Illyana Rasputina/Magik Appreciation 2024

[Havok83]

The redesign likely went a long way.

Beyond that her natural super power is rather usefull but not too "broken" and she knows dark magic, which makes her a versatil character which can be used in various ways. Not to forget the classic "dark side" aspect, complete with demonic transformation.

Dont forget her sword. She is a character that translates very well to a videogame as she can be a melee character and blaster

[Grunty]

Dont forget her sword. She is a character that translates very well to a videogame as she can be a melee character and blaster

Good point.

It even has the benefit of being a construct in universe/biography, which means it's shape can be altered as artist see fit.

[sunofdarkchild]

It looks like CBR is hiring writers who only saw the awful New Mutants movie and never read a single comic where Illyana appears.

https://www.cbr.com/most-powerful-female-x-men-marvel/

The way her origin is described only happened in the movie because Josh Boone is an idiot and has nothing whatsoever to do with the comics. She did not create Limbo from her subconscious or retreat there to escape traumas on earth. She was kidnapped there and raised as a slave there. It existed for millennia and is the original source of all of her trauma.

There's no option to comment on the article.

[sunofdarkchild]

What's interesting about Illyana's videogame appearances is how it's the one place where developers and writers are putting in the effort to get her right that no one else seems to be doing. I suspect the primary reason they adapted part of Inferno without even establishing her existence in the cartoon is that doing her origin requires time and effort they didn't want to devote to her with just a 10-episode season, and Boone couldn't be bothered to put in any effort to try to get her right because as established he's an idiot and a hack.

The Midnight Suns developers really did put in that effort to get both her origin and her character right. Yes, there was the addition of the whole birthday thing and they replaced Belasco with Mepshito, but they got it right that she was kidnapped, trained, and enslaved by a hell-lord. They got it right that her original kidnapper would try to get her back, something the comics writers ignored until Quest for Magik, and they even remembered that her origin left her with a form of a no-killing rule since she spared Belasco/Mephisto, again something comics writers have completely ignored for far too long. The Midnight Suns version is more comic-accurate than the comics version at this point for that reason alone.

Marvel Future Revolution may not have delved into her origin, but it introduced her while she was attempting to save kidnapped children rather than as a childish racist bully whose entire existence was based around being an antagonist for a bland lead.

[Andru]

My heart is so full this week with all the Magik love!

I was SHOCKED when Morph changed into her. I thought it was a great nod/respect, even though very small, to her role in Inferno.

[Thirteen]

She's arguably the most successful new addition to the team in the last 20 years

a NEW MUTANTS success story!
I used to ponder which Mutie had the most exposure/success outside of the NM - considering both in universe and objectively as a a fan of the medium - Sunspot, besides being filthy rich, Hellfire Clubber, X-men grad, had his own AVENGERS title etc. Moonstar was long term leader (anointed by Xavier and Summers as the next generation alpha) an Agent of SHIELD, God-slaying Valkyrie (Odin and Hela variety) etc.
But Illyana is the runway winner with her hot pants and hellish attitude with her meteoric ascension.

[mugiwara]

Magik is definitely the most successful one right now.
My concern is, is she safe? Did she appear long enough in the main X-Men line up to be a fan/writer/editor favorite, one of those characters who will always keep coming back in the roster?

I remember how Cannonball was in the 90s. He got to be part of the main team for quite an amount of time, he became the leader of X-Force. Writers pointed that he got many teachers (Charles, Magneto, Cable, Wisdom) which could make him the new Cyclops... And then nothing happened. No more leading skills, no more presence, he just gets picked every blue moon for some side-team.

So I hope that Illyana is now beyond the level of relevance and popularity Sam had before her, and that she managed to reach the safe zone. That she won't be victim of some nostalgic hack wanting to turn her back into non-character child Illyana.

[Havok83]

Magik is definitely the most successful one right now.
My concern is, is she safe? Did she appear long enough in the main X-Men line up to be a fan/writer/editor favorite, one of those characters who will always keep coming back in the roster?

I remember how Cannonball was in the 90s. He got to be part of the main team for quite an amount of time, he became the leader of X-Force. Writers pointed that he got many teachers (Charles, Magneto, Cable, Wisdom) which could make him the new Cyclops... And then nothing happened. No more leading skills, no more presence, he just gets picked every blue moon for some side-team.

