Catch Me Up on X-Men

[Slimybug]

So, true story, I stopped reading comics largely after Joss Whedon's run on Astonising X-Men. In there, Scott & Emma were together, and Kitty had just "died."

I know Kitty came back, got engaged to Colossus, then jilted him at the altar, with Rogue and Gambit then hijacking their wedding. I also know Jean is back. Are she and Scott back together then? Did he leave Emma? What else should I know?

[Devaishwarya]

Short version: Dead mutants are back. They are all living on an Island, Krakoa. Both Villains and Heroes, together. They terraformed Mars which is now Planet Arakko.

Long version: Google Johnathan Hickman XoS, HoX and X-Men 01 and take it from there.

[Rift]

Jean and Scott are together now. Jean was also sleeping with Wolverine, and Scott was implied to have a thing with Emma. The books implied that the marriage is open and that they're both seeing other people on the side, but only Percy and Hickman really rolled with it, so it looks like that element will be dropped.

[Devaishwarya]

...and the X-Men X-Men are a team operating out of New York now being world heroes. Members are Scott, Jean, Rogue, Polaris, Sunfire Wolverine/X-23 and Synch.

[Spiderfan001]

Read HOX/POX, it's a major jumping on point for fans.

I'd recommend reading all 21 issues of X-men under Hickman although not all of them are key.Then read Inferno

There are multiple books going on w/ various teams rn, pick one w/ the roster you like and dive in from number 1.And pick up hellions, it's the best X-book by far even if you've never read any of these characters before.

We have X lives and Deaths which is a event that will change everything so even if you feel overhwhelmed now you'll likely get good jumping on points after that.

[Jackraow21]

Yeah, read House of X/Powers of X, plus Planet-Size X-men where they terraformed Mars during the Hellfire Gala. Beyond that probably Hickman’s X-men run and that’s really it in terms of essential reading.

The X of Swords event was pretty self-contained honestly and just dealt with Apocalypse being reunited with his family, who were from the first mutant age on Arakko (which is Krakoa’s twin island) that was lost in a hellish dimension called Amenth centuries ago. In the end the X-men won, and Apocalypse stayed in Amenth with his wife and children, and Arakko came to Earth. In Planet-Size X-men, mentioned above, they actually transport Arakko and all the mutants living on it to Mars as they terraform it to make it habitable and in the end rename the whole planet Planet Arakko.

So if you just read HoX/PoX and Planet-Size X-men, and now know what I shared with you about X of Swords, you’ll be caught up (I’m basically trying to save you from having to read that bloated crossover).

[sunofdarkchild]

Magneto wanted to join the X-Men and he used his powers to free her from the bullet and bring Kitty back to earth to win their trust. Kitty was stuck in her phased state for a while afterwards.

Kitty and Colossus broke up after he took on the Juggernaut's powers in Fear Itself, with her saying he was too willing to sacrifice himself and she needed someone who would live for her and not die for her. Colossus went on to hook up with Domino and Kitty hooked up with Star-Lord, becoming briefly engaged to him before calling off that wedding.

After Cable brought Hope back to the present the Phoenix Force came to earth to merge with Hope to restart the mutant race. The Avengers saw the Phoenix as a threat and tried to destroy it while the X-Men wanted the Phoenix to restore mutantkind. The Avengers' bungling caused the Phoenix to be broken into 5 pieces and split among 5 X-Men, Cyclops, Emma, Namor, Colossus, and Magik. The 'Phoenix 5 created a utopia but the Avengers were distrustful and attacked them, and the Pheonix 5 went overboard in retaliating. Eventually the Phoenix was all gathered in Cyclops, who after repeated attacks by the Avengers and Xavier turned into Dark Phoenix and killed Xavier. Hope took the Phoenix for real and together with Scarlett Witch destroyed it, which restarted the mutant race. This story is widely hated by X-fans.

Cyclops went on the run and started rescuing new mutants from sentinels and bad cops together with Emma, Magneto, and Magik. Beast, who now hated Cyclops, went back in time and brought the original 5 X-Men to the present from when they were teenagers who had just started being X-Men to mess with Cyclops. The 05 decided to stay in the present despite all warnings, and eventually moved in with Cyclops. Wolverine died in this era after having his healing factor taken away and being covered completely in adamantium, suffocating him to death.

