Originally Posted by
sunofdarkchild
The argument in the article is that she deserves to ben more popular than Dr. Strange and the Scarlett Witch. Which regardless of how well she does in the comics is impossible until get gets a movie or TV show that doesn't suck and gets the basics or her character right, both of which the New Mutants failed utterly at.
The standard I'd use is how well-known and popular she is is compared to Colossus. Colossus remains the most well-known Rasputin largely because of timing, number of appearances, and more and better appearances in other media. He was a mainstay of the flagship Uncanny book throughout the entire Claremont golden era, has been a recurring character since 1975 with the exception of the 3 or so years he was dead. He got 2 episodes focused on him in TAS, an extended cameo in X-Men 2, and pretty large roles in the Deadpool movies. Despite all that, he's not all that compelling when compared to characters with similar powersets like the Thing, the Hulk, or Luke Cage. Marvel has so many strongmen whose powers are 'super-strength+invulnerability' and Colossus does not stand out among them at all. Illyana by contrast was the star of a spin-off which while popular at the time became obscure soon after it ended instead of the flagship, was absent from the comics for almost 2 decades and even had much of her legacy destroyed so that another character could be shoe-horned into the role of Magik, only broke-out in the comics when sales had declined precipitously from their highs in the 80s and 90s, and her only appearances in movies and tv were as a supporting character for Colossus in one of his guest-star appearances in TAS and the abysmal New Mutants movie, which did not get many viewers and doesn't leave the few people who did see it with an accurate idea of who she is or what she can do. Her only good appearances outside of comics have been in mobile games. She stands out among Marvel's other magic users far more than Colossus stands out among Marvel's other strongmen, but because she only started breaking out when comics sales were a fraction of what they once were and has no good appearances in other media that aren't mobile games, he has far more name recognition than her.