and an array of artists brought about the beginning of the end of the Krakoa era in X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1. Krakoa’s third, and final, annual Hellfire Gala started in its usual grandiose fashion. But when the anti-mutant coalition Orchis launches its long-planned attack, the Gala serves as the defining moment ending Krakoa’s days as a mutant nation. Those who enjoyed the era were unhappy to see it end. Fall of X would continue to chronicle its demise for another year. But many felt there were plenty of stories left to tell on the fertile ground laid by Jonathan Hickman five years earlier. And weren’t ready for what felt like a premature end.

“}]] The X-Men’s Krakoa Era was game changing for Marvel’s mutants, but it also stirred many controversies in its five-year run.  Read More