X-Men: 5 Reasons Age of Revelation Failed

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2025 was a mixed bag for the X-Men. While editor Tom Brevoort brought some strong stories to the series, many fans found much of the content underwhelming, as seen in the declining sales of books like Wolverine. The year ended with “Age of Revelation,” an event clearly inspired by popular past storylines like “Age of Apocalypse” and “Sins of Sinister,” but it didn’t quite resonate with readers.

The “Age of Revelation” storyline aimed high, but ultimately didn’t succeed. It was a key opportunity for the new X-Men creative team to impress readers, and it fell short. After reviewing the three-month arc, it’s clear why the story didn’t work, and these five reasons will likely define it as a failure.

5) Most of the Series Did Nothing for the Main Plot

“Age of Revelation” attempted to replicate the success of “Age of Apocalypse,” which featured many strong individual stories that contributed to its overall narrative. Titles like Astonishing X-Men, Amazing X-Men (Vol. 1), Generation Next, Weapon X, and Gambit and the X-Ternals each told separate stories that enriched the main plot – while you could skip some, you’d miss out on valuable content and a complete understanding. However, to grasp the core story of “Age of Revelation,” you really only need to read the beginning and end: Amazing X-Men (Vol. 2) and Book of Revelation. The vast majority of the event’s tie-in stories aren’t essential and don’t add much to the experience. This is a significant weakness, as Marvel published a large number of these tie-ins, none of which feel necessary. Unlike “AoA,” which offered stories with lasting appeal, “AoR” is largely filled with unnecessary filler that’s best left unread.

4) The Main Plot Isn’t Interesting

Honestly, “Age of Revelation” is a really weak X-Men arc. It just doesn’t bring anything new to the table – we’ve seen the ‘prevent a bad future’ plotline countless times before. Unless you went out of your way to read a couple of specific issues, the main story is completely confusing, and it feels like a bunch of disconnected alternate reality tales from a pretty uninspired world. And to top it off, Revelation’s plan was just…weird. Turning everyone into part of a living planet like Ego? It didn’t make for a very compelling read, and frankly, it wasn’t worth my time.

3) None of It Was Compelling

One of the best things about the “Age of Apocalypse” event was that each individual comic series was engaging. While you didn’t need to read titles like Factor X, X-Universe, X-Calibre, X-Man, or X-Men Chronicles, they offered compelling stories that expanded the world. Unfortunately, “Age of Revelation” lacks that same appeal. This story would have been better suited as part of Jed MacKay’s main X-Men series, as these tie-in books don’t add anything meaningful. Each series feels unnecessary, and there’s no real reason to become invested in any of them. This alternate reality isn’t particularly interesting, and most of the characters don’t feel important to the overall story. It feels like Marvel relied on the “Age of…” branding to attract fans without actually focusing on making the event itself worthwhile.

2) Revelation Is Not a Good Villain

Fans were right to question the decision to make Doug Ramsey, also known as Revelation, Apocalypse’s heir. Doug is a compelling character with a lot of storytelling potential, especially considering his relationships with his husband, Warlock, and his wife, Bei the Blood Moon. However, the storyline wasted that potential by turning him into a typical, uninspired villain. The comics showed him as both inept and strangely manipulative, orchestrating events for a remarkably foolish scheme – easily one of the worst in recent X-Men history. While a flawed idea like this could have been salvaged, the “Age of Revelation” arc failed to do so. Doug simply wasn’t intimidating, his plan was weak, and he never felt right in the role he was given.

1) The Ending Was Bad

X-Men Omega #1 remains one of the most satisfying conclusions in comic book history. I revisited it constantly back in 1995 and it still held up. In contrast, the ending of X-Men: Age of Revelation doesn’t even come close to its quality. The X-Men: Age of Revelation Finale #1 is a disappointing finish. While it has action, it lacks emotional impact, and the surprise reveal only matters if you’ve been following the X-Men series by MacKay. It’s not necessarily predictable, but the unexpectedness doesn’t save it. I didn’t particularly enjoy the story overall, but I hoped for a strong ending that could redeem it. Unfortunately, instead of delivering a powerful conclusion, the comic stumbled to a finish that left most fans unsatisfied.

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2026-01-07 23:19