"We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together... is all that makes life worth living." - Jean Grey
The problem is that, the coming out of the closet aside, the 2000's weren't all that good for him- he was used for lame love quadrangles (Polaris, Havok and Nurse Annie) then even Carey had that non-sense with Mystique, then all he did was whine about Scott over and over (even Sina Grace did the former).
They should empathize the aspects people like about him and the ones that have more potential (he's funny, but he's an original X-men with lots of experience and very powerful; the fact he's gay opens lots of story possibilities), and less like he was a rookie that is only there to crack jokes and whine.
But Havok is objectively the worst.
A solo won't sell. I'd simply use her away from Magneto and Havok in a team book.
Wolverine is perfectly fine as is, no need to be dialed back or changed. Why must he stop appearing in various books if the writers choose to include him for the story they want to tell? Logan is popular and has connections all across the MU, it makes perfect sense that he would have guess appearances in other titles or have minis and one shots. The just released Blade and Cap team up books are a great example of utilizing Logan outside of the X-men. It took nothing away from any x-man and Logan's connection to both was used in a organic way. Or do you think some other character would have been a better option (Creed or Laura perhaps)? Logan takes nothing away from any other x-character and no one is forced to buy/read these various Wolverine stories. As far as healing factors go Logan's is not even at the top of that. Both Deadpool and X-23 are known to have more potent healing factors and look at the Immortal Hulk. In recent Uncanny issues Wolverine has taken a beating with no super charged healing to speak of. So no, there is no problem with Wolverine, just some folks that don't like him for various reasons. Thankfully he has his fans that like and support him.
I hope Emma Frost never leaves the X-Men. Make her the face. Replace Jean, lol.
The God of runs, Morrison's, proves the franchise is better when they're both featured players.
A long one, but just gonna copy & paste from last time someone asked me.
How to fix a problem like Creed.
As a Villain
If he's gonna become a legit A-list villain, like Magneto, then he's got to branch off. Have more ambition than stalking Logan. Long as he's mostly seen as "Wolverine's stalker", he's always gonna be used as a gimmick. Like Dr. Draken from Kim Possible. The worst case we see of this is Wolverine MAX where Sabretooth came off like a jilted boyfriend who was still lusting for Logan. Or The Logan Legacy where he's dressing other man as Wolverine, dreaming about him, and worried he wont find anyone better. MY GOD! That was horrible!!!!
Tormenting Wolveine should remain an occasional hobby he gets sick kicks from and is actually good at. But don't turn it into an obsession and his reason for life. Even in the 90's, he had a life & even some pals to hang with when he wasn't fighting with Logan.
Jason Aaron was going in the right direction having him become a Crime lord in Asian where he also took over The Hand organization. He was moving from henchman level to boss level. But then Bendis came along, made him Mystique's sidekick and that was the end of that.
He needs to be depicted as a threat. Don't have heroes responding to him in an exasperated manner. Take him back to when he was feared, not seen as an annoyance. And like in the past stories, if he has to lose, have him take someone with him. In the past, Creed lost battles, but not without making his foes lose something too. If you come into contact with Creed, you need to leave with something other than mild irritation to show for it. Example, he got taken down in Maverck's mini, but not without putting a telephath in a coma when he turned her own mind-screw against her. He needs to stay with one writer who can clean him up, and the X-office needs to crank down on making sure subsequent writers respect the character work. Don't just reset him for the benefit of whatever story the next person wants to tell.
Graydon was brought back in Weapon X. Obviously he'll be a villain. But since Sabretooth is the one who saved him from Hell, he could be responsible for finding Sabretooth & boosting him again as payback for saving him. He gave Sabretooth his first strength enhancement back in the 90's mini series. Wolverine stays getting power-ups. He's got hot claws now. So give Sabretooth some enhancements too and depict their fights as more competitive. Or better yet, make Sabretooth the stronger enemy who Wolverine may have to use some tactics to defeat, rather than taking him out in 5 sec, panels, or pages.
Anti-Hero
This would take more time than Marvel is willing to give. With all their relaunches, constantly shuffling character to different writers, and not making writers keep consistency, it seems they don't care about development -so much as they care about events & whatever they think is the next big thing.
Sabretooth would need to stay with one writer to do the story. Bunn said he had long plans for Sabretooth & wasn't in a hurry to revert him. But again, he lost the character.
