Storm's status as a X-Men leader

[Havok83]

When did he do that? Storm had a team in XXM and Uncanny up until she decided to live a lavish life in Wakanda.

Revolution. Gambit was leader of the team Storm was on and Rogue led the other book

[Ororo101]

Lobdell's Storm was the beginning of the decline(or rather, Claremont's dismissal from the franchise). He openly admitted he didn't understand her as a character, but to be fair, editorial kept the pressure on him and other writers in the 90's to at least attempt to make Storm a central character and leader, even if they weren't particularly good at it. When Claremont came in I'm pretty sure editorial mandated that Gambit and Rogue be made the new squad leaders to spice things up. That said, Claremont's run with Gambit, Cable, Storm, Jean, and Beast is fairly solid. Gambit wasn't overbearing like Gold's Kitty. He had a squad of seasoned professionals, all his senior, but their team was operating in that capacity where everyone contributed and was a respected equal. Plus that run only lasted for a few issues anyways. And then we reset things and eventually got the Morrison/Claremont era which was fantastic.

The real decline in Storm's leadership among the X-Men started precisely after that era. Once New/X-Treme were basically over and Claremont was forced to give up Storm to BP's office, that is where Storm lost her footing among the X-Men. Emma and Cyke were in the momma and poppa bear position, and Storm was just off doing her Queen thing in Wakanda(where she never truly developed her own authority; it was always T'Challa's burden, or Shuri's, even, when T'Challa was incapacitated by Doom). She was not really in charge in Wakanda, and she was not at all in charge back with the X-Men, despite various attempts to reconcile those two distinct spheres(such as the fun but ultimately pointless Worlds Apart, or her various cameos in the main books, and later peripheral runs in Astonishing or X-Men Vol 3/X-Women). Of course, by the time AvX smashed Rightclops down and destroyed the T'Challa marriage, Wolverine had already firmly ascended to headmaster/uberleaderdom, so even once Storm came back to the team full time and was even appointed headmistress/leader again, it was only a hollow title(and in many ways undercut by her and Logan hooking up all of a sudden). Gone was the ambitious determined stateswoman we last saw in Claremont's XSE, brimming with power and an edge of danger. It only got worse with IvX. Claremont's Storm would have never backed down from a freaking Cloud, or Blackbolt/Medusa. Please.

Now, ultimately, we got spoiled by Claremont's X-Men. Such familiarity, such attention to detail. One voice stretching over decades. So much commercial and artistic success. No one has been able to raise the X-Men to such heights since, and certainly no one has been able to write such a compelling Storm since. Every new team loves to promise great things, and they have all failed.

We'll see what Hickman and co have in store for Storm, but honestly it doesn't appear like she's much of a priority; and as neglected as her character has been since the XSE era, that doesn't bode well for her recovery. I do think we are going to have to wait until Feige lights the sky on fire with his MCU Ororo for the publishing side to wake up to her squandered potential, but I am open to being surprised in the meantime.

I’m actually concerned that Storm might get a less then stellar reveal now that they’re introducing Jane Foster Thor before her as well. That’s two people, male and female who are going to be shown off as Godlike weather manipulators before Ororo. Hoping it doesn’t seem like old news by the time we get her...

[Havok83]

I’m actually concerned that Storm might get a less then stellar reveal now that they’re introducing Jane Foster Thor before her as well. That’s two people, male and female who are going to be shown off as Godlike weather manipulators before Ororo. Hoping it doesn’t seem like old news by the time we get her...

We dont know how Jane will be utilized and with Thor, they heavily emphasized the thunder aspect of him in addition to his hammer for melee attacks and super strength. There is plenty of room to differentiate him from Storm

Besides theres nothing wrong with multiple characters having similar powersets. How many characters have flight, super strength, iron suits, super agility, etc....?

