This will probably end up being a post that could stir some controversy, but I'm laying it out on the line, because it's a topic that came to me during my conversation brain-storming this past weekend. I believe the seeds for this topic were essentially sown during my viewing of "X-Men: Days of Future Past". I did enjoy the movie, but it didn't hit me in the "sweet spot" as much as... say... "Captain America: Winter Soldier". It was after said movie, and some reading experiences as of late, that the growth of this idea started producing the ultimate fruit of my thoughts.
Y'see, I came to the point where "Marvel's Merry Mutants" really don't fire me up as much as they used. I don't want to misquote, but I BELIEVE that it was the "Irredeemable Shagg" on an episode of "Views from the Longbox" that said that we all have X-Men phases. For me, my phase was absolutely during middle/high school. I lived in the teenage years of X-Men influence! We had the launch of the brand-new X books in the summer of 1992, the outpouring of new video games, and a cartoon series! What more did an angst-fuelled teenager need than a team that were outcasts of society in their own right? ... But just like any angry young music act cannot maintain such frustration for years on end, so could I outgrow my teenage angst, and in the years, I found many chinks in the X-Armor to my perceptions:
- WAY too many characters
- WAY too many teams
- WAY too many crossovers
- Too LITTLE interaction with the Marvel Universe as a whole
- Characters than invite separatism by bemoaning their "mutant" status near constantly elicit little sympathy for me
That being said, I wanted to offer my thoughts on two classes of X-Men; the underrated and overrated. The members that, I feel, could thrive if they received an invitation to the mainstream Marvel universe to play. And the members that need to be scaled back, because I'm starting to grow rather tired of their elevated roles. Since I want to end this article on a positive spin, I'll begin by sounding the retirement gong on those Muties that have grown too big for their britches.
Cyclops: Some could say he's the "heart and soul" of the X-Men. There from the start, and... to a degree... still an important figure to Charles Xavier's dream. I could say that ever since "A VS X", he's been led down the path of being an insufferable jerk, making even Magneto in his most villainous moments look rather docile. But if you think about it, Scott Summers hasn't really been all that "awesome" a person in his fictional life. A stick-in-the-mud teenager, a deadbeat dad to his separated wife, (One could make the argument that a marriage involving the clone of your deceased lover is totally binding, but still...), and now an extremist Mutant revolutionary. Would it REALLY have been so bad if Cykes joined Jean Grey in the Phoenix-y afterlife at the conclusion of "A VS X", just so we could've had a few years without "Slim" Summers being a pain in the butt?
Wolverine: A lot of people have much love for the Canucklehead, but even as early as the 90's for me, the overexposure of the character was beginning to chip away any goodwill I had for him. Couple that with the fact that he apparently HAS to figure into every Marvel team book... X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four... probably at one point the Invaders, or even Power Pack... and I just would rather him be strictly in the Mutant leagues. But one thing that has really irked me about the "Best At What He Does" is that his powers have grown so bloody amplified in recent years! Back in my favorite periods of the X-Men, sure... Logan could take some abuse, but he wasn't able to wholly regenerate limbs, or reassemble himself so quickly after intense body burns. He has a healing factor; not an invulnerability clause!
Now for those members I'd really want to see make a more positive impact in the Marvel Universe:
Colossus: If there's one thing that "X-Men: Days of Future Past" illustrated to me, it's this; writers have a hard time figuring out what to do with Peter Rasputin. And I'm not just talking Hollywood. Last I ran into the mutated Man of Steel, he was in possession of the Jewel of Cytorak... AKA Juggernaut's bling... and that made an already mopey character all that much more down in the dumps. Yes, I realize Peter was a product of Soviet-Era Russia, and has generally been characterized as a more introverted character... who happened to form romantic relationships with girls MUCH younger than himself... but if they were to pull Colossus out of his character shell, give him an Avengers membership, maybe that could open the character up to new possibilities. Besides, for years he's been a character that has a great combination of visual aesthetic and power-set! He deserves better than being the metallic navel-gazer of the X-Men!
Storm: C'mon... She LED the X-Men through a majority of the 80's, one of the roughest patches the team went through. Ororo has been a rock in the X-Men foundation... Probably a more reliable one than even all of the original five members! Sure, she was given a chance to expand her influence with a relationship with Wakandan royality, Black Panther, but like Colossus, since there at least 20 Avengers teams in the Marvel Universe, Storm has surely won a membership nomination 50 times over! She's tough... yet sensitive, has a power set that puts her in the class of Thor in terms of weather manipulation, and I still believe she holds rank as one of the most influential African female characters in fictional history. If that's not worth a pass to the "Big Leagues", I obviously have zilch clue!
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