Confirmed: Hickman is leaving the X-Men after Inferno

[FFJamie94]

Of course everyone wants to stay in the first act, Hickman. X-Men comics had been misery porn for the last twenty-five years before POX/HOX. If they don't get at least ten years of actual winning and being in a positive spotlight, then what was it all for?

Yeah, I can't really think of the first time the X-Men has felt this... happy.
Even Morrison's run, which Hickman's seems to be a spiritual successor to, started with genocide.
Hickman's run started with orgies... why would I want that to end?

[Devaishwarya]

Pretty much.
Let me enjoy some positivity for as long as it lasts.

[AoANightcrawler]

Really wish they would have stuck with the original 3 act plan. I would love to see where Hickman was planning to go with the series and the Krakoa era is starting to lose its appeal to me. It was a nice change of pace for a year or two but does anyone really want to see the X-Men endlessly reincarnating on an island away from the rest of the marvel universe for the next decade?
Sure we all know no one ever stays dead but the current immortality of all the X-Men significantly deminishes the drama over time.

[Rising7]

I am mixed on this, on one hand I would like to see Hickman's vision through. On the other I haven't been a huge fan of the X-Men's quickly changing status quo in the last few years. It felt like there could be more time to cultivate the relationships between characters that maintained over the 1-2 year window.

The status quo immediately before this one gave the fun of yet another mansion getting blown up, which primed me to expect that for Krakoa as well. Though it may eventually get there I'm happy to keep it for now. If we get a Hickman return in some capacity where his idea or a close permutation of it is fulfilled on the page, then all the better.

[Thundershot]

The disappointment is that Hickman isn’t getting to finish his story. He was ready to move to act 2, but the other writers weren’t. Or perhaps the higher ups were happy with the current sales and status quo and wanted to keep it that way. Hopefully when the time is right, the current administration will still follow through with the original plans….

[hairys]

What happened?

That was the day House of X #1 dropped and rocked the comics industry and the CBR forums. 14,000+ users on here, a record.

I suspect there are a lot of readers who just wanted to see Hickman's story told. Beginning, middle, and end.

[yellow cyclone]

See I've seen so many interviews of writers saying that their stuff is great and that fans will love it.
Only trust the word of those who have lived up to it, a.k.a. Hickman.
Most of these writers have been at Marvel for a while now and haven't come close to his work.Specially in the weird Sc-fi style he does.

Duggan really talking like he has had any idea or story that came close to HOX/POX.

agreed, hickman has delivered twice on F4/Avengers. 3 times if you want to count his SHIELD/Secret Warriors stuff (probably the GOAT modern nick fury/commandos run). ewing occasionally has some good ideas but with duggan, i just don't give a damn about cordyceps jones and some of his OCs. hickman's cosmic stuff really is grandiose and still fits within the line he's writing

[Spit and Syntax]

agreed, hickman has delivered twice on F4/Avengers. 3 times if you want to count his SHIELD/Secret Warriors stuff (probably the GOAT modern nick fury/commandos run). ewing occasionally has some good ideas but with duggan, i just don't give a damn about cordyceps jones and some of his OCs. hickman's cosmic stuff really is grandiose and still fits within the line he's writing

I’ve said this many times before, and dipped in and out of the forum during that time on old accounts, but did you read Avengers/NA monthly? Maybe it was better in trade, but everything Hickman was building in act one collapsed in the second and third year and rushed it’s way to Secret Wars.

Hickman is one of my favourite current writers, but the disappointment I have is that, like Avengers again he couldn’t finish his story properly. Instead it’s another huge dent in my wallet for a long first act which is rushed again.

I’m enjoying Duggan’s run and hope Si and Ewing start getting more important books, so it’s not like Avengers where it was one singularly faulty story, but it’s still annoying, even though I’m still excited.

[yellow cyclone]

I’ve said this many times before, and dipped in and out of the forum during that time on old accounts, but did you read Avengers/NA monthly? Maybe it was better in trade, but everything Hickman was building in act one collapsed in the second and third year and rushed it’s way to Secret Wars.

Hickman is one of my favourite current writers, but the disappointment I have is that, like Avengers again he couldn’t finish his story properly. Instead it’s another huge dent in my wallet for a long first act which is rushed again.

I’m enjoying Duggan’s run and hope Si and Ewing start getting more important books, so it’s not like Avengers where it was one singularly faulty story, but it’s still annoying, even though I’m still excited.

i def did read A/NA monthly, it was always my most anticipated of the week/month. i think there was some editorial interference in year/act 2 with infinity/making it a huge event vs just for the book, probably the whole inhumans/terrigan push that ike was doing over the time b/c of the fox x-rights. F4 was pretty on the money with good payoffs, same for secret warriors

so far his x-run seemed much more like F4 than avengers with it being relatively self-contained. i was surprised how some of the books really reference each other x-force being a pretty good standout one for me. i'm just straight up skeptical that the rest of the team can pull off what hickman has planned

was very VERY interested in seeing what he was going to do with the phalanx/phoenix/galactus stuff he was setting up

[RamaBird]

Why does color of the writer matter if it isn't related to a sensitive topic being written that he/she may have a better grasp at.
I mean I want a guy who knows what they are doing, regardless of color and s*x.This is coming from a POC btw.

That was what Hickman wanted but him writing his event book means that the writers can't finish their stories.That's why he left

Then you haven't been paying attention.

Prior to Hickman, the most famous character of color (Storm) was most famous for taking naps.