[butterflykyss]

I’m actually concerned that Storm might get a less then stellar reveal now that they’re introducing Jane Foster Thor before her as well. That’s two people, male and female who are going to be shown off as Godlike weather manipulators before Ororo. Hoping it doesn’t seem like old news by the time we get her...

I really dont think so. if this is done right ororo would be the black female marvel superhero movie. with their push for diversity, being an African goddess it would be a first of it's kind. so I'm not too worried about that.

[butterflykyss]

We dont know how Jane will be utilized and with Thor, they heavily emphasized the thunder aspect of him in addition to his hammer for melee attacks and super strength. There is plenty of room to differentiate him from Storm

Besides theres nothing wrong with multiple characters having similar powersets. How many characters have flight, super strength, iron suits, super agility, etc....?

good points beloved.

[terrancejameson]

I think there’s definitely some truth to the idea that there’s some double standard to how Cyclops is portrayed in regards to their leadership abilities. It seems obvious to a fan like me. Tbh, I can’t remember a time she’s shown sound leadership since being married off.

[Ororo101]

We dont know how Jane will be utilized and with Thor, they heavily emphasized the thunder aspect of him in addition to his hammer for melee attacks and super strength. There is plenty of room to differentiate him from Storm

Besides theres nothing wrong with multiple characters having similar powersets. How many characters have flight, super strength, iron suits, super agility, etc....?

I know, you’re both probably right but I was already so butthurt with how Thor was portrayed compared to Storm on film already, his lightning and tornadoes making Ice Dispenser’s look like static electricity and one of those square white fans from the hood. And then he got the electric glowy eyes that aren’t even his hallmark in the comics like they are for Storm. Now Natalie Portman is going to be channeling some of the same things as a Marvel hero and a woman. There are overlapping powers in Marvel but weather control has always been Storm and Thor’s thing. I just don’t want it to get played up by the time comes around that she’s supposed to get her shine ya know.

I really dont think so. if this is done right ororo would be the black female marvel superhero movie. with their push for diversity, being an African goddess it would be a first of it's kind. so I'm not too worried about that.

[butterflykyss]

I know, you’re both probably right but I was already so butthurt with how Thor was portrayed compared to Storm on film already, his lightning and tornadoes making Ice Dispenser’s look like static electricity and one of those square white fans from the hood. And then he got the electric glowy eyes that aren’t even his hallmark in the comics like they are for Storm. Now Natalie Portman is going to be channeling some of the same things as a Marvel hero and a woman. There are overlapping powers in Marvel but weather control has always been Storm and Thor’s thing. I just don’t want it to get played up by the time comes around that she’s supposed to get her shine ya know.

oh trust me I totally understand but try to be patient and have faith that the mcu will get right what the foxmen have failed so many times over in getting our gurl right!!! (^_^)

[Wind Rider]

I think there’s definitely some truth to the idea that there’s some double standard to how Cyclops is portrayed in regards to their leadership abilities. It seems obvious to a fan like me. Tbh, I can’t remember a time she’s shown sound leadership since being married off.

Agreed.

I know, you’re both probably right but I was already so butthurt with how Thor was portrayed compared to Storm on film already, his lightning and tornadoes making Ice Dispenser’s look like static electricity and one of those square white fans from the hood. And then he got the electric glowy eyes that aren’t even his hallmark in the comics like they are for Storm. Now Natalie Portman is going to be channeling some of the same things as a Marvel hero and a woman. There are overlapping powers in Marvel but weather control has always been Storm and Thor’s thing. I just don’t want it to get played up by the time comes around that she’s supposed to get her shine ya know.

Ugh that sucks (good for Jane Foster fans). I hadn't heard that.

Well hopefully they go the "witch" route with Storm to help differentiate her. Like go for exotic atmospheric manipulation (like fire-nadoes, spiked hail stones, flash floods, etc) or amp up her h2h skills with weather elements. I agree with Havok83 that they can differentiate her abilities from the Thors (like the hammer vs scalpel approach).

