Academy X: New X-Men Appreciation 2022

[Kingdom X]

Their Tumblr has a lot of behind the scenes details. A few highlights include:

• Luna DePaula was going to be a long-term romantic interest for Karma, and would have a story about her unsupportive parents, and how she changed her name in honor of the woman who took her in when her parents kicked her out.
• They wanted to do minis for all the squads, not just Hellions. They weren't fully realized yet, but the Paragons would have gone to Nova Roma, and DJ would fall in love with a girl. (This one seems to have been deleted or something because I can't find it.) Alpha Squadron would have been the ones to find Northstar's body, and would go up against Hydra and the Hand. Corsairs would go into space.
• Kingmaker would come back for revenge.
• They toyed with James Keller being a "passing" mutant who hid his powers.
• Julian/Sofia were envisioned as endgame, while Noriko/Prodigy might not have lasted beyond their teen years.
• Julian would get the Phoenix Force, and would eventually take the codename Scion.
• Laurie's father was a mutant supremacist, and would have a story where he manipulated a bunch of students onto his side.
• This arc would be "huge" for Laurie and would lead to a big confrontation between them, and she would have been the one to save the day against him. She'd finally stop being afraid of her powers, and would learn to use her powers strategically.
• Also, she and Cecily would have an adventure together.
• Josh would join Garrison's side, but Kevin would talk him out of it and save him.
• As the kids go out into the field, David would be against it and pushed for everyone to stay students, rather than active heroes. Eventually he was gonna be “the guy in the Chair” for the kids who did adventure, but whenever he would get on the field, he'd be "like a machine:" very precise, and hard to hit.
• For Noriko, Wallflower's dad would help her learn to control her powers so she wouldn't need her Gauntlets most of the time. This would make her blind to his bad side. But she would be instrumental in convincing others to turn against him once she realizes what's up, taking on something of a leadership role.
• Her infamous fight with Dust would have lead to more development, with them eventually becoming good friends.
• Kevin and Cecily would get together.
• Kevin would have learned to kill specific cells and cause slower decay, or paralyze limbs (albeit Josh would still be able to heal the damage.) So he would be able to cause pain without killing, and possibly even cure cancer.
• Tag backstory, mentioned below.

Speaking of their Tumblr, we got some juicy Tag lore!

• He's from Puerto Rico and was always treated like an immigrant by others, despite being an American citizen. He felt somewhere in between.
• He from a broken or neglectful home.
• Because of the above points, he always didn't have a good sense of who he was.
• The idea was that he had no real sense of family, and possibly no sense of identity outside of his friends and being an Xavier student.
• "One of the reasons we had Brian be with Cessily in the aftermath scenes of the final issue of the Hellions mini was to subtly set up that his situation and hers were similar."
• Julian would notice Brian's issues and try to do something about it. This would have lead to Brian reconnecting with his parents, whom he hadn’t been home since coming to Xavier’s.
• This would all lead him towards figuring himself and his powers out.
• They weren't planning for Tag to fall in love with Julian, but it was "100% on [their] list of possibilities."

Omg we.were.ROBBBED!!!! I'm glad there was confirmation of the plot with Laurie's dad since that seemed like the biggest cliffhanger and it's cool that some of these plots (including Tag having a crash on a cocky telekinetic) were alluded to in the House of M tie-ins. Is there any tea as to why Marvel let them go? Did they think Kyle & Yost were a better fit for the Decimation story or was Marvel going to switch writers anyway?

They talk about some of their future plans on their Tumblr, or what they can recall of them. And there was a podcast interview more recently for their Dragon Age work where they talked a bit about Academy X. I don't remember a lot of interviews happening at the time, though. I commiserated with them at SDCC a couple of times, and one bit that I remember was that they'd intended for Josh to go dark side. I think that stuck with me because that's the opposite direction most stories take the healer type characters in.

I did find this one chat transcript that mentions Josh becoming a full-blown villain, while Kevin became a hero. It seems like they weren't married to the idea since they liked Josh so much. https://www.cbr.com/cbr-chat-transcr...hristina-weir/

[Frontier]

I didn't even know Weir and Defillipis had a tumblr/blog! And their one of my favorite authors!

Omg we.were.ROBBBED!!!! I'm glad there was confirmation of the plot with Laurie's dad since that seemed like the biggest cliffhanger and it's cool that some of these plots (including Tag having a crash on a cocky telekinetic) were alluded to in the House of M tie-ins. Is there any tea as to why Marvel let them go? Did they think Kyle & Yost were a better fit for the Decimation story or was Marvel going to switch writers anyway?

Considering how much of a tonal shift it was, it wouldn't surprise me.

