Winners and Losers of the Krakoa Era

[sunofdarkchild]

In terms of individual characters the one who has benefited the most from the Krakoa era is Cypher. He has never, ever been this relevant or important. He hasn't actually appeared much, but his status as a mover and shaker is astounding considering his history and how little he was used even after he was brought back. His marriage is still ma take it or leave it thing since it came out of nowhere and they haven't done anything with it, but that's a minor thing.

Xavier is back on top for the first time in decades. While he's made a lot of questionable moves, both morally and in terms of intelligence, there are people who are adults now who were born after the last time he was the leader of mutantkind and not an irrelevant afterthought.

Gabby has gained many new fans thanks to her earnest and sweet characterization in this era. Who would have thought that the only compelling Wolverine-type character in this era would be a clone of a clone?

The entire cast of Hellions. Nanny, Orphan Maker Greycrow, Kwannon are all much more beloved now than they were 3 years ago. Sinister's stock has gone up as well.

Emma had been regressed to a villain again in the years prior to HOXPOX and that's all pretty much forgotten now, with her now being depicted as one of the most moral members of the Quiet Council while still getting to scheme for more power.

Mystique/Destiny: Destiny being back is a big deal in and of itself, and both are more relevant and powerful than they've been in a long time.

Long-dead characters who were brought back like Synch and Thunderbird.

Cyclops is fully out of his 'do whatever is needed to survive' phase and is back to being a full-time boy scout.

Magik's superstar status has been cemented even though she hasn't gotten much on-panel development like some of the others.

Apocalypse has more depth now, though your milage may vary on whether that's a good thing and it meant he has been written out of the books for now.

In terms of characters who've suffered, there's Colossus, who 's been reduced to a pawn of others with no agency whatsoever.

There's everyone who's been written by Tini Howard except for Apocalypse. Most characters were wallpaper, Rictor had his odd relationship with Apocalypse that no one likes, and Betsy became unlikeable in what amounted to her stealth solo.

Rahne has been a whiner and became partially responsible for Gabby's murder, so this has done nothing for her.

Bishop has had no use that justifies making him a captain or the captain commander.

Rockslide got killed off for shock value and nothing has been done with his resurrection gone wrong. Most of the New X-Men class remains stuck in their trainee stage.

[RachelGrey]

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?

Emma Frost, Kate Pryde, Polaris, Storm (now that the Black Panther story is finished), Scott, Jean, Elizabeth Braddock, Kwannon, Wolverine (Laura), Sync

There are a few, I would say Scott and Jean too, but I find them lacking characterization sometimes. Although recently Jean has been developing more of an edge.

Wolverine (Logan) is kind of uneven even though he is thrown front and centre most of the time. I feel like Logan's problem is just overexposure. I am glad he is mostly just in Wolverine and X-Force, and that Scott and Jean run X-Men without him.

There are a lot of characters that were given a chance to shine, and recently Mystique and Destiny have gotten a lot of emphasis and even better they are shown as a true LGBTQ+ couple without any subtext, Marvel is finally just saying, "hey these women are a married couple"!

Northstar and Aurora have been getting some emphasis and completely merged into the mutant community. I hope Northstar gets on a book, I liked him leading on X-Factor. I really miss X-Factor and it's really starting to look that Leah has left Marvel after the mess they made of her X-Factor book and the editing mandate that was forced onto the Trial of Magneto book. It really looks like Leah has parted ways with Marvel. She'll probably end up doing her substack book, maybe Image comics, and maybe something for DC comics down the road.

There are a lot of characters that got sidelined. I miss having Dazzler on a regular book. One of my favorite series was when Dazzler was running between worlds trying to stop the evil Xavier's. Plus it gave us the gay Logan and Hercules which I loved as a writing choice.

[LordUltimus]

Cypher has probably gotten the best treatment. Important role, hanging out with Warlock again, shows of his intelligence, nice wife.

Worst is Moira, at least in the sense she has had her entire existence overwritten and replaced with a brand new character.

[rhaenylis]

I think Doug is by far the luckiest
He's become more prominent and useful to the story than ever while remaining in character and most readers seem to appreciate what's been done with him

[Kurolegacy]

Can’t really say that I’m feeling Kitty in this era. While she’s been out into a leadership role, that’s nothing particularly new since she’s been put in that position for years now. Instead, the whole Kate thing as well as how she acts in Marauders feels more like she’s going through a midlife crisis than her stepping up as a character.

[useridgoeshere]

We just had this thread, so I'll basically repeat my answer.

Emma’s a huge winner. She's been very important in many books, as entertaining as ever, acting on her own, and has surpassed Xavier as queen of the Mutants. She’s operating at a whole new level than she has before. Everything is going through her.

And I think Moira is a winner in that she went from dead, irrelevant, and forgotten to interesting and integral. I believe in sustainability, so it's cool to see yesterday's discards transformed into something that can be reused today.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I liked Warpath under Vita Ayala. That Data page where he answered a self help questionnaire was a good read.

[LordUltimus]

And I think Moira is a winner in that she went from dead, irrelevant, and forgotten to interesting and integral. I believe in sustainability, so it's cool to see yesterday's discards transformed into something that can be reused today.

It's not Moira, though. It's a completely different character with the same name. She wasn't even forgotten, we saw her in the movies and video games and she was always mentioned fondly. What, did Gwen Stacy become "forgotten" just because she died?

[JamJams]

Nanny, Betsy, Destiny and Doug's stocks have gone way up.

Rahne, Rockslide, Shaw, Brand, Beast, Xavier, Magneto and Jean are downbad.

Emma, Kitty, Moira, Storm, Logan and Mystique might have a little bump to some readers but they were already A-Listers.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

It's not Moira, though. It's a completely different character with the same name. She wasn't even forgotten, we saw her in the movies and video games and she was always mentioned fondly. What, did Gwen Stacy become "forgotten" just because she died?

That depends on how you feel about Spider-Gwen.

[LordUltimus]

That depends on how you feel about Spider-Gwen.

Spider-Gwen is from an alternate reality. 616!Gwen is still dead. If NuMoira was from an alternate reality with 616!Moira still being dead, I wouldn't be upset at all.

Frustrated at her being dumb, but hey, that goes for quite a few characters in comics.

[Slicknickshady]

Moira and Nature Girl have been F****d by Krakoa.

[protege]

I liked Warpath under Vita Ayala. That Data page where he answered a self help questionnaire was a good read.

I wonder what'll happen to him now that thunderbird is back.

[Whim]

it's like Duggan went out of his way to ruin Kitty or anyone in Marauders.

Colossus is wasted.

Bishop was evil not that long ago and trying to kill Hope and now he's in a position of power like this. While still really doing nothing. feels weird.

[Wind Rider]

Storm
Emma Frost
Kitty Pryde
Cable
Jean Grey
Northstar
Bishop
Psylocke (loved her in Hellions)
Magneto
Sinister