[terrancejameson]

There totally needs to some differentiating factors moving forward. I don’t doubt that marvel has that well in hand with regards to her MCU portrayal. I don’t they’re gonna go the route of tying her to Norse mythology with that terrible hammer. We certainly don’t need two female Thor’s. Storm should be looming power and guiding hand in whatever situation or scenarios she finds herself in. That’s part of what’s so attractive about her role in the Black Panther universe. It’s also the vibe that I get from her in the upcoming Marauders series.

[Tunasammiches]

has Storm's motivations for wanting to be an X-leader ever been explored fully? Outside of necessity and obligation, did she have an actual passion for it?

[butterflykyss]

has Storm's motivations for wanting to be an X-leader ever been explored fully? Outside of necessity and obligation, did she have an actual passion for it?

hmmm this is a good question. I think definitely during the period when cksremont wrote her when she fought cyclops for leadership there was a passion to lead. however beyond the Claremont years I'm not sure. I would say that ororo has always been a natural leader. even as a young girl she was chose by her mentor to be leader of all the street urchins due to her skill and ability .

[BlkGldBlu]

oh trust me I totally understand but try to be patient and have faith that the mcu will get right what the foxmen have failed so many times over in getting our gurl right!!! (^_^)

Nope. Not holding faith. It's been a strenuous ride when it comes to anyone handling Storm. I saw the Jane announcement and the wind in my sail deflated instantly

[yogaflame]

has Storm's motivations for wanting to be an X-leader ever been explored fully? Outside of necessity and obligation, did she have an actual passion for it?

Claremont explored her journey into leadership in depth in the original run. To begin with, Storm was merely one of the team, and Cyclops was field commander and Xavier the founder and overall leader. Now, she did prove to be hugely instrumental to her first three missions(powering up Polaris for the field reversal, and sweeping the soldiers away from the halls of that military base without hurting them, and taking out the cairn from that demon Cyclops unleashed when crying in the woods about Thunderbird), establishing right from the start she was the powerhouse(before Jean even starting her development as Phoenix). But she was also very naive about modern, Western culture, having lived in tune with nature as a goddess since her tweens. Despite being a little insecure in that regard, she definitely had no problem speaking her mind even early on, so the force of will necessary for leadership was always there.

livingwater.jpg

It is not until after the DPS, when Jean sacrifices herself and Cyclops leaves the team that the mantle of leadership is thrust upon her. She didn't want it, necessarily, but Xavier chose her, and she rose to the occasion. The other team members, including Logan who is of course much older than her and even more experienced in terms of military operations and so forth, do defer to her lead, even in ways surpassing what they would Scott, because she had earned their respect through the many adventures they had already been on together. Days of Future Past was Storm's first big mission as leader, and I really love seeing all her thoughts as the story unfolds, especially in contrast to the older, hardened Ororo in the future timeline(I'm really bummed the movie version took all this away from Storm onscreen).



Storm begins to hit her stride through the early 80's, especially when she has to contend with Scott coming back into the fold, during which she does have the opportunity to see what it is like to not lead for a time, and to realize, while he might be more experienced than her, that she does have her own talents she brings to the table. Experience vs skill, as it was distilled in that Danger Room session they were playing. Between that and Xavier reasserting himself when he gets his new clone body(and Ororo having just gone through her own tribulations in the Brood saga), she really had to decide to abandon the Ororo windrider she was, goddess of life, and embrace being Storm, who must battle and potentially kill to serve her team and mission statement. This is of course exemplified in her duel against Callisto, where she stabbed her in the heart(something she knew Kurt could not do) to save Angel and get her team out of there before they were overwhelmed by the Morlocks. Callisto would have died had the Healer not done his work. Ororo had broken her vow never to kill (again, just after the whole Brood abortion/suicide). Ororo windrider was over. Storm had won.



