Winners and Losers of the Krakoa Era

[Saithor]

Omega Sentinel won so hard, getting to be the big bad of this era.
Karima herself took a fat L tho, being the victim of yet another hostile body and mind takeover (from the fuuuuuture!)

Omega sentinel sucks. I don’t consider him a credible threat and can never forget he was created because Claremont couldn’t use the Fury.

It sucks about Karima, I hope they eventually purge future Omega Sentinel from her system in X-men

[Omega Alpha]

To each their own, but the Roberto who showed up in the early arcs of New Mutants was not a continuation of the one from under Ewing’s pen but just a reversion to how he acted when Hickman had last wrote him.

But Roberto under Ewing was a continuation of what Hickman did- he ended the Avengers run as de facto leader of the team, and the only one tried to do something against the problem while the rest of the Avengers and Illuminati just fought each other.

[marhawkman]

And where the heck is Boom-Boom? (kidding, I don't really care that much, she's too good to be hanging around on an island without electricity, indoor plumbing or shopping malls)

Speaking of... where's Tabitha's BFF(lol no,) Nuwa? Nuwa's mutant power was to make people fall asleep... and Tabitha beat her by using coffee. But welll AFAIK Nuwa wasn't dead soo..... Maybe she got sent back to China and is in a Chinese prison?

[Sutekh]

As for Magma, I think it's long since time to accept that she's never going to be a thing. She was the most boring character Claremont ever created and hasn't been interesting since 1984. No writer has ever made her compelling in nearly 40 years, and no one is going to suddenly discover some hidden potential which has gone untapped for so long. It's not like Doug who was dead for 20 years, a hint of his potential was shown when he returned, and then Hickman came along and found a niche where Doug's powers made him suddenly relevant and important. It would take a complete reinvention of the character from the ground up just to give her a hint of personality.

Honestly, I fell out of love with Amara like two panels after she appeared, when her native guise washed off and she was just another blonde chick, on a team that was rapidly filling up with blue-eyed blondes (after starting out with a groundbreaking *three* POC on a five person squad!).

If she remained a native, one of many ensnared by Selene and forced to dress and act like the Romans Selene remembered vaguely from her time in Rome (and glamered to 'look appropriate'), cut off from her own culture, not even knowing her own language, etc. it could have been a compelling arc, and she could have turned into one of the strongest proponents of 'mutant identity' as she had been forcibly cut off from her birth culture and couldn't 'go back.' She'd be a survivor of Selene's own little slice of cultural genocide.

Just a huge missed opportunity, IMO.

[Saithor]

Honestly, I fell out of love with Amara like two panels after she appeared, when her native guise washed off and she was just another blonde chick, on a team that was rapidly filling up with blue-eyed blondes (after starting out with a groundbreaking *three* POC on a five person squad!).

If she remained a native, one of many ensnared by Selene and forced to dress and act like the Romans Selene remembered vaguely from her time in Rome (and glamered to 'look appropriate'), cut off from her own culture, not even knowing her own language, etc. it could have been a compelling arc, and she could have turned into one of the strongest proponents of 'mutant identity' as she had been forcibly cut off from her birth culture and couldn't 'go back.' She'd be a survivor of Selene's own little slice of cultural genocide.

Just a huge missed opportunity, IMO.

Then they decided to make her design resemble a Karen as well, going by Trial of Magneto.

On Roberto, Hickman’s approach to the character was not a continuation of Ewing’s, and just because Ewing was building off Hickman does not mean the reversion was a path forward. Roberto went from a mature skilled leader and intricate plotmaker back to an egotistical ditzy manchild Indy ploying his way through life and using his connections to bail him out.

[IN-a-Synch]

Darwin's case is both win and loss, win because he was resurrected on Krakoa , and a possible win for Darwin inside vault because although it remains to be seen I suspect he survives and adapts as a mutant/CoV hybrid but that very fact may be a loss for Krakoa when the CoV are unleashed and he sides with them( if he feels vault technology is a more effective evolutionary catalyst)

I’m sure he survived lol he survived all those years with Vulcan. I just wish they could stage a rescue mission. He’s a valuable asset and a pretty good guy.

[Omega Alpha]

Darwin's case is both win and loss, win because he was resurrected on Krakoa , and a possible win for Darwin inside vault because although it remains to be seen I suspect he survives and adapts as a mutant/CoV hybrid but that very fact may be a loss for Krakoa when the CoV are unleashed and he sides with them( if he feels vault technology is a more effective evolutionary catalyst)

He was atomized by the CotV, it doesn't get more dead than that.

[Ambaryerno]

I don't get anyone saying Laura is one of the winners of Krakoa. Because she's lost. BADLY.

She lost her solo book.
She got taken out of circulation for over a year because of the Vault.
Hickman and Duggan basically treat her as Logan with **** with no regards for her past portrayal and personality.
Duggan hasn't even bothered to take FIVE SECONDS to research her history (seriously. That's how long it takes to Google "X-23 vs. Taskmaster").
She got reduced to a prop for Synch's development in the Vault, and then got Fridged.
After her resurrection her entire role in the franchise has been pretty much been a forced romantic subplot, with some of the worst writing in her history. Yes, possibly even worse than Hopeless in ANXM. At least Hopeless made up a half-assed excuse that she was doing it deliberately.

