So happy to have found my people. The actual embodiment of the Arrested Development “…….her?” gif as a fictional character tbh.
“Cool powers, but— wait? Why is everyone genuflecting?”
Like… don’t get me wrong, the problem definitely started with her creators. But by the mid-‘90s (or whenever Ellis hopped onboard), grown men who still wanted to date this fictional teenage girl were first put in charge, and there’s been a revolving door of them ever since.
(She had minimal screentime in the Fox movies, yet this was becoming an issue even there before the merger. She was primed to get a solo movie before Storm, for God’s sake.)
What annoys me most is the whole Chosen One role always given to her (Whedon reference intended). I groaned at the “Krakoa’s gates won’t open for me!” bit because I knew it was going to lead to another version of that. The funniest part is the eternal “but wait she’s actually the most underestimated leader/fighter/teacher/hacker/ninja/pirate/dancer/bartender/future president of the United States!!!” narrative, which feels more aimed at readers themselves for not fanboying over her the way her writers want them to, since the protagonists sharing her stories are never allowed to actually feel that way about her.
(Which is what the constant code name and nickname and costume changes feel like an extension of: “But do you like her the most now?” It always feels disingenuous and tryhard, which is super off-putting.)
Up to and including outgoing editorial repeatedly giving her stealth solos and shoving her front and center (and putting her on the Quiet Council?!… lol). Other A-listers died (or went into magical comas) during Krakoa, and it’s simply ignored by everyone for months, or not even acknowledged by their families, if not treated as mere inconvenience. Kitty “dies”… and everyone shows up for her Viking funeral before all the side characters from her stealth solo run off to ~avenge her.
Still kinda dying to know why she’s leading yet another team if Brevoort allegedly dislikes her so much. Push from Cebulski? (Aka the Asian superstar creative behind her Shadow & Flame solo!) Push from Feige? (Kidding. But also… he’s apparently an OG Excalibur fan…) Was this originally the premise for JDW’s/Duggan’s New X-Men announced aged ago and Marvel didn’t want to waste months of work despite the office changing faces? Or is the new editor just mature enough to not sideline characters he personally dislikes if a writer is interested in them? (That would be refreshing tbh.)
The sad part is, a geeky sapphic-coded fashion disaster with an inventive power set and close ties to most of my favs? On paper, she should be one of my favorites.
But maybe Eve Ewing will finally spin straw into gold. Who knows.