X-Men: Forever #3 — S.O.S.

[useridgoeshere]

Man, this ending is really being dragged out. It feels like the pacing of a shonen anime at this point, just get to the Phoenix vs Enigma fight already!

I’ve been catching up on Gillen’s Fall of X comics and it’s made me understand why Marvel wants a fresh, back-to-basics start. The stuff mutants are dealing with is so large-scale and outlandishly sci-fi that my emotional investment has vanished. Unrelatable problems with unrelatable solutions. The cosmic dominion AI war was cool for a while, but it lacks the real-world element.

Marvel made the call before Fall of X. I don’t think the change is happening because FOX is garbage. I think FOX is garbage because of the change.

[MythicalChicken]

Marvel made the call before Fall of X. I don’t think the change is happening because FOX is garbage. I think FOX is garbage because of the change.

Pretty much this. A lot of animosity I have for the incoming era is A) coming of age during the Quesada-Perlmutter Gut-the-X-men years and how crappy that felt B) I feel like it's intentionally undermining the end of this era to pave the way for something dull and uninspired. I wish they'd keep Krakoa in some form, even if not its current iteration.

The closest thing is when Nicezia/Daniel got booted off X-force and Alan Davis booted off Excalibur. It wasn't really broke, yet they tried to "Fix" it.

[Havok83]

Oh sht. We're FINALLY going to get Hope's origin story. This definitely is leading to her sacrifice and Im gonna miss her. Also glad she finally changed out of her HFG dress...lol

What the hell is the Hope Sword? Where did it come from and what is its deal?

Why is it suddenly so easy for anyone to access WHR? Originally it was Jean's exclusive place. Then MR uses magic to move Krakoa there. Okay, I get how Manifold might be able to get there -- and that would be a stretch. But Cable randomly body sliding / teleporting in for a wink? C'mon.

My no prize answers is that since the Phoenix Force is dying, whatever safeguards/barriers it had in place are dying as well

[Viteh]

Why is it suddenly so easy for anyone to access WHR? Originally it was Jean's exclusive place. Then MR uses magic to move Krakoa there. Okay, I get how Manifold might be able to get there -- and that would be a stretch. But Cable randomly body sliding / teleporting in for a wink? C'mon.

I think Cable teleported to the Arbor and saw Hope through the portal. It's unclear.

Mother Righteous was able to access it because she spent hundreds of years studying a Phoenix Egg and Mkraan shards in the Sins of Sinister timeline.

[Viteh]

What the hell is the Hope Sword? Where did it come from and what is its deal?

It's Kurt's "Spark" taking form as a magic sword. It happens in Legion of X. Also the Before the Fall: Sons of X issue, where Legion disappears and it's implied he went into the sword, which this issue confirms.

[Saturius]

Man, this ending is really being dragged out. It feels like the pacing of a shonen anime at this point, just get to the Phoenix vs Enigma fight already!

I’ve been catching up on Gillen’s Fall of X comics and it’s made me understand why Marvel wants a fresh, back-to-basics start. The stuff mutants are dealing with is so large-scale and outlandishly sci-fi that my emotional investment has vanished. Unrelatable problems with unrelatable solutions. The cosmic dominion AI war was cool for a while, but it lacks the real-world element.

Why is it suddenly so easy for anyone to access WHR? Originally it was Jean's exclusive place. Then MR uses magic to move Krakoa there. Okay, I get how Manifold might be able to get there -- and that would be a stretch. But Cable randomly body sliding / teleporting in for a wink? C'mon.

All of this is hitting on some key points on why this story isn't landing for me. X-men can do different genres. They can do some cosmic stories, but the stuff going on here is just far too out there and doesn't work with the brand. The White Hot Room, Dominions, Phalanx etc are supposed to be a bit mysterious. Slightly esoteric. But the X-line is focusing on these concepts so much now in the end of this era that it just feels mundane and a little draining. They've taken the mystery out of some of this and made it seem too ordinary. The White Hot Room being a prime example.

This stuff is better suited for Thor or the Fantastic Four. When you've got the X-men dealing with things that are giving TOAA, Beyonders, and all of Reality a run for their money, you've probably gone too far afield. That's what's happened here for me.

[Til]

Nightcrawler is one of my favorites but when the issue gave us 5 pages of the Destiny/Mystique/Kurt family drama it took me out of the story. I love Kurt dearly but have little to no interest in his moms' marriage angst. I think I would have preferred more time given to Hope for deeper moments of saying goodbye especially with Cable (since it seems like she's really being taken off the board.) So I enjoyed the first part with Doug's return to the fight and Shaw actually acting somewhat like a hero. I also enjoyed the third part with everything Hope related and Exodus and the Six. But the middle part made me groan.

