Well that is just stupid there is no need to retcon Frank like that. This must be some long term ploy to make sure that Frank doesn't become too Krakoa friendly mutant. I just can't believe that they would really make Frank not a mutant.
Zdarsky's story will always have meaning as that story is read by that reader. Considering the massive retcon that is Hickman's era I find it odd anyone is wondering why a mere theme to one mini told by someone who was not a main writer is not being minded by the writer who has been handling the character the whole time.
What exactly is gained or lost by Franklin being/not being a mutant? It's not even like the Maximoff retcon which them being Mags kids was a topic of conversation for years and directly resulted in the most important moment in their history House of M (What Followed) and was basically ones entire storyline (Pietro's Daddy Issues now he has nothing) with Franklin it was just there but no one ever did anything with it and just makes F4VX which was already trash that no one acknowledged a complete waste of time.
Franklin has been a mutant for a few decades. Being a mutant in Marvel comics inherently comes with metaphorical meaning, any writer working with a mutant character should consider that, otherwise they can unwittingly write something that can pretty easily be interpreted as offensive, see Remender's Call me Alex speech. Slott is under no obligation to acknowledge Zdarsky's exact use of the metaphor, but that doesn't make the general metaphor go away.
And now was their chance to do something with it. Especially since, despite being a mutant, Franklin was also always protected from the typical discrimination thanks to being part of America's favorite super family. Going down the road of acknowledgement for that part of him might have been a good thing. It could have opened up so many doors for him as a character outside of the F4 books if they wanted. But no. Let's just not only retcon him out and make him sound like someone who's only a mutant because "being a mutant is cool now", but let's also have the same person who was ready to fight his fucking parents for him not too long ago now tell him "Too bad, so sad. Don't come back."
We may not have lost much of what was already there for Franklin. But we lost a lot of what could have been. It's, obviously, not anywhere near as harmful as Wanda and Pietro's retcon was. But it's still annoying. What's next? Is Molly Hayes no longer a mutant since that hasn't been relevant to her identity so far?
And, honestly, I'd have probably been less upset about all this if it hadn't happened the way that it did. It just kinda made me hate Krakoa Charles even more. This is basically the same problem I had with Nightwing's break up in yesterday's issue. I'm less mad that it happened and more mad at how it happened.
That's an awfully sloppy metaphor considering Franklin being a mutant has never been an issue to anyone and they've never not been open about it.
Last edited by Blue22; 11-18-2020 at 11:24 AM.
100% correct. Franchise consolidation is a hallmark of good writing and cutting off loose threads wherever they lie should be the priority of any half-decent creator. Franklin is a FF character. If Hickman's plans were a detriment to Slott's (admittedly terrible) plans for his book, then he has every right to throw the connective tissue between their franchises in the bushes.
These things are cyclical and inevitably when the MCU comes around it'll be retconned back to the way they were so complaining about it seems unnecessary to me. I agree that the way it was done was poor, but the end goal was complete, Franklin has nothing to do with the X-Men anymore and Slott can tell his story. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Hickman was informed about how things were supposed to shake out and that he's since adjusted his plans accordingly. As he should.
No more FranklinxRachel OTP for future mutants.
Rachel definitely going to be outed soon.
I’m unable to imagine the “Old Xavier”, the mild-mannered, benevolent man saying such a thing to Franklin, at least this way. When you think about a character that has a long history, you consider a period of time, authors that represent him. Taking everything in account doesn’t make sense.
“Strength is the lot of but a few privileged men; but austere perseverance, harsh and continuous, may be employed by the smallest of us and rarely fails of its purpose, for its silent power grows irresistibly greater with time.” Goethe