The release of the terrigen cloud caused mutants to face another extinction event. Cyclops was killed by the cloud early on and Emma used her psychic powers to make the world think he died fighting the Inhumans, and Storm became the leader of mutantkind. When earth was about to become uninhabitable for mutants a war broke out between the mutants and Inhumans but Medusa ended it by destroying the terrigen cloud for good. This story is widely hated by X-fans.

Feeling guilty about the war, Storm turned over leadership of the X-Men to Kitty, who missed the whole thing because she was in outer space with Star Lord. Colossus started acting like a stalker towards Kitty and Kitty eventually reciprocated his feelings, asking him to marry her. This whole story was a giant fanfic of how the writer wanted to marry Kitty and shipped her with Colossus, and was again widely hated by X-fans. When new editors came in they put a stop to it and Kitty left Colossus at the altar and Rogue and Gambit got married instead.

Xavier, Jean, Cyclops, and Wolverine all got resurrected and a bunch of nonsense happened which was the writers treading water until Hickman relaunched the X-line in 2019, where Xavier and Magneto created the mutant nation of Krakoa and it was revealed that Moira was a mutant all along with the power to relive her life over again when she died. Xavier and Magneto used Moira's knowledge to prepare for Krakoa going back to before X-Men #1. They also created a way for mutants to be resurrected en masse so many characters have been brought back and death is 100% meaningless. And that's where we are now.

So things were pretty bad from 2009-2019.

[Slimybug]

Wow, thanks!

Any issue #s you can give me for the above information? For instance, when Magneto brought back Kitty? When the O5 X-Men came into the present? When they left? When Kitty jilted Peter at the altar? Etc.

[Mercury]

Wow, thanks!

Any issue #s you can give me for the above information? For instance, when Magneto brought back Kitty? When the O5 X-Men came into the present? When they left? When Kitty jilted Peter at the altar? Etc.

Here’s a reading guide for the time-displacement arc. Some hate it but I absolutely love it.

https://cmro.travis-starnes.com/grou...pe=2&limit=100

Also, Jean and Logan have kissed a couple of times this era - once while in a hot tub - though it hasn’t been explicitly confirmed that they slept/are sleeping together.

[sunofdarkchild]

Wow, thanks!

Any issue #s you can give me for the above information? For instance, when Magneto brought back Kitty? When the O5 X-Men came into the present? When they left? When Kitty jilted Peter at the altar? Etc.

Uncanny X-Men #522: Magneto brings Kitty back.

All New X-Men (vol. 1) #1: The 05 come to the present.

Extermination (2018) #5: The 05 go back to the past.

X-Men Gold #30: The botched wedding.

Cyclops dies in the Death of X mini

Jean comes back in the Phoenix: Resurrections mini


In terms of what's recommended, the Zeb Wells New Mutants run from 2009-2011 and the Kieron Gillen run on Uncanny X-men are probably the best X-books from this period. The Bendis run starts out pretty good but flounders after the first year, the Lemire run is bad because of the forced X-Men vs Inhumans plot, and the Guggenheim run is the worst X-Men have to offer. The Rosenberg run isn't good, but it's so insane that it can be enjoyable depending on your mindset.

[Spiderfan001]

In terms of what's recommended, the Zeb Wells New Mutants run from 2009-2011 and the Kieron Gillen run on Uncanny X-men are probably the best X-books from this period. The Bendis run starts out pretty good but flounders after the first year, the Lemire run is bad because of the forced X-Men vs Inhumans plot, and the Guggenheim run is the worst X-Men have to offer. The Rosenberg run isn't good, but it's so insane that it can be enjoyable depending on your mindset.

Seconded, read these if nothing else

[Slimybug]

Wow! Very helpful, guys!

What issue was Cyclops resurrected in?

[MexM]

Also for more context, before the Avengers vs X-Men plotline and O5 coming back happened there was schism between Wolverine and Cyclops. Cyclops stayed in Utopia with Emma, Namor, Magneto, etc. while Wolverine opened up a school with the help of Iceman, Kitty, Beast, etc.