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I can’t, for the life of me, understand why the X-Men
franchise hates Charles Xavier so much; to be honest, the way Marvel has written the character in the last few decades made me hate him too. He’s arrogant, selfish, and so morally corrupt that he couldn’t see the obvious cruelty in his actions until Krakoa collapsed. This isn’t who Charles Xavier should be, and Marvel needs to fix it.
In full transparency, I have written a few “hit” pieces on Charles Xavier. I cannot stand who Marvel has turned him into, and it has soured practically everything the character has done in the history of the X-franchise.
Sure, there are some healthy debates that Xavier spent his life rearing child soldiers, but symbolically speaking, that’s not the point of his character.
Charles Xavier is a freedom fighter
who sought to inspire all generations to stand up in the face of oppression and advocate for a peacefully integrated society. However, starting in the early 2000s, things began to shift for the worse.
Xavier’s Turn From Iconic Father Figure To War Criminal Took Decades, But Marvel Committed To It For The Long Haul
Small Character Flaws Transformed Into Core Character Traits
As he is now, Charles Xavier is nothing short of a war criminal. For whatever reasons he deemed necessary,
Professor X turned his back on his children
and betrayed their trust to manipulate every situation to fit his best interests. His dream turned from a beacon of hope for a better world to a more toxic parallel of Magneto’s traditional isolationist ideology regarding mutant society. Millions have now died and suffered at the hands of this man’s actions. Sadly, these flaws have been around for far longer than the Krakoa era of comics.
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Professor X would do anything to protect his X-Men, but now he is forced to choose between his mutant superheroes and the person most precious to him.
As early as the
Chris Claremont era of X-Men comics
, we began to see more human flaws in the wise-minded father-figure. He was still noble but began to use deceitful tactics like mindwiping liberally. Still, he was an idealist. It wasn’t until Grant Morrison’s takeover with New X-Men that Xavier really began to fall apart. Morrison further explored the effects of Xavier’s mental manipulations, openly tearing apart the intrinsic trust that he offered as a mentor. Charles’s greatest failure during this era directly led to the Death of Jean Grey storyline, which he ultimately failed to take responsibility for.
The X-Men Schism Storyline Highlighted How Divisive Xavier’s Leadership Was
In 2005, Ed Brubaker continued this rapid
descent of Charles Xavier’s character
with the revelation that Xavier had secretly and fatally lost almost an entire team of X-Men while investigating Krakoa, which he wiped from the minds of the rest of his X-Men. When Cyclops later discovered that Charles had wiped his memory of the team’s loss, Scott lost all trust in his father-figure, and has carried that scar ever since. This schism between the two continued into the early 2010s until Cyclops broke away from Xavier’s dream in the 2011 Schism storyline by writer Jason Aaron.
In my opinion, this is the breaking point where Marvel had all but called Xavier’s dream a sham and the man himself a failure.
In my opinion, this is the breaking point where Marvel had all but called Xavier’s dream a sham and the man himself a failure; the little character flaws that Claremont had once highlighted had festered into core personality traits that passed onto his children. I know the Schism storyline focused on the divide between Cyclops and Wolverine’s styles of leadership, but their fight came as a result of Xavier’s conflicting leadership. Xavier’s closest child had turned his back to his mentor’s lessons. This divide continued to play a prominent factor in
the X-Men’s dissolving unity
up until Krakoa’s foundation.
Marvel Has Made Xavier’s Dream Lose Its Value To Readers By Tarnishing His Moral Stature
By Twisting The Man, They Twisted His Vision
Before even getting to Charles Xavier’s
monumental failures in Krakoa
, Marvel had been gradually breaking away both the X-Men and the readers’ trust in the father-figure for decades. We saw Xavier cast aside his son Legion and abandon his daughter Xandra. We saw Charles wipe away memories as if it were his favorite hobby. We watched as he lost the love and respect of some of his oldest students, one by one. By the Krakoa era, readers had been conditioned to think these flaws were inherent to Charles Xavier’s nature. When he finally became an authoritarian despot, it wasn’t surprising.
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Is Charles Xavier a Villain? It Seems the Fantastic Four Have a Controversial Take
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While I see the value in writing in flaws for any character, as it makes them more relatable overall, Xavier’s flaws have become primary character traits. In doing so,
Xavier’s dream lost all value
. On the surface, he and his X-Men continued to fight for the well-being of all mutants but had sacrificed his peace-loving integrationist perspective of a globalist society for nefariously underhanded and manipulative tactics. I feel like Xavier had become a type of father figure that would tell you he loves you while stabbing you in the gut if he deemed it necessary “for the cause.”
I Firmly Believe Charles Xavier Needs to Become A Symbol Of Hope Again
Despite His Actions, Most Fans Still Want Him To Be A Hero Again
Even after 25 straight years of tearing down the best
aspects of Charles Xavier’s character
, I can’t help but still look at him as a wise-minded father. That’s the version of the character Marvel likes to lead with, despite immediately underhanding it with the most toxic character traits possible. I think that’s why I hate the character so much right now; I see what he was promised to be, but I realize that’s not who he is. Charles Xavier, to me, is supposed to be the infallible face of hope and an idealistic leader.
As a literary symbol, Xavier needs to be the baseline of “perfect” morality. It’s not realistic, sure, but we’re talking about comic books.
Charles Xavier needs to be a symbol, because it is his purpose as a character; he is the man who reminds us to set aside anger but still find strength in the face of oppression. He’s supposed to lend a hand when we fall, not wipe everyone’s memories of it happening. If anything, Magneto is the character who rises above his flaws and failures to show that change is possible. But not Charles. As a literary symbol,
Xavier needs to be the baseline
of “perfect” morality. It’s not realistic, sure, but we’re talking about comic books, here – we’re talking about the X-Men.
In other words, I suppose what I am saying is that moral complexity – while important to more nuanced storytelling – doesn’t necessarily have to invade, or saturate, every aspect of a major franchise like X-Men. It is okay to let a character like Charles Xavier be a paragon of virtue, or at least a positive role model. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s in the cards for him at Marvel anymore. Now, after all this time, and despite how much I want a good Charles Xavier again, I don’t know how theX-Men franchise can redeem our once-beloved father figure.
“}]] Charles Xavier should never be a villain. Read More