[Spit and Syntax]

i def did read A/NA monthly, it was always my most anticipated of the week/month. i think there was some editorial interference in year/act 2 with infinity/making it a huge event vs just for the book, probably the whole inhumans/terrigan push that ike was doing over the time b/c of the fox x-rights. F4 was pretty on the money with good payoffs, same for secret warriors

so far his x-run seemed much more like F4 than avengers with it being relatively self-contained. i was surprised how some of the books really reference each other x-force being a pretty good standout one for me. i'm just straight up skeptical that the rest of the team can pull off what hickman has planned

was very VERY interested in seeing what he was going to do with the phalanx/phoenix/galactus stuff he was setting up

FF was really good as a self contained run, but you must remember how many plot points were dropped or pushed to a panel at the end of Time Runs Out. This made me skeptical of X-Men when Inferno was announced, because it reminded me so much of when Secret Wars got announced. At that time I was feeling, in the same was as the phalanx, about Cap Universe, Smasher Shiar, AIM and the Adaptoids + the robot, the future Avengers timelines, the alpha flight girl, Bobby and Sunspot meant to be having a much larger role etc etc etc.

Disappointed in Hickman (not the man but the promise) because the last two ambitious runs he’s had start out like Babylon 5 or Deep Space 9, something that spans an era, and then gets rushed for other demands.

[yellow cyclone]

FF was really good as a self contained run, but you must remember how many plot points were dropped or pushed to a panel at the end of Time Runs Out. This made me skeptical of X-Men when Inferno was announced, because it reminded me so much of when Secret Wars got announced. At that time I was feeling, in the same was as the phalanx, about Cap Universe, Smasher Shiar, AIM and the Adaptoids + the robot, the future Avengers timelines, the alpha flight girl, Bobby and Sunspot meant to be having a much larger role etc etc etc.

Disappointed in Hickman (not the man but the promise) because the last two ambitious runs he’s had start out like Babylon 5 or Deep Space 9, something that spans an era, and then gets rushed for other demands.

i'm not sure if editorial on his avengers run was going for the full reboot with secret wars asap and we lost some of the other stuff or that was just him making more toys in the sandbox for the 3rd avengers book, but overall i think inferno was supposed to be part of his 2nd act. we don't have anything yet on sinister betrayals and he's only teased the space stuff like twice. it's cool that the other writers like the new sandbox to play with but i really wanted him to finish his story. i feel like with moira having at least 1 reset left there was still that room for the writers to go back to the new krakoa status quo after his story.

[Celestialbodies]

Having read the interview, I might be wrong but I agree with any sentiments that suggest Hickman might have been blindsided.

His word choice is very telling it seems he had a 3 part story in place and communicated that to Marvel, the X-writers, and all parties involved. However once the time came to move to the next part, Marvel but more importantly the X-writers turned against the idea and his vision. He then made the decision to allow them to move forward in a new direction without him.


I think this is a mistake, I enjoy Ewing, Wells, Duggan, Ayala, and a few others but they don't capture my attention in the way Hickman ideas has.

[Anchorsify]

I'm not sure how people can read Duggan's substack post as anything but someone who thinks they're capable of taking the mantle talking up their own plans, but like.. Duggan has failed to capture me after two years of Marauders. I fail to see why his work would suddenly change and improve with less guidance and oversight by someone whose work I do enjoy.

And yes, for the record, I do think they'll probably, eventually, still try to implement Hickman's original three-phase plan. In the worst way imaginable. By waiting sales numbers drop to unacceptable levels just to hit that button and unceremoniously end all ongoings to force a relaunch with the turn of the next phase (like they literally just did to Leah Williams) with drastic editing and mandates to end everything ongoing just to full throttle back to those sweet, sweet, #1 release bumps. And in the process they will absolutely bungle the story just like they'll bungle the timing. This isn't new for Marvel.

And it's hilarious Marvel 'upgrades' a writer's plot by unceremoniously cancelling their current ongoing to launch a new thing without even giving them the luxury of time to finish it in the way they'd like. These are the people you're trusting to finish someone else's story in a satisfying way? They can't even let current writers do that. Why would anyone have any faith in Marvel to handle this stuff with the care it needs to not turn from "Moira is the crux of it all because of her mutation and her choices throughout each life trying and failing to find the solution to the endgame of the mutant race" to "Haha, I'm mr. sinister and going to clone moira and then I can just reset the universe as much as I want, anytime I want!" levels of bad?

Unless Hickman is still around and willing to finish something started years ago (unlikely), you won't see him return just to execute on his original ideas. Most likely he'll have no need after moving onto other projects and Marvel will be stingy with pay (like they.. always are) to provide little incentive and will think they can just do it themselves in the end with other writers. And while I applaud Duggan for his, um, confidence, there's two years of issues that leave me with none for his ability to handle tackle the metaplot in a satisfying way. Or Percy, or Tini. Just read X-Force, Marauders and Excalibur and see how much actually happens and if there's ever any satisfying payoff. Spoiler: I didn't find any in any of those titles. Maybe Leah.. maybe. But she's getting shafted ATM and is likely on her way out also, or at the least more likely to take on less rather than more, which is the opposite of what you'd need to be doing to handle the metaplot.

[Spiderfan001]

Then you haven't been paying attention.

Prior to Hickman, the most famous character of color (Storm) was most famous for taking naps.

And if I may ask, how is the gender or s*x of writer responsible for that.
And storm is a glass canon, not sure what these naps are.I'm assuming she passed out a lot, if so that's just bad writing.