#decimation

Talking about how “Marvel is in its new 52 era” and probably going to have to reboot at some point….

It got me thinking, what period would they basically “go” back to?

And the answer is obviously pre-M Day.

M-Day happened BEFORE they decided to undo Peter’s marriage… and before “Civil War” happened and it became the norm to have “heroes fighting heroes”, basically undermining all the characters as “good” and “noble”.

M-Day in many ways “shifted” Marvel Comics to a darker place in general and that was when we started seeing a steep shift towards “extinction and utopia” plotlines with the X-Men…

Pre-“M-Day” was also the LAST time people really strongly cared about the “new generation” of X-Men.

Marvel has tried multiple times to essentially copy Academy X’s success… and horribly failed each time.

It would objectively be easier to just retcon everything at this point, have the NXM teenagers again, and do a “school book”… instead of trying and failing to create lightning in a bottle with the outliers or exceptional.

Laura… is admittedly struggling as a character right now. She’s mature and a more emotionally stable Wolverine, who doesn’t kill, and doesn’t really have a lot of strife to write about. Adding love interests is chronically the only solution Marvel has and that hasn’t been successful. In some ways… OG X-23 was easier to write for.

Marvel editorial obviously doesn’t like Krakoa and even some fans are somewhat skeptical on the cloning/rebirthing process. No one likes to think of Synch or Laura as “a clone” and the “real” person still being dead… it would essentially “fix” it and get rid of some of the backlash from ending Krakoa.

Yet there’s also several hiccups!

Jean (who was dead in this era!)- editors don’t want to use her anymore because she’s too overpowered to write for… but die hard Jean fans would be angry if she was put back in the fridge!

Rogue and Gambit! It would essentially undo a very popular marriage!

Magik would still be dead… and she’s essentially Marvel’s “cash cow” right now.

Scarlet Witch fans would definitely benefit though! (I don’t know what would happen to Billy or Tommy- they would probably stick around and remember the old universe, similar to Wally in DC)

I personally have mixed feelings on this idea, and I don’t know if I would want it- I love KYOST era… but I also personally always wish Morrison’s era/Academy X era had gone on longer before they axed it!

I personally feel that M-Day (while popular!) was objectively the start of things going downhill for Marvel…

I personally don’t have much love for Krakoa, Bendis era, Age of X-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, ect… and don’t feel like it would be completely a loss.

Utopia, X-Factor Investigations, House of M, Avengers Academy, YA, and KYOST is the only one I would be sad about really losing. 🫤

What do you guys think? Would you want it to happen?

But what about a 6 year old little boy at the park with his parents, and all of the sudden, his parents are dusted, he's an orphan, and by the time they're back, hes already 11, and they might not even be able to find him?

Imagine turning into dust while watching your kid, coming back in a matter of seconds, disoriented, and you have no idea where he is, and people are telling you it's been five years. Where is your child?

Anyways. Here's the fic if you were curious. Go cry.

2 am angsty X-Men edit because Nightcrawler and Wolverine make me weep.

Endings

2005's X-Factor Vol.3 #1* (LGY : #150) cover by Ryan Sook an José Villarrubia.