[JB]

Their Tumblr has a lot of behind the scenes details. A few highlights include:

• Luna DePaula was going to be a long-term romantic interest for Karma, and would have a story about her unsupportive parents, and how she changed her name in honor of the woman who took her in when her parents kicked her out.
• They wanted to do minis for all the squads, not just Hellions. They weren't fully realized yet, but the Paragons would have gone to Nova Roma, and DJ would fall in love with a girl. (This one seems to have been deleted or something because I can't find it.) Alpha Squadron would have been the ones to find Northstar's body, and would go up against Hydra and the Hand. Corsairs would go into space.
• Kingmaker would come back for revenge.
• They toyed with James Keller being a "passing" mutant who hid his powers.
• Julian/Sofia were envisioned as endgame, while Noriko/Prodigy might not have lasted beyond their teen years.
• Julian would get the Phoenix Force, and would eventually take the codename Scion.
• Laurie's father was a mutant supremacist, and would have a story where he manipulated a bunch of students onto his side.
• This arc would be "huge" for Laurie and would lead to a big confrontation between them, and she would have been the one to save the day against him. She'd finally stop being afraid of her powers, and would learn to use her powers strategically.
• Also, she and Cecily would have an adventure together.
• Josh would join Garrison's side, but Kevin would talk him out of it and save him.
• As the kids go out into the field, David would be against it and pushed for everyone to stay students, rather than active heroes. Eventually he was gonna be “the guy in the Chair” for the kids who did adventure, but whenever he would get on the field, he'd be "like a machine:" very precise, and hard to hit.
• For Noriko, Wallflower's dad would help her learn to control her powers so she wouldn't need her Gauntlets most of the time. This would make her blind to his bad side. But she would be instrumental in convincing others to turn against him once she realizes what's up, taking on something of a leadership role.
• Her infamous fight with Dust would have lead to more development, with them eventually becoming good friends.
• Kevin and Cecily would get together.
• Kevin would have learned to kill specific cells and cause slower decay, or paralyze limbs (albeit Josh would still be able to heal the damage.) So he would be able to cause pain without killing, and possibly even cure cancer.
• Tag backstory, mentioned below.

Speaking of their Tumblr, we got some juicy Tag lore!

• He's from Puerto Rico and was always treated like an immigrant by others, despite being an American citizen. He felt somewhere in between.
• He from a broken or neglectful home.
• Because of the above points, he always didn't have a good sense of who he was.
• The idea was that he had no real sense of family, and possibly no sense of identity outside of his friends and being an Xavier student.
• "One of the reasons we had Brian be with Cessily in the aftermath scenes of the final issue of the Hellions mini was to subtly set up that his situation and hers were similar."
• Julian would notice Brian's issues and try to do something about it. This would have lead to Brian reconnecting with his parents, whom he hadn’t been home since coming to Xavier’s.
• This would all lead him towards figuring himself and his powers out.
  
• They weren't planning for Tag to fall in love with Julian, but it was "100% on [their] list of possibilities."

OMG, this is me. I've been waiting for a character with this kind of backstory I could so relate to. What a loss!

[Grunty]

Funny. I often thought that Wither's powers could potentialy have beneficial use if he would learn to only destroy very specific targets with his touch. Just like Elixir's powers could also be used to great harm in the wrong hands.

[Rift]

OMG, this is me. I've been waiting for a character with this kind of backstory I could so relate to. What a loss!

Do you still feel you don't have a sense of an identity? If it helps, you have a strong (and very good!) identity in my mind.

[JB]

Do you still feel you don't have a sense of an identity? If it helps, you have a strong (and very good!) identity in my mind.

Aww you're the best, Rift. Thank you!! I relate very much to that "in between" aspect and having strained relationships with family due to all of that. But like what was planned for Tag things have improved. *HUGS!*

[Outburstz]

Man I really like that slower decay power for Kevin dude turning into that one skull guy from Bleach

[G-Man27]

Oh man, that would have been so exciting, Josh and Kevin could have been the Magneto and Xavier of their generation, with maybe the occasional alignment switch to keep things interesting

[Anduinel]

Omg we.were.ROBBBED!!!! I'm glad there was confirmation of the plot with Laurie's dad since that seemed like the biggest cliffhanger and it's cool that some of these plots (including Tag having a crash on a cocky telekinetic) were alluded to in the House of M tie-ins. Is there any tea as to why Marvel let them go? Did they think Kyle & Yost were a better fit for the Decimation story or was Marvel going to switch writers anyway?

IIRC, it was just going in a different direction. New Mutants started as part of the Tsunami younger readers line at Marvel, and so editorial wanted to keep the stories "age appropriate". This resulted in a couple of darker early stories getting nixed (like Anole's suicide) and also meant there couldn't be any mention of queerness in the books (which was the other reason the suicide story got nixed, along with Anole having to talk to his gay teacher about why his his murdered gay mentor was so important to him without any actual use of the word "gay" or the writers being able to have him come out then). Then Marvel decided to make the book darker after M-Day and removed Weir and DeFillipis from writing duties, even though the whole Dawson's Creek tone was only because that was what the editors had asked of them in the first place.

