Contains spoilers for Uncanny X-Men (2024) #4!The X-Men They face an uncertain future as they strand themselves divided and stare down threats old and new alike, but a few words of positivity from one of their most upbeat members just provided the perfect new slogan for fans, if not for the characters themselves. It’s a moment that’s as funny as it is inspirational, but it’s a welcome moment and phrase nonetheless.
Invisible X-Men #4 – written by Gail Simone, with art by David Marquez – features a moment in which Wolverine asks Nightcrawler for some words of comfort after savagely mauling the villain Sarah Gaunt, To which Nightcrawler responds “Krakoa lives my oldest friend, Krakoa still lives”
Until just this year, Krakoa was the island nation and mutant homeland that was devastatingly destroyed, forcing mutantkind, and the X-Men, to reintegrate into human society.
“Krakoa still lives,” The perfect words to give the X-Men hope when they need it most
Invisible X-Men #4 – Written by Gail Simone; Art by David Marquez
At the end of the US X– The Krakoan era of the franchise, most of the population of the mutant nation chose to stay in the metaphysical realm like the White Hot Spot, and build a potentially immortal mutant society free of human prejudice, but inaccessible from regular reality. This devastating finale led directly into the X-Men Reliance known as the “From the Ashes” era, where the predominant conflict to begin is the struggle of the mutants who remain on Earth to live again as part of a hostile human world.
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in Invisible X-MenThe team led by Rogue has made it their mission to protect a new generation of mutants from threats like Sarah Gaunt. However, the larger ideological questions of what comes next for mutantkind have seemingly split Rogue’s team from others like Cyclops’ X-Men, who are far more confrontational with humanity, and the two teams will come to blows in the upcoming Raid on Greymalkin Crossover. That is what Nightcrawler’s invocation of Krakoa in Invisible X-Men #4 is Such an amazing reminder of the traumatic context of the current stories.
Krakoa has become more than just a mutant nation—it’s the ideal the X-Men franchise is striving for.
Invisible X-Men #4 – Available now from Marvel Comics
What’s so great about Nightcrawler’s affirmation of Krakoa is How it presents the lost island as an almost religious ideal. Kraka was very religious in his way. Hope Summers, the key to mutant resurrection, was literally called the mutant messiah, especially by the former Crusader Exodus, who proselytized in her name to anyone who would listen. In the end, Hope became one with the Phoenix, killed and resurrected it, and became its beginning and end, as Krakoa’s population went to live in a realm based partly away from Kabbalistic spiritualism. The Messiah died, but the Phoenix always returns.
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It’s also a welcome message in the current crop of X-Men books given how the previous era has been treated thus far. The current “from the ashes” status quo has been… inconsistent in how it refers to Krakow. The vast majority of titles, including Invisible X-MenAt times, they acted as if Krakoa lost against Orchis, or was completely destroyed, when in fact the island lives and won against Orchis, despite choosing to leave the human world behind. Kurt admits it feels much more cohesive with what came before.
Nightcrawler is a surprising, but exciting choice to spread the Krakoan ideal
Kurt and Logan both became disillusioned with Krakoa before his fall
That said, the explanation is also fascinating because Nightcrawler and Wolverine have some of the most contentious relationships with Krakoa as a concept. Despite serving on the island’s ruling silent council, Nightcrawler felt that the carelessness shown by its citizens towards death and resurrection was dangerous, which led him down the path of establishing his ‘Legion of X’ who spread ‘The Spark’, a Philosophical ideal celebrating innovation. and news. At the time of Krakoa’s initial fall, he left the island in a depressive slump, still magically influenced by Orchis to kill humans, but eventually rallied to save Mutantkind once more.
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Logan, meanwhile, served as a member of Beast’s X-Force, but then Beast killed, resurrected, cloned, and brainwashed Logan into becoming a mindless killer, which led to Wolverine leaving the island. This plus the death of his son Daken and a massive battle with Sabretooth disillusioned Logan further, with him trying to abandon his usual role as a mentor. He repulsed Cyclops’ X-Men, and his position on the Inconvenient team is tenuous. Nightcrawler’s words of wisdom could be great for X-Men Fans, however It remains to be revealed how Wolverine feels about them.
Uncanny X-Men (2024) #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
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