Of course from there we see Storm continue her development as a leader, first when dealing with Rogue's acceptance by Xavier, and then Yukio's influence in Tokoyo. That Mastermind fight see's her starting to embrace a darker aspect of herself with the brutal use of her powers. Of course she then looses her powers not long after that, thanks to Forge's depowering gun, and that begins an even greater developmental arc, where she first realizes she is more than her powers and still leads the team without her powers, leaning into her tactics and team strategies. This is underscored in her duel with Scott. While Inferno did later retcon Maddie as psionically distracting Scott so he would loose, the fact is that Ororo did find a way to neutralize his attacks and show that his [uncontrolled]power was more of a liability than her lack of power.

Her sentiments changed soon after, though, when the Mutant Massacre hit. Without her powers, she wasn't as effective on the field. And her team and Morlocks suffered. She had a break down. It was all too much(and at the time the story was rather revolutionary for the medium and Marvel in particular). Callisto helped her find her nerve again, and that's when she started to really get dangerous. That issue where she fights the three old supes, Crimson Commando, Stonewall, and the Whizzer(?), she went full Batman. Even after developing to that level, though, she realized she needed her powers back to be at her best. That leads to the whole Fall of the Mutants arc and then the fateful decision to 'stay dead' with Roma's resurrection of the team after their sacrifice at Forge's hand to stop the Adversary.

Outback era Storm was Rightclops 30 years before Rightclops. Storm had the sneakiness and ferocity of her depowered period, plus her powers at full potential, with a strike team that could teleport in and out anywhere around the world. The Outback era melts into the disassembled era, and eventually wraps up the Claremont run with the summation of the Genosha situation, the Shadow King/Legion saga, and the reintegration of the X-Men and X-Factor to create the Blue/Gold strike forces. By that time Storm and Cyclops are regarded as complete equals, and both the equal/or at least approaching the level of Captain America himself in terms of leadership.

I can remember a scene of Storm, Cable, Cyclops and Jean in the mansion's war room just before X-Men/X-Force #1, and they are plotting out all their loose ends and Storm is really pushing for a proactive stance that entices Cable, but surprises Scott and Jean. They(Scott and Ororo) both essentially share leadership throughout the entire decade, and even into the early 2000's, where Ororo breaks off from the mansion for X-Treme and Scott becomes less central as part of the faculty(with Xavier as headmaster, and eventually Jean taking that role too). That was some of the best times for Storm as a leader, and Claremont really showed how it was basically integral to her being. That's just how she rolls. She has the fortitude, the ability, the vision, and the willpower and determination to see it through, not to mention the goodwill of her teammates and the respect of key figures in the wider superhero/political world. At least Claremont's Ororo does.

Obviously not so much with these other 'writers'.....

[BlkGldBlu]

Claremont explored her journey into leadership in depth in the original run. To begin with, Storm was merely one of the team, and Cyclops was field commander and Xavier the founder and overall leader. Now, she did prove to be hugely instrumental to her first three missions(powering up Polaris for the field reversal, and sweeping the soldiers away from the halls of that military base without hurting them, and taking out the cairn from that demon Cyclops unleashed when crying in the woods about Thunderbird), establishing right from the start she was the powerhouse(before Jean even starting her development as Phoenix). But she was also very naive about modern, Western culture, having lived in tune with nature as a goddess since her tweens. Despite being a little insecure in that regard, she definitely had no problem speaking her mind even early on, so the force of will necessary for leadership was always there.

livingwater.jpg

It is not until after the DPS, when Jean sacrifices herself and Cyclops leaves the team that the mantle of leadership is thrust upon her. She didn't want it, necessarily, but Xavier chose her, and she rose to the occasion. The other team members, including Logan who is of course much older than her and even more experienced in terms of military operations and so forth, do defer to her lead, even in ways surpassing what they would Scott, because she had earned their respect through the many adventures they had already been on together. Days of Future Past was Storm's first big mission as leader, and I really love seeing all her thoughts as the story unfolds, especially in contrast to the older, hardened Ororo in the future timeline(I'm really bummed the movie version took all this away from Storm onscreen).



