Interview: X-Men writers Gail Simone, Jed MacKay & editor Tom Brevoort

[Frobisher]

A nation ruled by a council with Sinister, Apocalypse, Shaw, Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, Selene, etc could never work, it made no sense for some characters like Cyclops to just accept that shitty government full of some of the most horrible people of all time after everything they went through to get mutants to where they are, Krakoa could've only worked if they got rid of all the evil monsters and made Cyclops the leader because he's proven for years that he's the only one who can be mutantkind's leader, they lost me when they made him work under a council with Sinister and Apocalypse, erased all his character development and turned him into a Jean simp who doesn't mind that his wife sleeps around all the time, if the new era brings the real Scott back as the title of the article implies then it's already better than Krakoa IMO.

They should’ve done democracy, and then only good guys could have been in the council. No liars, crooks, puppets, or genociders.

[NearlyEnough]

They should’ve done democracy, and then only good guys could have been in the council. No liars, crooks, puppets, or genociders.

I agree but also bad guys shouldn't have been invited to Krakoa, to begin with, it's extremely contrived that so many characters would have no problem with the likes of Sinister and Apocalypse being part of Krakoa, and if the answer is that they're powerful then they should've done what Bishop and Cyclops proposed: make clones of them without conscience and have a telepath control them like puppets when they need to fight, much better than having to live alongside rapists, genociders, and nazis. As for Sinister, with so many skilled telepaths they could've gotten everything they needed for the resurrection protocols without having to keep him around, the fact that they gave him a position of power is just baffling, Xavier and Magneto are truly stupid.

Also, if I were one of Marvel's humans I wouldn't trust mutants if their government is full of some of the most evil people of all time, I'm sure that if Hitler was a mutant they would invite him to the council too.

[Kingdom X]

Add me to the smoke circle friend.

[Rift]

I have my fair share of grievances with Krakoa but I feel ya bud. Sometimes a road has been travelled so much you no longer feel like it's worth going over one more time. I feel the same when I explain people why Doom is the secret MVP of marvel universe, not Hellion.

Wait until it's revealed that Julian is actually Doom's ancestor, thus explaining where Victor got his power. All that stuff about Cynthia von Whatever? A distraction, a ruse to hide that his power comes from an X-Gene.

Because "Keller" is a German name, and German is one of Latveria's major languages. We know the X-Men had access to time travel, and if you buy the theory that Hellion also fathered the first mutants of Arakko, then it's possible his time travels also brought him to Latveria. In this essay I will

[Bruce Wayne]

Yes and Yes.

I'm really not sold on this New Era's "Back to Basic" premise. Rise from the Ashes reads like a misnomer because they're pretty much stuck in the very same place they were before and at the end of Krakoa. It's depressing AF.
I'm biding time to learn more about the releases but...I'm not hopeful with this new (not really) direction.

Agreed. The lack of a plan other than going back to some pre-Krakoa status quo means likely the sales will flounder and fans won't give them a chance. This whole project is dead on arrival.

[yogaflame]

They should’ve done democracy, and then only good guys could have been in the council. No liars, crooks, puppets, or genociders.

Yeah, those kind of people never rise in democratic politics in real life.

I think Hickman was batting for the sky with the initial Krakoa concept, and I would have loved to see his version all the way through. That said, it's pretty clear from interviews that he, and Marvel editorial, always saw the Krakoa experiment ending in failure. That's why they put all the evil villains on the Council. So it would be easier to accept the failure. I think that's also why they minimized Storm on the QC so much, and had her off on the side in Arrako for most of this **** show: so the filth wouldn't get on her too much(Scott even washed his hands of the whole lot of it from jump, and now will be championed as the great new leader for the new age). Let Sinister and Mother Righteous and Exodus and Mystique and Destiny and Moira take the fall. No one was doing anything with them before anyways. (Xavier will be put in jail and think about it until the next writer wants to use him.)

I mean, look at real world countries. Mired in inefficiencies, corruption, war for profit, scandals, etc. etc. The model has not worked well. And pure democracy, even in the way perhaps only a mutant country could actually pull off[immediate telepathic voting for all citizens], isn't necessarily better. Most people are kinda stupid, or at least, to be more generous, have a very narrow perspective. If you asked everyone what's the best solution for problem xyx, the most popular response is not necessarily going to be correct or feasible or even address the problem. In essence democracy is rule of the mob. People can be compassionate and thoughtful. A mob almost never is.

So maybe that's the pearl hidden in the muck of this From the Ashes dud of a concept: governments/fictitious nation-states can not save you. Only your own actions, in direct conjunction with your like-minded tribe, is real. Save your selves!

[ChronoRogue]

I do wish they could have done something a bit more innovative with the post-Krakoa era from what they've been saying so far, but I was and am ready to move on from Krakoa years ago, so I'm excited to check out these new stories in a different setting.

My interest in Krakoa, as a setting, died early on when it became very obvious early on to me that hickman had no actual interest in making a country. It was painfully obvious that it was merely the framework of thsi narrative given how shallow all the institutions were.

My interest in it reignited around the sins of sinister/eternals fight when it seemed like they were progressing to a fall out that would wipe the ruling body clean so that maybe we could get to some actual country building.

And with Fall of X I just came away like "yep, still here huh?"

I can't be particularly moved that the island nation built on vibes is gone. Its too hollow for me to pretend like it matters.

Just like the Arrakii

Agreed, I don't think the Krakoa world-building was done very well at all.

Huge holes all over the place and few writers seemed really interested in any of the socio-cultural implications. Too much focus on the council, not enough focus on the actual culture of the society and what most mutants actually wanted / thought about their future.

The villains in particular was very uninteresting, Orchis is one of the weakest villians we've had in a while. Don't even get me started on the Sinister clones.

