Well in hindsight it feels like his run was under a mandate to make everything as bleak and horrible for the mutants as possible, so that any radical different direction will be met with open arms. Which keeps making me wonder if the heavy retcons of HOX/POX would have been welcomed much less warmly, if things had actualy looked up well for the mutants beforehand?
Also yes, it feels like he got a list of characters he specifically had to kill (Blindfold in particular) or at least let them show up so people remember they exist.
It also wouldn't make me suprised if there is really a Dark Beast twist going to happen with Hank and his horrible characterization in X-force?
Also i wouldn't say every single character. Marrow for example had a notable appearance becomming one of Emma Frost's right hand people in her newest Hellfire Club (getting a whole weird make-over in the process) together with Elixir (after both were part of Magneto's most short lived Brotherhood of Mutants), but it doesn't seem like she has any real place in the current status quo (a little appearance in Marauders and is part of a team that only in theory exists).
Though i wonder if her Hellfire Club membership has ever been revoked? Imagine Emma Frost having a hellfire trading company party, showing the guest around: "Here are the fine people of Stark Industries, the Latverian minister of trade, don't ask he IS a doom bot, there is head of Roxxon europe and here we have an elephant man, a giant man with four arms, a shark woman, a wolf man and a woman with exoskeletal growths going hog on the buffet. Who let them in here? What do you mean one of them has white bishop rank access? I have not assigned a white bishop since... oh."