No More Mutants: X-Men Should Lose Their Powers Again

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Marvel Comics’ X-Men have had some of the boldest shake-ups and status quo shifts in any of the comic giant’s series. With characters constantly coming and going from the team, others growing and changing in bold and exciting ways, and the expectations of readers being constantly subverted, the X-books are some of the most wonderfully bold stories released by any major comic company.

After the events of the game-changing House of M event in 2005, many of Marvel’s most extraordinary mutants lost their powers. The decimation that followed was incredibly impactful on the mutant-centric corner of the Marvel Universe, and it rocked the universe overall for years to come. With the contemporary X-books falling back on a somewhat tired status quo, it seems that returning to the uncertainty and excitement of a world where mutants were on the verge of extinction would do the X-Men series some good.

The Decimation Era Was One of the X-Men’s Best

The Aftermath of House of M Fostered a New and Exciting Direction for the X-Men

The 2000s were some of the very best years for the contemporary era of Marvel Comics. From writer Brian Michael Bendis’ game-changing work on characters like Daredevil and the Avengers, some of the company’s very best stories were released on a consistent basis. In the X-Men’s corner of the world, things were slightly more shaky. After Grant Morrison’s incredible New X-Men run ended, the characters of the Marvel Mutant Universe somewhat stagnated. Acclaimed X-Men writer Chris Claremont was brought back to the book to reinvigorate things, but the status quo remained concrete and stale.

With the events of 2005’s House of M, one of Marvel’s best comic events of all time, the X-Men’s position in the Marvel Universe shifted immensely. After Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, uttered the infamous words “no more mutants” in the finale, Earth’s mutant population plummeted from hundreds of thousands to approximately two hundred, leaving the mutant species resting on the precipice of extinction.

This cataclysmic change in the status quo of the X-Men’s world was a huge shock to fans, and it served as an excellent means of introducing new and exciting concepts to the mutant world. With so many mutants’ powers gone, old enemies had to come together, longtime rivalries dissolved, and new threats reared their heads. Major shifts in the status quo of the actual X-Men team itself were also positive changes to the world of mutants. Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, leader of the team, gained more and more confidence in his ability to lead the entire mutant community and not simply leave it to the old ways of thinking held by Charles Xavier, aka Professor X.

Too Many Mutants Can Make Major Characters Feel Redundant

An Endless Number of X-Men Makes the Core Characters Feel Smaller

The aftermath of the mutant population dropping to a few hundred led to a more intimate, more focused look at the characters who kept their powers. In the wake of this tragedy, many underappreciated X-Men characters had the chance to shine. For example, in the oft-forgotten but nonetheless excellent 2006 miniseries X-Men: The 198, the focus shifted from the mainline X-Men to lesser-known characters who were affected by the Scarlet Witch’s spell. Characters like Empath, Magma, and Fever Pitch took more of the spotlight, allowing readers to get a wider look at the decimation of the mutant race.

When so many characters lost their powers, those with their X-gene intact became exponentially more important to their species’ survival and to the canon of the ever-popular X-Men stories. Allowing for another event as cataclysmic as House of M to affect the world of the modern X-Men books would hugely benefit the mutant world, and it would serve as a compelling look at how the characters would react to something like the mutant population dropping a second time.

Of course, it isn’t like the X-Men have been totally stagnate since their race was nearly wiped out. Storylines like House of X and Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman led Marvel’s mutants down bold new avenues that had rarely been explored before. Their time on the island nation-state of Krakoa was a wonderful new direction for the X-books and cemented the run as one of the most influential eras in the team’s history. With the From the Ashes relaunch being so new, it’s hard to gauge how it will stand up to previous directions, but a second decimation event could certainly provide a strong foundation for the series.

“}]] Like in the aftermath of the House of M event, the status quo of Marvel’s X-men needs a shakeup, specifically mutants losing their powers once again.  Read More