The X-Men’s Dark Reboot Reveals the Harsh Reality Facing Mutants

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The X-Men experienced a rather intriguing journey throughout the 21st century. They shone brightly as the top-selling comic books in the ’90s, but by the turn of the millennium, they found themselves creatively exhausted, rehashing a formula that left fans uninterested. The early 2000s marked Marvel’s attempt to break free from this mold, with its peak being Grant Morrison’s “New X-Men” and its trough during Chuck Austen’s tenure. After the event “House of M” disrupted the X-Men’s established order, along with numerous mutants that had been introduced over the years, the X-Men fell from favor, largely due to Marvel’s inability to secure movie rights for the X-Men. However, once Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, this situation changed, and readers were treated to the Krakoa Era, a span of five years filled with X-Men stories that, while not always excellent (and they weren’t), were at least engaging.

As a devoted fan, I’ve found myself grappling with the shift in the X-Men universe post-Krakoa Era, which seems to have led to a rather uneven reboot titled “From the Ashes.” Marvel’s mastermind editor, Tom Brevoort, appears to have chosen a return to traditional X-Men tropes as the preferred route.

While the current X-Men comic series aren’t exactly hitting home runs for me, there are exceptions like “Uncanny X-Men” and “Storm.” However, it seems that the line has experienced its fair share of missteps, with an overarching similarity in nearly every book – a nostalgic echo of past X-Men stories designed to lure back former readers.

The upcoming X-Men event, dubbed “The Age of Revelation,” is set in a future under the rule of Revelation, the successor of Apocalypse Doug Ramsey. This feels like a stark rehash of the classic “Age of Apocalypse” narrative, highlighting a apparent creative void or lack of originality within the current X-office. This revelation underscores the challenging situation facing Marvel’s mutants.

The X-Office Is Riding the Dead Horse of the ’90s to Disaster

To grasp the central issues in “From the Ashes” and “The Age of Revelation,” you can examine these themes across what I would refer to as the core four X-Men series: Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Exceptional X-Men, and Wolverine. Over time, Uncanny, X-Men, and Wolverine have been the most popular titles and serve as the backbone of the franchise. Each series, to some extent, builds upon previous works. The connections are particularly evident in X-Men and Exceptional X-Men, which seem like a fusion of ideas from Grant Morrison’s New X-Men and Brian Michael Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men. Exceptional X-Men, in essence, is a revival of the young mutant book, encompassing elements from New Mutants/Generation X/New X-Men (Vol. 2)/Generation Hope, with Emma Frost, an alumnus of Generation X, serving as one of its leaders and focusing on the return of Mister Sinister, a key antagonist in the Krakoa Era.

Wolverine struggles to emulate Larry Hama’s ’90s Wolverine narrative style, yet falls short dramatically. He aims to create the same emotional Wolverine stories as Hama did, but fails to find depth and hardly any enjoyment. The Uncanny X-Men series, on the other hand, captures the essence and storytelling approach of Claremont’s X-Men comics while introducing fresh concepts. However, it still carries a whiff of the Outback era X-Men feel. Despite featuring lesser-known characters in the limelight, many of the ideas in these books are repetitive, rehashing the experiences of those characters or other X-Men characters. Currently, there’s a lack of creative drive in the X-Men series, with most stories feeling stale and uninspired. It seems that Brevoort and his team are only drawing from ideas that were executed more effectively in the past.

In simpler terms, “The Age of Revelation” is a new take on the popular “Age of Apocalypse” storyline from the X-Men universe. While not a direct retelling, it borrows all the elements that made “Age of Apocalypse” appealing. The X-Men series has been rebranded with familiar characters in a fresh setting, where Revelation serves as the new version of Apocalypse. This isn’t the first time the X-Men have explored this concept; before the Krakoa Era, there was “The Age of X-Man,” which featured an alternate universe controlled by X-Man and introduced renamed titles and revamped versions of familiar characters battling a powerful adversary. Some fans might feel that “The Age of Revelation” is more about meeting the event book requirements for X-Men comics rather than telling a compelling story worth reading.

In simpler terms, the comic book series “From the Ashes” seems to be stuck in a creative rut. Although the creators have been tasked with specific types of X-Men stories and have adapted accordingly, the editorial decisions made over the past year, which often deviate from the main storyline to push an uninteresting narrative, are quite frustrating. The X-Men team appears to be following a Marvel template that is leading their books into a repetitive event cycle, and I’m not confident that “The Age of Revelation” will break this pattern and make it all worthwhile.

“The Age of Revelation” Is Yet Another Symptom of the Issues in the X-Office

Over the past six years, X-Men comics have been a rollercoaster ride with both exhilarating peaks and deep valleys. The Krakoa Era showcased varying levels of quality, though it did introduce some fresh concepts, albeit not entirely novel ones. “From the Ashes” has introduced new ideas, but much of it seems reminiscent of earlier stories. At this point, “From the Ashes” could easily be renamed “From the Retreads,” as it often feels like a rehashing of previous tales. “The Age of Revelation” also shares this sentiment.

Over the years, Marvel has struggled with a reluctance to innovate, which has negatively impacted their entire collection of comics. Particularly with the X-Men series, they seem to have overdone this strategy, repetitively rehashing old ideas in an attempt to lure back readers when the X-Men were popular. For instance, “From the Ashes” had a strong start, but other titles have seen a significant drop in sales, with exceptions being “Uncanny X-Men” and “X-Men.” “The Age of Revelation” might attract some fans, but it’s another manifestation of the issues within the X-office. Regrettably, this indicates that the future for mutants is anything but promising.

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2025-07-18 00:12