[SturdyMike89]

Agreed. The lack of a plan other than going back to some pre-Krakoa status quo means likely the sales will flounder and fans won't give them a chance. This whole project is dead on arrival.

Except the fans like me who hated Krakoa and are glad it and its nonsense are gone. Always annoys me when people think they know how every fan thinks. I know a lot of people who lump the Krakoa age together with One More Day. Quite a few people stayed away from the X-Books over the last few years and will actually be coming back and I am one of them. And how are they stuck in the same place? Because they are acting like heroes again, not selfish jerks?

[DarkMagnus]

A nation ruled by a council with Sinister, Apocalypse, Shaw, Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, Selene, etc could never work, it made no sense for some characters like Cyclops to just accept that shitty government full of some of the most horrible people of all time after everything they went through to get mutants to where they are, Krakoa could've only worked if they got rid of all the evil monsters and made Cyclops the leader because he's proven for years that he's the only one who can be mutantkind's leader, they lost me when they made him work under a council with Sinister and Apocalypse, erased all his character development and turned him into a Jean simp who doesn't mind that his wife sleeps around all the time, if the new era brings the real Scott back as the title of the article implies then it's already better than Krakoa IMO.

Strangely.

The only two of those evil super duper villians that played along Mags and Xavs where Apoccy and Exodus.

Welcome to the Grey moral area Apoccy and Exodus you are the new old new Mags and Mags is the cool Xavier now.

[Bruce Wayne]

Except the fans like me who hated Krakoa and are glad it and its nonsense are gone.

Go check out the pre-Krakoa sales on the x-books. There's a reason Krakoa and HoX/PoX happened. The anti-Krakoa people who were crying about it did nothing to prop up the line when it most desperately need it. And they certainly won't for the new line up.

[NearlyEnough]

Strangely.

The only two of those evil super duper villians that played along Mags and Xavs where Apoccy and Exodus.

Welcome to the Grey moral area Apoccy and Exodus you are the new old new Mags and Mags is the cool Xavier now.

That's not the point. It doesn't matter if they played along because they shouldn't have been part of Krakoa to begin with, let alone get positions of power. And it's bad writing to make everyone fine with them being on the council, I know that Angel, Cable, Cyclops, etc wouldn't want to be part of a nation in which people like Apocalypse are not only allowed but given power for some reason, it's actually offensive, imagine making Cyclops report to the evil nazi who experimented on him as a child and the blue evil loser who ruined his son's life.

[ChronoRogue]

That's not the point. It doesn't matter if they played along because they shouldn't have been part of Krakoa to begin with, let alone get positions of power. And it's bad writing to make everyone fine with them being on the council, I know that Angel, Cable, Cyclops, etc wouldn't want to be part of a nation in which people like Apocalypse are not only allowed but given power for some reason, it's actually offensive, imagine making Cyclops report to the evil nazi who experimented on him as a child and the blue evil loser who ruined his son's life.

Yes, it's part of Hickman's biggest weakness; characterization. You basically need to suspend disbelief that the X-Men wouldn't react emotionally to many of these inclusions.

Are we supposed to forget Jaime Braddock is a child-trafficker? I know we give lots of villains free-passes, but writers really need to set boundaries for what is ok to forgive.

It doesn't help that he seemed to intentionally skip a year forward to avoid having to write these interactions. I kept expecting to get an explanation for all of this strange behavior but... nope, no explanation given.

[NearlyEnough]

Yes, it's part of Hickman's biggest weakness; characterization. You basically need to suspend disbelief that the X-Men wouldn't react emotionally to many of these inclusions.

Are we supposed to forget Jaime Braddock is a child-trafficker? I know we give lots of villains free-passes, but writers really need to set boundaries for what is ok to forgive.

It doesn't help that he seemed to intentionally skip a year forward to avoid having to write these interactions. I kept expecting to get an explanation for all of this strange behavior but... nope, no explanation given.

Yeah, the main issue with Krakoa is how contrived and forced everything is, Hickman deliberately ignores years of characterization and interpersonal history to make his story work but that's not how it should be, keeping the characters consistent and in character should be more important than worldbuilding, and some parts of Krakoa seem like they were written by Tumblr instead of an actual writer because in what world would Scott accept to share Jean with Logan? it feels like I'm not reading the same characters but OCs with their names and looks.

[ChronoRogue]

Yeah, the main issue with Krakoa is how contrived and forced everything is, Hickman deliberately ignores years of characterization and interpersonal history to make his story work but that's not how it should be, keeping the characters consistent and in character should be more important than worldbuilding, and some parts of Krakoa seem like they were written by Tumblr instead of an actual writer because in what world would Scott accept to share Jean with Logan? it feels like I'm not reading the same characters but OCs with their names and looks.

I honestly wonder if this concept might have been initially intended as a pitch for the Inhumans, given their trajectory before the Fox buy-out; it makes more sense for them than the X-Men. Would also explain Hickman playing especially loose with characterization, though that never seemed his priority compared to world-building either way.

[JB]

Yes, it's part of Hickman's biggest weakness; characterization. You basically need to suspend disbelief that the X-Men wouldn't react emotionally to many of these inclusions.

Are we supposed to forget Jaime Braddock is a child-trafficker? I know we give lots of villains free-passes, but writers really need to set boundaries for what is ok to forgive.

It doesn't help that he seemed to intentionally skip a year forward to avoid having to write these interactions. I kept expecting to get an explanation for all of this strange behavior but... nope, no explanation given.

Just for the record, after Jamie's crimes he was tortured into psychosis as punishment (with his brother's blessing) and that part of him was lost forever. He hasn't been a hero by any means but he's tried to find a balance with his mental health struggles.