10 Unbelievable Retcons That Made Comics Worse

6. Magneto Wasn't Actually Xorn - X-Men

New X-Men by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely ended up being one of the greatest X-Men arcs ever, and at its centre was an amazing plot twist revolving around the character of Xorn, introduced in the series as a mutant fugitive from the Chinese state.

The character was said to have a sun for a brain, which you can probably gather was a big deal. It was said that, were he ever to take his mask off, the world would combust into nothing. A lot of pressure for a new character, but it was all part of Morrison's plan to reveal that Magneto was Xorn all along. The clues were there for everyone to see too, from the character's use of metal to the way he performed his healing abilities; it was all a ruse, designed so that Magnus could strike at the X-Men from within.

But then Marvel had a bright idea. What if, after Morrison had left the series, they revealed that there was a Xorn all along?

And so, in Chuck Austen's X-Men, it was revealed that there was in fact a real version of Xorn. Morrison felt as though that revelation tacitly undermined New X-Men, and who can blame him?