[Rift]

Mercury talk made me think of what books could use her. And I was thinking, wouldn't she be perfect for X-Force? She has stealth, she can use her powers offensively and defensively, and according to the Wiki, she has telepathic and magical resistance. She'd be a great agent.

It'd be cool to see how she meshes with the team. I could see Beast seeing her as an "ultimate weapon" and abusing her to create a bunch of Predators X. I could see her and Sage getting along, though Mercury might get too emotional (in a good way - she cares about people) and that could annoy Sage.

[mugiwara]

Funny. I often thought that Wither's powers could potentialy have beneficial use if he would learn to only destroy very specific targets with his touch. Just like Elixir's powers could also be used to great harm in the wrong hands.

"But I don't want to cure cancer, I just want to **** Wallflower!"

[Starfish]

Mercury talk made me think of what books could use her. And I was thinking, wouldn't she be perfect for X-Force? She has stealth, she can use her powers offensively and defensively, and according to the Wiki, she has telepathic and magical resistance. She'd be a great agent.

It'd be cool to see how she meshes with the team. I could see Beast seeing her as an "ultimate weapon" and abusing her to create a bunch of Predators X. I could see her and Sage getting along, though Mercury might get too emotional (in a good way - she cares about people) and that could annoy Sage.

Agreed, I think X-Force would be the perfect spot for her, not just for of her powers, but also because it would fit her internal conflict. She’s very idealistic and tries to do the right thing, but also very determined to protect her fellow mutants from the suffering that she experienced first-hand at the hands of those who wish to eradicate or exploit them, so it makes sense to put her in situations where those convictions are put to the test. Just how far would she go to keep the people she cares about safe from harm?

Obviously she’d be a great foil for Beast’s complete lack of ethics, and I agree that she’d probably get along well with Sage, who should be able to relate to someone who has been so fundamentally changed they could be mistaken for a machine, and who might be able to help her adjust to her condition.
I can see her also make a connection with Domino based on the shared trauma of getting vivisected and having their bodies weaponized against mutants, and I believe even someone like Logan might see similarities to himself in her, as they both feel like outsiders to the mutant paradise they’re determined to protect regardless, and both are dealing with a dark and angry side of themselves they’re trying to keep suppressed.

[Sutekh]

Funny. I often thought that Wither's powers could potentialy have beneficial use if he would learn to only destroy very specific targets with his touch. Just like Elixir's powers could also be used to great harm in the wrong hands.

Yeah, and not just cancerous cells, there's tons of bacterial and other infestations that someone with a selective death-touch would be amazing at curing. "Yeah, no more heartworms, mr. doggo. They all just withered up and died and your own body will break them down for parts. Go play!" Plus all sorts of other weird bennies. "No, I don't need a condom, babe. My swimmers just all went belly-up, we're safe."

With training from someone like Emma (or Sinister), he might even learn some terrifying options, like how to selectively kill off specific brain cells and sabotage someone's ability to form short-term memories of an encounter, or make more permanent brain-cell-die-offs to alter personality or eliminate much larger chunks of memory...

He might also learn how to 'pull his punches' and just cause enough cellular disruption to disorient or incapacitate someone, without actually killing or maiming them. Or, with some tutelage from Selene, he might have learned to *feed* when he withered a living thing, and gain the life-energy he disrupted, to use as healing, or to enhance his own strength. (Probably not to animate unliving matter, like Selene does with her stolen life-energy, since they are different people with different mutations, and it would be kinda boring and derivative for them both to end up same-same-y.)

[Ulysian_Thracs]

Nah. I know a ton of people love Hellion. As much as I'd like to rest, people clearly want to hear more. And unlike White, I'm going to give people what they want.

Count me in on this one, Rift. I can't believe a professional writer would claim there are no stories to tell about a traumatized teenaged (former?) child soldier who gets maimed heroically in battle defending his 'country' and then is completely abandoned (and outright mocked) as a double amputee by the very adults who were his heroes and pressed him into battle for their war. Really? No story beats there to explore that might even have a real world theme to share...?

[Ambaryerno]

Count me in on this one, Rift. I can't believe a professional writer would claim there are no stories to tell about a traumatized teenaged (former?) child soldier who gets maimed heroically in battle defending his 'country' and then is completely abandoned (and outright mocked) as a double amputee by the very adults who were his heroes and pressed him into battle for their war. Really? No story beats there to explore that might even have a real world theme to share...?

The problem is those story beats would only make the O5+ look bad. That's never going to happen. They're only allowed to be worshiped.