X-Men Relaunch Wishlist: 7 Things We Want To See

7. Learn From DC Rebirth

DC Comics recently relaunched all of their books under the banner of “Rebirth,” promising to deliver versions of the characters that harken back to more traditional depictions. It has succeeded both critically and commercially and has even accomplished the Herculean task of getting people to care about Superman again. That’s fitting, since Superman has been losing relevance since 1992’s Death of Superman, right around the time the X-Men were at the top of their game. If Marvel wants to recapture the magic of the early ‘90s, Rebirth is great to take notes from.

In resetting their characters post-New 52, DC wisely moved very quickly in establishing a new status quo moving forward. Heroes who’d been missing in action for the past few years like Wally West and Ted Kord were brought back immediately. New storylines were initiated that required little knowledge of the preceding events, that appeal to lapsed readers. You don’t need to have read the past few years of Wonder Woman to appreciate what Greg Rucka is doing in the new series. Even though it would be easier to make sense of things if you’ve read Future’s End and Convergence, as long as you can comprehend the idea of a Superman from an alternate Earth, you can dive right in.

It’s important that Marvel makes the story welcoming for people who haven’t picked up an X-Men book for a long time while also not alienating readers who have kept current. In the past half decade or so, the X-Men have gone through several tumultuous changes like 2011’s “Schism” and 2012’s “Avengers vs. X-Men.” A major disagreement between Wolverine and Cyclops saw the X-Men splitting into two opposing groups and Cyclops eventually murdered Professor X while possessed by the Phoenix force (more on that later). Shortly after that, past versions of the five founding X-Men teens were transported to the present, causing some serious issues.

All of these elements have altered the direction of the franchise so much that it’s practically unrecognizable and nothing very good has come from any of this. It’s like a deconstruction of the concept without any subsequent reconstruction - like they threw a wrench in the X-Men machine but have yet to do anything about it, other than watch sparks fly. It might not be pretty; it might not make perfect sense, but if they can somehow get all of the X-Men back under one roof and within a framework where new stories can be told, everyone will be happy.