10 X-Men Characters Writers Need To Stop Using
Some X-Men characters are overused, problematic, or flat out boring; find out which need to go!
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00:00 Marvel's Merry Mutants have long been a fixture in the canon of the 616, but like
00:04 any story that's been around for that long, some characters can get a bit stale, or worse,
00:09 prevent the X-Men from moving forward.
00:12 With that in mind, I'm Will for What Culture and here are 10 X-Men Characters The Writers
00:16 Need to Stop Using.
00:18 10.
00:19 Wolverine
00:20 Believe it, bub.
00:21 The X-Men's most iconic mutant has been in more than his share of comic scraps over
00:25 the years, but it might surprise you to know that, besides Spider-Man, Wolverine has appeared
00:30 in more issues of Marvel Comics than any other character in their superhero universe.
00:35 This is all the more impressive seeing as Wolverine didn't debut until 1974.
00:40 Wolverine is a compelling character most of the time, but Marvel's insistence on riding
00:44 their cash cow into the ground has cheapened his value as a character.
00:48 If Marvel keeps pushing him everywhere, he will go from a beloved yet oversaturated icon
00:54 to an annoying, one-dimensional whipping boy.
00:57 9.
00:58 Firestar
00:59 Best known for her time on the 1980s cartoons Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Angelica
01:03 Jones has been portrayed in the comics as a mutant.
01:06 Originally a part of Emma Frost's rival Hellions at the Massachusetts Academy, Firestar
01:11 took an extended absence from mutantdom before growing to become a professor with the X-Men
01:16 at the Jean Grace School for Higher Learning.
01:18 Since her reintroduction to X-relevancy, Firestar has made a handful of appearances without
01:23 really doing much of anything.
01:25 When she is in a book, it often feels like the writers don't know what to do with her
01:28 character, often falling a bit flat as a result.
01:31 Take 2014's Amazing X-Men for example, and you have to wonder, if the writers don't
01:35 actually use her character in the stories she's in, why include her in the story at
01:40 all?
01:41 8.
01:42 Captain Britain/Psylocke
01:43 Betsy Braddock
01:44 Though Betsy Braddock now goes by Captain Britain, she is best known by her other codename
01:49 Psylocke.
01:50 She was born as the younger twin sister to Brian Braddock, the original Captain Britain.
01:53 Once she joined the X-Men, Psylocke underwent a, let's say, extreme transformation while
01:58 her white, British aristocrat persona was put into the body of Kwanon, an Asian woman
02:04 who was promptly dismissed from her body.
02:06 In recent years, appropriation has become less of a cool fashion trend and more understood
02:11 as the horrible extension of racism that it is.
02:14 Betsy Braddock is now thankfully back in her own body, but her legacy remains undeniably
02:19 tainted and more than a little bit uncomfortable, and is in desperate need of a shake-up or,
02:24 perhaps better yet, just to be retconned out of existence and left in the trash where it
02:28 belongs.
02:29 7.
02:30 Namor
02:31 The editorial department has tried to make Namor work many a time.
02:35 Even calling him an X-Men character is a bit strange because of the wide dispersal of his
02:39 appearances.
02:40 But the Atlantean is a mutant and he joined the X-Men during their stint on the island
02:44 nation of Utopia.
02:45 Following the Avengers vs X-Men storyline, he even managed to acquire one fifth of the
02:50 Phoenix Force by teaming up with Cyclops and his team.
02:53 The problem is Namor's blunt narcissism and hatred for those inferior to him, and,
02:58 in his opinion, that is quite literally everyone.
03:01 These traits make it virtually impossible to keep him on a team for long periods of
03:04 time and the eventual discord he causes becomes predictable and honestly boring.
03:09 Keep him messing around with the Richards family in Fantastic Four and away from our
03:13 beloved mutants.
03:15 6.
03:16 Magma
03:17 Despite her near 40 year existence, Magma has rarely been at the forefront of X-Fans'
03:22 thoughts.
03:23 A big part of this is the fact that she has never really been shown to have a deep connection
03:27 with her teammates.
03:28 In fact, the mutant she seems to have become most linked with is master manipulator empath
03:32 of the rival Hellions.
03:34 The less said about that relationship the better, but I assure you, it's loads of
03:38 yuck.
03:39 Magma was eventually written out of New Mutants in its original run and appeared infrequently
03:43 until the early 2000s, when she was literally crucified.
03:46 Writers clearly felt bad for her and her mistreatment over the years and they brought her back with
03:51 New Mutants second volume where she reunited with her old classmates.
03:55 Magma is still hanging around the periphery of X-Books and every time a New Mutants book
03:59 is released she seems to resurface within it.