This is pretty much exactly how I felt. Loved the first part, loved the last part, and thought the middle was horribly out of place.

[Proxy]

It's Kurt's "Spark" taking form as a magic sword. It happens in Legion of X. Also the Before the Fall: Sons of X issue, where Legion disappears and it's implied he went into the sword, which this issue confirms.

Uncanny spider-man confirmed Legion was hiding in the hope-sword.

[Kingdom X]

All of this is hitting on some key points on why this story isn't landing for me. X-men can do different genres. They can do some cosmic stories, but the stuff going on here is just far too out there and doesn't work with the brand. The White Hot Room, Dominions, Phalanx etc are supposed to be a bit mysterious. Slightly esoteric. But the X-line is focusing on these concepts so much now in the end of this era that it just feels mundane and a little draining. They've taken the mystery out of some of this and made it seem too ordinary. The White Hot Room being a prime example.

This stuff is better suited for Thor or the Fantastic Four. When you've got the X-men dealing with things that are giving TOAA, Beyonders, and all of Reality a run for their money, you've probably gone too far afield. That's what's happened here for me.

They’ve also just got the wrong creators for it. It’s beyond obvious that they’re stuck with Hickman concepts that they don’t actually wanna write about, hence why Omega Sentinel, Nimrod, and Moira haven’t actually done anything interesting in ages. And then for whatever reason they didn’t tap their only proficient cosmic writer to write the cosmic finale. In RoM, Ewing proved he could do out their cosmic/ mystical stuff while still centering character beats and emotional payoff.

It also doesn’t help that the more grounded half of the story taking place in Duggan’s books is falling completely flat. In an ideal world that would be the content keep the stakes human and relatable, while this series goes cosmic and crazy.

[Rift]

See, I think Dominions are perfect for the X-Men. Especially Enigma. Some high-concept final villain of the era who's beyond the comprehension of even the most powerful of the X-Men, something that challenges even the Phoenix. They're ants to Enigma at his most powerful - imagine ants fighting against a god. The Fantastic Four or Thor have more experience with cosmic and abstract threats, but the X-Men being so ill-equipped to handle such a force makes it seem that much of a threat, and it would be more impressive if they manage to take it down. Making Enigma a primary threat does take away some of the mystery, but he's a product of a plan spanning multiple IRL years, had a ton of buildup, and is the culmination of several books' story arcs, and ties into the overall narrative. I feel like Enigma could have been one of the best modern villains we've seen in ages.

But then they take this story with years-long build-up, and just decide to speedrun it within a few months and between two writers. All while haphazardly throwing in plot elements to check off boxes, and underutilizing so many of the characters & themes that have been set up. All this time we've been treading water, wasting time with meaningless minis, taking all these meaningless detours that didn't develop Krakoa or the main plot. It could have been better put to use. I mean, look at how much X-Men Unlimited was able to tie in so many plotlines and have them build on previous stuff to create this narrative.

[JB]

Uncanny spider-man confirmed Legion was hiding in the hope-sword.

This is a funny sentence.

[cranger]

I think Cable teleported to the Arbor and saw Hope through the portal. It's unclear.

Mother Righteous was able to access it because she spent hundreds of years studying a Phoenix Egg and Mkraan shards in the Sins of Sinister timeline.

Cable definitely teleported to the Arbor as he is seen in the group shot. As for the White Hot Room, it is not about whether the story explained it or not but rather it being a change that people might not like. A lot of issues where people do not think something makes sense is really about not liking the new canon and not about the lack of in story reasoning.

[Jackraow21]

Cable's goodbye felt like such an afterthought, but at least they acknowledged it before taking Hope off the board. My bet is when we next see Cable it'll be a different or younger version, and he won't have any memory of Hope anyway. According to Brevoort it'll be awhile for that regardless.

[berserkerclaw]

Why would Cable be younger? Hes just not on the teams. Nothing indicated something Happens to Natham

[Jackraow21]

Just speculating. They screw with him a lot as a character. Wouldn’t surprise me if he got a “factory reset” somehow. Last we’ve seen him he and Kid Cable are both still here, rushing off to battle at the end of Cable #4. Guess we might see them in the finale of Fall of the House of X and get an idea of what their status quo will be in the new era, despite them not currently slated to appear anywhere.