So I hope that Illyana is now beyond the level of relevance and popularity Sam had before her, and that she managed to reach the safe zone. That she won't be victim of some nostalgic hack wanting to turn her back into non-character child Illyana.

Magik has far surpassed Cannonball. He had one short stint in the 90s and then was on Claremont's XXM's team which evolved into his UXM lineup. He hasnt been part of a main lineup ever since and that was like 20 years ago. On the flipside Magik went from Gillen's Xtinction team to Bendis' Revolution team and then immediately into Extraordinary. She was part of the Gold interim team during Regenesis and most recently in Duggan's Year 2 X-men and soon to be on Cyclop's upcoming squad. She's even been elevated within the New Mutants as she was made leader in Dead Souls and the Krakoa run, while simultaneously being given the position of Great Captain. That role ultimately didnt amount to much but it was another example of writers positioning her in roles where she would be utilized, even more so than her peers

And that doesnt even count her videogame appearance. Cannonball has only had 2. One as a PSP exclusive for XML2 and an unlockable in Avengers Alliance. Magik appears in at least 7 and outside of the big 3 (Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops), she seems to be the character that is most likely to be adapted in that format

And thats just within the X-men brand. I will say Sam had a stint as an Avenger under his belt but Magik is a recurring character on the mystic side of the MU, making appearances in stories involving Dr. Strange and other arcane users

Her push has been going on for about 12-13 years now. No New Mutant has ever matched this level of relevancy beyond the core New Mutants (and X-Force as a spinoff). I think its safe to say that she's on her way to being an A-Lister if not already one. I think the only other character i the last 2 decades that has matched her was X-23 but she unfortunately fell off hard and I think its bc there's a major identity crisis with her and writers not knowing how to utilize her beyond being a female Wolverine, especially since the OG is now back in the fold

[Andru]

Magik has far surpassed Cannonball. He had one short stint in the 90s and then was on Claremont's XXM's team which evolved into his UXM lineup. He hasnt been part of a main lineup ever since and that was like 20 years ago. On the flipside Magik went from Gillen's Xtinction team to Bendis' Revolution team and then immediately into Extraordinary. She was part of the Gold interim team during Regenesis and most recently in Duggan's Year 2 X-men and soon to be on Cyclop's upcoming squad. She's even been elevated within the New Mutants as she was made leader in Dead Souls and the Krakoa run, while simultaneously being given the position of Great Captain. That role ultimately didnt amount to much but it was another example of writers positioning her in roles where she would be utilized, even more so than her peers

And that doesnt even count her videogame appearance. Cannonball has only had 2. One as a PSP exclusive for XML2 and an unlockable in Avengers Alliance. Magik appears in at least 7 and outside of the big 3 (Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops), she seems to be the character that is most likely to be adapted in that format

And thats just within the X-men brand. I will say Sam had a stint as an Avenger under his belt but Magik is a recurring character on the mystic side of the MU, making appearances in stories involving Dr. Strange and other arcane users

Her push has been going on for about 12-13 years now. No New Mutant has ever matched this level of relevancy beyond the core New Mutants (and X-Force as a spinoff). I think its safe to say that she's on her way to being an A-Lister if not already one. I think the only other character i the last 2 decades that has matched her was X-23 but she unfortunately fell off hard and I think its bc there's a major identity crisis with her and writers not knowing how to utilize her beyond being a female Wolverine, especially since the OG is now back in the fold

I was going to respond, but you have basically covered it all.

She has literally been in the spotlight since her return in Quest for Magik/X-Infernus

[sunofdarkchild]

C.C. Cebulski has said that Illyana is safe as long as he's in charge at Marvel. She's also a favorite of a ton of writers. At this point, no one would think of turning her into an innocent child again. That's both already been done and so there's no point in doing it again, and Marvel as a company knows she's much more marketable as a sexy demon-witch with a giant sword.

In terms of how she compares to Sam's popularity, I don't think Sam was ever all that popular in and of himself even when he got his biggest push in the 90s. When X-Force was at its peak of everything 90s, the most popular characters from it were Cable and Deadpool, with everyone else being secondary. Even with feats like beating Gladiator, no one really remembers his time with the X-Men or his relationships with those characters. It wasn't a good time for characters like Sam even if he got a push.