04:02 However, the question remains, if you're going to do nothing with the character, except
04:06 for, you know, crucify her, maybe just leave her out of it.
04:09 5.
04:10 Domino/Longshot
04:11 This spot is reserved for heroes with probability-based superpowers.
04:16 It's not that Domino and Longshot are uninteresting characters, in fact both are extremely likeable
04:20 in very different ways.
04:22 The problem is, while they are fun, their powers are just too useful.
04:26 With the nebulous power of being lucky, any problem can be solved and any battle won instantly.
04:31 With that level of MacGuffin, any dramatic tension a comic book tries to create is instantly
04:36 sabotaged.
04:37 In a world where the powers are made up and the conflicts malleable, you'd hope writers
04:41 could find a more creative way to resolve the plot.
04:45 4.
04:46 Cannonball
04:47 Sam Guthrie has been a man of many teams.
04:48 The New Mutants, X-Men, X-Force and the Avengers to name just a few.
04:52 And while Sam has always been a mutant character above all else, it was actually his tenure
04:57 in Jonathan Hickman's Incredible Avengers run that Sam met his future wife Izzy Kane,
05:02 also known as Smasher.
05:04 Izzy serves as a Super Guardian of the Shi'ar Empire, meaning Sam is currently out in the
05:09 galaxy living it up and taking care of their newly born child.
05:12 What's more, Izzy seems genuinely happy having traded spandex for diapers.
05:17 X-Men comics have already had their fair share of absentee fathers, cough Professor X, cough
05:22 Cyclops, so please, writers, let Cannonball have his legacy and his completed story and
05:28 take care of his cannon baby.
05:30 3.
05:31 Jean Grey
05:32 With all that Jean Grey has been through, she's been treated remarkably poorly as
05:36 a character.
05:37 Between the constant deaths and resurrections, she has become synonymous with being written
05:41 as an object for Cyclops and Wolverine to fight over.
05:45 And Jean has gotten the short end of the stick many times, but one storyline in particular
05:49 has been damaging to her character.
05:51 Since the Dark Phoenix saga premiered in the 1970s, Jean has been typecast as the Vessel
05:57 of the Phoenix.
05:58 Yes, there have been stints where writers focus on other aspects of the character, but
06:02 without fail, whenever Jean is brought to the prominent role in a book, the Phoenix
06:06 is quick to follow.
06:07 That's problematic, because the continued re-emergence of the Phoenix not only keeps
06:11 Jean from evolving as a character, but it also dampens the impact of one of the greatest
06:16 comic stories of all time.
06:17 She can never eclipse that destiny, so unless writers can resist yet another Phoenix story,
06:23 Jean needs to stay on the sidelines.
06:25 2.
06:26 Beast
06:27 Many remember Hank McCoy as the verbose, lovable heart of the X-Men in the 90s cartoon.
06:32 Indeed, it's hard not to fall in love with that characterisation, but modern Beast is
06:36 less of a cuddly science nerd, more deranged mad scientist.
06:40 This recent radicalisation has led Beast to take insane risks and indulge in some rather
06:45 shady activities.
06:46 He joined the Illuminati to secretly represent the X-Men without telling his teammates when
06:51 the fabric of the multiverse was at stake.
06:53 He again risked space-time itself by bringing the original five X-Men to the present day,
06:58 again consulting none of his team in the process.
07:02 And now, on Krakoa, Beast leads X-Force with the mentality of "do what's best for all
07:07 mutant kind, no matter the cost".
07:10 Far be it from us to say that characters can't change, but with Beast, he seems to have strayed
07:14 so far from his moral core that writers would be best to take a break on the character.
07:20 1.
07:21 Professor X
07:22 The founder of the X-Men, Charles Xavier, takes the top spot here.
07:26 Anyone who has read the many, many terrible retcons of the X-Men over the years knows
07:30 the weird and despicable things Xavier has done.
07:33 Whether it's lusting after students or telepathically deleting the existence of Cyclops' brother
07:38 from his memory, Xavier's credibility has been shot.
07:41 Yes, he's found a new function on Krakoa, but that doesn't change his guilt over his
07:45 past misdeeds.
07:47 Xavier's dream has always been more important than the character himself, and with the emergence
07:51 of Krakoa, that dream is constantly changing.
07:56 Xavier's motives may be for the benefit of mutants, but in a book that is an allegory
08:02 for so many marginalized groups in society today, it sends a rather convoluted message.
08:08 And there you have it folks, our admittedly controversial take on the 10 X-Men characters
08:13 who need to take a step back from the limelight.
08:16 Feel free to leave a comment down below with your own thoughts on the matter, like and
08:19 subscribe and I'll see you next time.