why is layla miller ignored?

[emfrst]

she can bring ppl back from the dead, which eliminates the needs 4 the Fives completely, just no soul

resurrection is such a big deal 4 mutants, i am shocked that krakoa is not using her, instead of this energetically expensive Five

so much work can b done if mutant mimics would just copy layla power & get 2 work

i am also shocked that jean's phoenix foundation is not using her, jean can just instill the soul afterward, which would completely circumvent the politics of krakoa by depending on the five

[Nicoclaws]

From the moment PAD revealed his plans for her, she's been thousands of time less interesting.
Also the "soul" aspect is far too vague and not sci-fi for Hickman and his writers to use, I guess.

[Odd Rödney]

she can bring ppl back from the dead, which eliminates the needs 4 the Fives completely, just no soul

resurrection is such a big deal 4 mutants, i am shocked that krakoa is not using her, instead of this energetically expensive Five

so much work can b done if mutant mimics would just copy layla power & get 2 work

i am also shocked that jean's phoenix foundation is not using her, jean can just instill the soul afterward, which would completely circumvent the politics of krakoa by depending on the five

Well, I suspect she just isn't loved by the X office. You bring up a good point though, she should be used in the stories for something. Completely ignoring her is odd. Though she isn't the only character seemingly absent in this era.

Perhaps the creators aren't vibing with her due to her origins: she was essentially created as a plot device for Bendis' House Of M and I know a lot of folks thought of that as a cheap move. She was used more interestingly by Peter David, in my opinion, so you would think they could at least pull from that well a little.

[dragon1440]

Well, I suspect she just isn't loved by the X office. You bring up a good point though, she should be used in the stories for something. Completely ignoring her is odd. Though she isn't the only character seemingly absent in this era.

Perhaps the creators aren't vibing with her due to her origins: she was essentially created as a plot device for Bendis' House Of M and I know a lot of folks thought of that as a cheap move. She was used more interestingly by Peter David, in my opinion, so you would think they could at least pull from that well a little.

The waiting room contends the souls of past presnt and future mutants right? Layla should be revealed as knowing about Karoka from her trip in the future. And got a future pysch to copy Ruby Summer's memories and dna to a device that Layla reveals she brought with her from future. So between the waiting room and Layla they end up bringing Ruby to 616. A perfectly good use of her that would fit perfect wth her origin. Plot device then, plot device now.

[Dante Milton]

1. Layla's resurrection powers require the body to be present, if the body is destroyed or unrecoverable she can't create a new one. So she would really only be able to somewhat replace Elixir in the Five, and she doesn't have his range of biokinesis so she would be a much less efficient member. Although, she is a potential back up. Using her for resurrection would also require a writer to try to deal with the concept of souls, which not something a superhero comic book writer needs to deal with and would more than likely either disappoint or piss off people. Best to avoid the concept of souls altogether.

2. The reason she was popular wasn't because of her resurrection ability, but because she "knew stuff". It has been established that the mechanic through which she obtained future knowledge has run out and she no longer has any foresight, which makes her less desirable to use.

3. Her getting aged up and married to and having a baby with Madrox is considered by most contemporary creators and readers as deeply problematic and if she were to be brought back that would have to be addressed, and nobody seems to want to deal with that baggage.

[Krakoa]

1. Layla's resurrection powers require the body to be present, if the body is destroyed or unrecoverable she can't create a new one. So she would really only be able to somewhat replace Elixir in the Five, and she doesn't have his range of biokinesis so she would be a much less efficient member. Although, she is a potential back up. Using her for resurrection would also require a writer to try to deal with the concept of souls, which not something a superhero comic book writer needs to deal with and would more than likely either disappoint or piss off people. Best to avoid the concept of souls altogether.

2. The reason she was popular wasn't because of her resurrection ability, but because she "knew stuff". It has been established that the mechanic through which she obtained future knowledge has run out and she no longer has any foresight, which makes her less desirable to use.

3. Her getting aged up and married to and having a baby with Madrox is considered by most contemporary creators and readers as deeply problematic and if she were to be brought back that would have to be addressed, and nobody seems to want to deal with that baggage.

I really never got why that's problematic. He wasn't interested in her when she was a child. She grew to be older, not like, magically or anything, she actually spent years aging up just in the future, and as an adult the situation was different.

[Odd Rödney]

So between the waiting room and Layla they end up bringing Ruby to 616. A perfectly good use of her that would fit perfect with her origin. Plot device then, plot device now.

I'd be cool with that. Though, honestly, I just want Ruby Summers in the 616.

The reason she was popular wasn't because of her resurrection ability, but because she "knew stuff".

Yep, that nebulous definition was lazy and only served to hurt the character, as far as I can tell.

[marhawkman]

Yep, that nebulous definition was lazy and only served to hurt the character, as far as I can tell.

It was nebulous because they didn't have in-universe an explanation yet. It stopped being nebulous when it was explained in-universe.

[jwatson]

If the whole point of resurrections is to reconnect the mutant id or consciousness with a new body it makes absolutely no sense to even want to include layla if her power inherently basically costs the id to be effective. That just seems inherently flawed.

Other than that she is ignored because she was created for a specific role, she was used for it and then she became something basically completely different. She is also married to Madrox and you barely see him anywhere. Also she doesn't have a very useful power for a girl that knows everything she knows nothing of krakoa so her use is pretty much outdated at this point. But i guess it can be updated but theres really not a reason with so many other characters that have more potential that can be tapped easier.

[Triniking1234]

Didn't she get nerfed and married off to Jamie?

[Grunty]

It was nebulous because they didn't have in-universe an explanation yet. It stopped being nebulous when it was explained in-universe.

And at that moment the character has essentialy run her course. Her mystery was over, her main quality as character was gone and what was left was simply not interesting to most writers and readers anymore.

Furthermore the reveal essentialy involved her being stuck in a stable time loop which causes her entire childhood to be ruined by herself and implies that the entire character up until that point was an artifical construct with no real agency of her own, which in turn makes her adult self problematic and difficult to further write about.

This essentialy hollowed out the character and deflated a lot of interest in using her. Since then her entire role has been reduced to being Jamie Madrox's wife and he himself suffers from writers not knowing what to do with him, besides cannon fodder.

[Odd Rödney]

And at that moment the character has essentialy run her course. Her mystery was over, her main quality as character was gone and what was left was simply not interesting to most writers and readers anymore.

Furthermore the reveal essentialy involved her being stuck in a stable time loop which causes her entire childhood to be ruined by herself and implies that the entire character up until that point was an artifical construct with no real agency of her own, which in turn makes her adult self problematic and difficult to further write about.

Exactly. Which pretty much answers the original question of the OP. Well said.

[Kurolegacy]

Didn't she get nerfed and married off to Jamie?

Pretty much yea. And she had his child.

[Saithor]

Just would like to note, even if she went to the future to age herself up, it still carries age implications for Jamie to marry someone who he met when she was a young girl while he was a grown man. It’s always going to have that subtle squirm factor because of that alone.

[Odd Rödney]

Just would like to note, even if she went to the future to age herself up, it still carries age implications for Jamie to marry someone who he met when she was a young girl while he was a grown man. It’s always going to have that subtle squirm factor because of that alone.

Yep, it's always going to feel creepy, there is no getting around it.