I think the inversion could be used as an opening to have Sabretooth working with others for more altruistic purposes, and show him developing bonds with others & getting in touch with the humanity he's tried so hard to suppress or ignore. Then take Bunn's approach, when he felt it starting to wear off in Uncanny, he decided to try & be something different. Something other than the lie his inverted self was, but something other than the monster he real self was. So as it wears off, have him determined to organically change now that he's experienced some of the positives Logan has in more full form. But won't be easy given he's been evil for around 142 years. But continuing from there with the spell wearing off, and Creed struggling to do better on his own or struggling on what he wants at all, without the magic crutch.
And have Monet try to help him. Bunn would've made them a couple had he not lost the characters. He confirmed last year that they had feelings for each other when he says they had a torturous love. So Monet battling her dark side with Emplate's influence & Creed battling his dark side as well would've made for interesting & possibly some dark developments as they try to stay connected & motivated to face their demons together
It would be a loooooong tale, but something like that could put Creed over the edge to being a solid anti-hero. Plus, it helps that it would be of his own effort, rather than just staying inverted by a spell forever. It works for Angel, but it'd be more authentic if Creed was organically changed. And it'd still be more development than Exiles Creed got. lol
It still could've worked when Creed was crazy & ran into the Saskatchewan woods. Monet wondered where he was. I could see her finding him (or him finding her if he can recall her scent in that state) and her being the one to care for him while he's out of his mind. Is he reverted & evil? Is he reverted & confused? Or, is he still inverted? The second option would be best because it gives more to work with on how he responds to everything he can remember about his experiences the last few years, his feelings for Monet, and how she's tried to help him. Could create a nice start.
Sadly with Marvel's track record, that was flushed down the toilet to go back to making him a bland Mystique-henchmen, as we see from Hickman,
So I don't see him doing the character any justice either. As a villain or hero. If I am wrong, I will gladly admit that & retract me pre-judgement of Hickman. But I am confident that I am not wrong given the 16-year track record & these unimpressive panels. lol
Last edited by Silver Fang; 07-15-2019 at 04:42 PM.
Get Scott out of the X-Books. Form a new team or club or whatever. Start fresh. Create his own vision, not just perpetuating the power struggle between Charles and Eric. Scott needs to find out who he actually is and between Sinister, Charles, Eric, Jean and Emma I don't think he's ever really done anything that was entirely his own idea. Clearly the X-Office is clueless with what to do with him. Temporarily license his book rights to some tiny publisher for a nickel who actually wants this guy in their books for something other than a whipping boy. And keep him the hell away from any telepaths for at least five years.
What to do with a problem like... Emma Frost.
Let's be honest, Emma Frost hasn't exactly been well written since Bendis left the X-Books. Yes, you read that right: Bendis. The few times that she's been written well have been in guest appearances by writers of other titles or one-off appearances by writers that were able to partially establish new status quos for her, but then lose access to the character overall... and as a result, Emma Frost as a character has been very confused. Who is Emma Frost these days? Is she a hero? Is she a villain? Somewhere in between? Honestly, I don't think that anyone knows. So, to start... I would define Emma's morality, and make her what is effectively an anti-hero.
I would also have her operate her own X-Men. Nothing affiliated with Scott, Logan, Jean, or Ororo - she would be the rival team, but still a team of heroes, still a team of X-Men, and one that is ultimately recognized by her so-called competition. Her team would be the one that would be willing to do whatever it takes in order to help mutantkind, and establish their foothold in the world as heroes. Ultimately, they're still doing good, and they still have a public face, but they'd be the ones that get down to the nitty gritty more than the typical X-Men do. And, like I said, Emma would be in charge as a proactive leader, the funder, and etc. And it would all be based out of Frost House in Snow Valley.
And importantly, she wouldn't be crazy. She'd be the Emma that we all know and love and that we got up until she went insane during Death Of X. She'd be stable and she would be powerful, and competent in more ways than one.
"We come into this world alone and we leave the same way. The time we spent in between - time spent alive, sharing, learning together... is all that makes life worth living." - Jean Grey
Heh...that's EXACTLY what was done with him post-Messiah Complex. He had a vision that was more aggressive and realistic than Xavier, but more pacifistic than Magneto's and without his supremacist elements. Then came Aaron and a change of editors in the X-office, who decided they wanted things to go back to status quo of Xavier vs Magneto, but putting Cyclops in the Magneto role, of being the VILLAIN and WRONG.