[Saithor]

I don't get anyone saying Laura is one of the winners of Krakoa. Because she's lost. BADLY.

She lost her solo book.
She got taken out of circulation for over a year because of the Vault.
Hickman and Duggan basically treat her as Logan with **** with no regards for her past portrayal and personality.
Duggan hasn't even bothered to take FIVE SECONDS to research her history (seriously. That's how long it takes to Google "X-23 vs. Taskmaster").
She got reduced to a prop for Synch's development in the Vault, and then got Fridged.
After her resurrection her entire role in the franchise has been pretty much been a forced romantic subplot, with some of the worst writing in her history. Yes, possibly even worse than Hopeless in ANXM. At least Hopeless made up a half-assed excuse that she was doing it deliberately.

This pretty much. Can I also say I found Synch's realization about his parents when he got out of the vault really dumb? Honestly he might also get thrown in the Loser pile as well for essentially having his entire character revolve around that and possibly trying to kind some romance with Laura even though she doesn't remember any of it and the circumstances are completely different now.

[Malachi]

This pretty much. Can I also say I found Synch's realization about his parents when he got out of the vault really dumb? Honestly he might also get thrown in the Loser pile as well for essentially having his entire character revolve around that and possibly trying to kind some romance with Laura even though she doesn't remember any of it and the circumstances are completely different now.

It's a mine field that's for sure. The more I think about it the more problematic it becomes.

I still consider Synch a clear winner. More prominence. Power boost(witch for me makes him less interesting but easier to write). The grooming for big time that Duggan is doing in X-men. We all know how fragile such things can be but at least for now Synch is on a good trajectory for the future.

On the other hand everything Hickman and Duggan have done so far could easily be used to set him up as a very dangerous villain.

[Saithor]

It's a mine field that's for sure. The more I think about it the more problematic it becomes.

I still consider Synch a clear winner. More prominence. Power boost(witch for me makes him less interesting but easier to write). The grooming for big time that Duggan is doing in X-men. We all know how fragile such things can be but at least for now Synch is on a good trajectory for the future.

On the other hand everything Hickman and Duggan have done so far could easily be used to set him up as a very dangerous villain.

"Introducing the latest in X-men villains, Stalker X!" Dakken: "Am I a joke to you all?"

I'll wait to see how it plays out, hopefully it goes better than other stuff involving Laura has.

[Rev9]

He was atomized by the CotV, it doesn't get more dead than that.

Possibly, but this is Darwin, he could adapt to being in a state of pure energy perhaps..Though yeah because he was resurrected on Krakoa, the suggestion is he's dead

[Jackraow21]

I don't get anyone saying Laura is one of the winners of Krakoa. Because she's lost. BADLY.

She lost her solo book.
She got taken out of circulation for over a year because of the Vault.
Hickman and Duggan basically treat her as Logan with **** with no regards for her past portrayal and personality.
Duggan hasn't even bothered to take FIVE SECONDS to research her history (seriously. That's how long it takes to Google "X-23 vs. Taskmaster").
She got reduced to a prop for Synch's development in the Vault, and then got Fridged.
After her resurrection her entire role in the franchise has been pretty much been a forced romantic subplot, with some of the worst writing in her history. Yes, possibly even worse than Hopeless in ANXM. At least Hopeless made up a half-assed excuse that she was doing it deliberately.

I feel you. Cable was replaced by an annoying teen version for years, and even though he got a pretty prominent role in the big X of Swords crossover event, a big moment for him in that was getting beaten almost to death by Doug’s big ass wife and crying to his daddy afterwards. It was just sad.

Having said that, the OG is back and he got a cool one-shot and is now going to appear in X-men Red written by Al Ewing and drawn by Stefano Caselli… so things are looking up for him in 2022. Fingers crossed…

[Saithor]

I feel you. Cable was replaced by an annoying teen version for years, and even though he got a pretty prominent role in the big X of Swords crossover event, a big moment for him in that was getting beaten almost to death by Doug’s big ass wife and crying to his daddy afterwards. It was just sad.

Having said that, the OG is back and he got a cool one-shot and is now going to appear in X-men Red written by Al Ewing and drawn by Stefano Caselli… so things are looking up for him in 2022. Fingers crossed…

I wouldn’t have minded Teen Cable if they had actually done more with the Summers family as a whole but they really haven’t. I know we are in an era where more characters have gotten focus than ever before, but it still feels like there are too many characters and not enough books, and it’s part of why I’m not as enthused with the Arrakii as some are. Also darn it, where is some Silver Samurai action? He got the one moment in X of swords and while the fight was decent it felt like the book was itself making fun of the fact that arguably the best mutant swordsman is getting benched in a frigging sword fight tournament.

[Agent Grayson]

Like in any other phase of the X-Men's history, the Krakoan era has been great for some characters in terms of development, screen time and status quo...and not so great for others. Which characters do you think have thrived under the writers of this era and who do you think has suffered?