Storm begins to hit her stride through the early 80's, especially when she has to contend with Scott coming back into the fold, during which she does have the opportunity to see what it is like to not lead for a time, and to realize, while he might be more experienced than her, that she does have her own talents she brings to the table. Experience vs skill, as it was distilled in that Danger Room session they were playing. Between that and Xavier reasserting himself when he gets his new clone body(and Ororo having just gone through her own tribulations in the Brood saga), she really had to decide to abandon the Ororo windrider she was, goddess of life, and embrace being Storm, who must battle and potentially kill to serve her team and mission statement. This is of course exemplified in her duel against Callisto, where she stabbed her in the heart(something she knew Kurt could not do) to save Angel and get her team out of there before they were overwhelmed by the Morlocks. Callisto would have died had the Healer not done his work. Ororo had broken her vow never to kill (again, just after the whole Brood abortion/suicide). Ororo windrider was over. Storm had won.



Of course from there we see Storm continue her development as a leader, first when dealing with Rogue's acceptance by Xavier, and then Yukio's influence in Tokoyo. That Mastermind fight see's her starting to embrace a darker aspect of herself with the brutal use of her powers. Of course she then looses her powers not long after that, thanks to Forge's depowering gun, and that begins an even greater developmental arc, where she first realizes she is more than her powers and still leads the team without her powers, leaning into her tactics and team strategies. This is underscored in her duel with Scott. While Inferno did later retcon Maddie as psionically distracting Scott so he would loose, the fact is that Ororo did find a way to neutralize his attacks and show that his [uncontrolled]power was more of a liability than her lack of power.

Her sentiments changed soon after, though, when the Mutant Massacre hit. Without her powers, she wasn't as effective on the field. And her team and Morlocks suffered. She had a break down. It was all too much(and at the time the story was rather revolutionary for the medium and Marvel in particular). Callisto helped her find her nerve again, and that's when she started to really get dangerous. That issue where she fights the three old supes, Crimson Commando, Stonewall, and the Whizzer(?), she went full Batman. Even after developing to that level, though, she realized she needed her powers back to be at her best. That leads to the whole Fall of the Mutants arc and then the fateful decision to 'stay dead' with Roma's resurrection of the team after their sacrifice at Forge's hand to stop the Adversary.

Outback era Storm was Rightclops 30 years before Rightclops. Storm had the sneakiness and ferocity of her depowered period, plus her powers at full potential, with a strike team that could teleport in and out anywhere around the world. The Outback era melts into the disassembled era, and eventually wraps up the Claremont run with the summation of the Genosha situation, the Shadow King/Legion saga, and the reintegration of the X-Men and X-Factor to create the Blue/Gold strike forces. By that time Storm and Cyclops are regarded as complete equals, and both the equal/or at least approaching the level of Captain America himself in terms of leadership.

I can remember a scene of Storm, Cable, Cyclops and Jean in the mansion's war room just before X-Men/X-Force #1, and they are plotting out all their loose ends and Storm is really pushing for a proactive stance that entices Cable, but surprises Scott and Jean. They(Scott and Ororo) both essentially share leadership throughout the entire decade, and even into the early 2000's, where Ororo breaks off from the mansion for X-Treme and Scott becomes less central as part of the faculty(with Xavier as headmaster, and eventually Jean taking that role too). That was some of the best times for Storm as a leader, and Claremont really showed how it was basically integral to her being. That's just how she rolls. She has the fortitude, the ability, the vision, and the willpower and determination to see it through, not to mention the goodwill of her teammates and the respect of key figures in the wider superhero/political world. At least Claremont's Ororo does.

Obviously not so much with these other 'writers'.....

Your post made sad. The glory days of Storm is long gone.
And the more she is. Used incorrectly the more water down she gets.