If Bob Harris hadn't crusaded against magic in the X-Men, Illyana likely would have been the breakout character from the New Mutants in the 90s as well. She has many things going for her that the rest of the New Mutants never had, including far deeper connections to the X-Men that go beyond being just another student at Xaviers. She's the sibling of an A-lister in Colossus and her deepest friendship is with another A-lister in Kitty. Her origin was the X-Men's first great failure, giving her a place in the mythos similar to Jason Todd's place as Batman's greatest failure. Then there's the mythos of her own built around her time in and rulership of Limbo, the tragedy and pathos of her story, and the sheer coolness of her character, powers, and appearance.

Marvel seems to have realized her potential even in the 90s, which likely played a part in the decision to create a second Magik who would take Illyana's codename, appearance, weapon, and rulership of Limbo. It was a very weird move considering it was normally done for much bigger characters like Robin, Barry Allan, Hal Jordan, and in the modern-day Spider-Man and Wolverine, not someone as unknown to all but the most hardcore as Illyana was. On the one hand, the company saw the potential in the character Bob Harris discarded, on the other they were rightfully wary of the increasingly common resurrection trope problem in comics. It turned out to be a terrible idea to make Amanda the next Magik for many reasons, but there wouldn't have been a Cannonball 2, a Mirage 2, a Wolfsbane 2, etc. if any of them were the ones killed off in the 90s, even to preserve the copyright on the names. Since Amanda didn't have Illyana's history with Limbo, Belasco, or the soul sword and didn't have that inherent corruption that made Illyana's struggle interesting, she never had a chance of living up to that potential Illyana had, so when she inevitably failed as Magik it only made sense to bring the real Magik back and Marvel is very happy with the results of that decision.

The biggest problems facing Illyana going forward are 1. comics sales are far too low overall for her to get enough exposure to break into the cultural zeitgeist even if she was pushed as much as Ms. Marvel in the comics. 2. Her best chance at really breaking out was wasted on a film that was so bad it is probably a good thing for her character that so few people saw it due to the pandemic. Even with a star as big as Anya Taylor Joy, the New Mutants film got her far too wrong for any good to come from that being how the public sees her. 3. Marvel's current poor standards of writing and the way many writers don't seem to see her as having any depth or character beyond making one-liners and stabbing people - looking at you, Duggan. The fact that her original no-killing rule which was so central to her character and origin has been completely forgotten is by far the biggest problem with the way she's been written since regaining her soul over a decade ago, and if writers would start remembering that she had to spare Belasco and that killing in anger risks damning her and the world forever, it would make her a much deeper and better character.

[Veni]

[Factor]

a NEW MUTANTS success story!
I used to ponder which Mutie had the most exposure/success outside of the NM - considering both in universe and objectively as a a fan of the medium - Sunspot, besides being filthy rich, Hellfire Clubber, X-men grad, had his own AVENGERS title etc. Moonstar was long term leader (anointed by Xavier and Summers as the next generation alpha) an Agent of SHIELD, God-slaying Valkyrie (Odin and Hela variety) etc.
But Illyana is the runway winner with her hot pants and hellish attitude with her meteoric ascension.

Wow, this image is incredible. Where is it from?

[Havok83]

Outside of Truth or Death, has there ever been an alternate Magik that has ported to present day 616?

[sunofdarkchild]

Outside of Truth or Death, has there ever been an alternate Magik that has ported to present day 616?

The Exiles Magik might have done so with her team, but I don't know if she did. Outside of that, the closest we've gotten is the 3 versions of Illyana from the Labors of Magik story, old woman Magik, 'Queen Magik' wreaking havoc in present-day, but only in Limbo, and when the present characters were transported to Illyana's past and the 616 Illyana's child and teen selves met.

[Havok83]

The Exiles Magik might have done so with her team, but I don't know if she did. Outside of that, the closest we've gotten is the 3 versions of Illyana from the Labors of Magik story, old woman Magik, 'Queen Magik' wreaking havoc in present-day, but only in Limbo, and when the present characters were transported to Illyana's past and the 616 Illyana's child and teen selves met.

Hmmmm that sounds familiar as Austn was writing Exiles around the same time as X-Men. I believe a crossover is how Nocturne got stuck in 616? I dont know if they got here via Magik though or whatever means they were using to hop between universes