The X-Men will soon enter a new era, and the book’s incoming writer has explained how it will differ from the recently concluded Krakoa storyline. The X-Men’s Krakoan phase will long be remembered for its boundary-pushing arcs and tightly interconnected continuity. Yet, as the X-Men head into the From the Ashes era, the new creative teams will be taking a decidedly different approach.

Incoming X-Men writer Jed MacKay expounded on some of these differences with AIPT’s Mutant Monday. MacKay, who will join forces with artist Ryan Stegman for the new X-Men title, had this to say when asked about Phoenix (Jean Grey) appearing in the book alongside her husband Cyclops:

I think it’s something that kind of behooves us to let each book breathe and stand on its own before we get into tying them too closely together.

MacKay is referring to the different settings of X-Men and Phoenix.

The former will be largely Earth-bound, whereas Jean Grey will be in space when her new book debuts.

The X-Men’s Krakoan Era Will Rank As Its Most Innovative

The Krakoan Era Weaponized the X-Men’s Dense Continuity

In 2019, writer Jonathan Hickman, who had spearheaded the successful revitalizations of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, turned his attention to the X-Men. Working closely with a team of writers and artists, Hickman turned the mutant world on its ears by introducing Krakoa. An island paradise where mutants could live away from human persecution, Krakoa was a bold step forward for the previously lagging franchise. The party came to an end at last year’s Hellfire Gala, which set into motion a chain of events leading to Krakoa’s fall, and a massive diaspora.

The X-Men’s Krakoan era will be remembered for many things, including the big risks it took in terms of characterization and storytelling, as well as the dense continuity that ran between the books. The X-Men titles have long had a reputation for seemingly impenetrable continuity that can be off-putting to new readers, and the Krakoan era did nothing to dispel this image. The difference between Krakoa and other phases in the X-Men’s history is it made effective use of this tight continuity, creating a sprawling narrative unlike anything seen since Chris Claremont’s heyday in the 1980s.

The X-Men’s New Era Will Feature New Approaches to Storytelling

The From the Ashes Era Has Much Potential

While this approach worked during the Krakoan era, the new X-Men titles are opting to let the books go their own way for a while, and tell their individual stories. While MacKay’s comment referred specifically to Cyclops and Phoenix’s relationship, it will no doubt be applied across the rest of the line as well. Marvel has not revealed any crossovers coming to the X-Men line anytime soon, meaning they may very well be sincere in their plans to let the books develop on their own. This will buck a franchise trend as well, one running further back than Krakoa.

Source: AIPT

X-Men #1 is on sale July 10 from Marvel Comics!