The X-Men are coming to the MCU in the near future. Fans have a lot of questions about how they'll be interpreted in the franchise, but some of the best comic book issues from the last ten years may hold some clues. With the X-Men resurrected in the status quo shattering House Of X and Powers Of X, the modern-day might be the key to the future.
Many fans might think the 2010s begin and end with the Jonathan Hickman revitalization of the franchise in 2019, but the decade contained a lot of great stories and issues. Some of the biggest events in Marvel history happen in this period, which might have some bearing on the MCU's portrayal of the X-Men.
Wolverine And The X-Men #1
The overall narrative of the X-Men for much of the 2000s has been very bleak. A number of comics leaned into this, but Wolverine and the X-Men #1 provides a fun change of pace. The first issue, written by Jason Aaron and drawn by longtime X-Men artist Chris Bachalo, quickly provides fans a new fun tone with Wolverine as the head of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. He has to deal with not only the antics of the students but some of the staff as well, including an army of living Bamf dolls from another dimension.
Uncanny X-Force #1
One title that impressed the darker tone of the era is Uncanny X-Force #1, which is also one of the best X-Force issues ever. This new iteration of the team is brought together by Wolverine as a highly covert black ops team designed to take down threats to mutants before they arise. The issue presents the team, which includes former X-Men Psylocke and Archangel, with a major moral quandary when their target turns out to be a child. The child is a young version of Apocalypse, but it's nevertheless a challenge that helped make the book stand out.
X-Men Gold #1
X-Men Gold #1 is a great issue for longtime fans of the series, which casts Kitty Pryde as the new leader of the X-Men and reunites many former X-Men powerhouses. The issue pays off long-running character and plot threads by bringing Kitty back together with former X-Men and Excalibur friends Nightcrawler and Rachel Summers, while also pairing her with Old Man Logan, an older and even grumpier version of Wolverine. The story also pits the team against a new version of the X-Men's earliest villains the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, taking the team all the way back to its '60s roots.
Generation Hope #5
Generation Hope #5 is a key issue not just in the 2010s but the entire 21st-century story of X-Men comics. It's in this 2011 issue that the first new mutants appear, several years after the decimation visited on them by the Scarlet Witch in House Of M, a comic book storyline that inspired WandaVision. The comic is a key waypoint in the long struggle of mutants to recover from Wanda Maximoff's actions in 2006 and the current comics, where mutants thrive and live beyond death in the new era of Krakoa, where Hope Summers capitalizes on her leadership and powerset established in this issue.
Avengers Vs. X-Men #11
Avengers Vs. X-Men was a cataclysmic battle between the two superhero teams that seems destined for adaptation by the MCU at some point. Issue #11 of the event series was the most consequential of all, as it's where Cyclops, infused with the power of the Phoenix Force, kills Professor X.
The issue is great for the stark character dynamics between teacher and student, which is in complete collapse after decades of weakening. It also sets the stage for years of Cyclops' stories that take him down a very dark path in the comics.
Black Vortex Omega
Black Vortex is a crossover event between X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy that is key for giving fans one of the most powerful variants of Kitty Pryde in the comics. A cosmically powered Kitty Pryde is able to phase through time and space, and even the multiverse, after she interfaces with the ancient Black Vortex relic. This advances Kitty's power and experience considerably in the comics, significant for her fans, but also gives an indication of how her character could potentially be realized in the MCU once she appears.
X-Men Red #11
X-Men Red #11 is a great issue for fans because it features one of the biggest flexes on the part of Jean Grey in the history of Marvel Comics. The extraordinarily gifted telepath fools the insanely powerful Cassandra Nova with a mental illusion so real it recalls the stunning sleight of hand by Luke Skywalker against Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi. This marks the final issue in the brief X-Men Red run, a fitting and triumphant end to a book that was only beginning to explore complex modern social issues through the lens of a new X-team.
X-Men Season One #1
An overlooked but great comic book series from the 2010s is X-Men: Season One, which is a different take on the origin of the classic team. The first issue, by writer Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum and artist Jamie McKelvie, provides a fun, modern jumping on point for new readers from the perspective of Jean Grey.
The issue takes a very Buffy The Vampire Slayer approach to the origin of the X-Men, presenting Jean as a teenager as challenged by her love life as she is by giant robot Sentinels and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The rest of the team is similarly plagued by adolescent problems Professor Xavier struggles to
House Of X #1
House Of X #1, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Pepe Laraz, was monumental when it debuted in 2019. The status quo of the X-Men shifted dramatically for the first time in many years, with the team now firmly established on the island of Krakoa and capable of cheating death through the Resurrection Protocols developed by Professor X. Few comics have shifted things so quickly and powerfully; old enemies like Magneto and Apocalypse are now trusted members of the White Council, and mutants no longer beg to live free lives. They simply do.
House Of X #2
Even more consequential than the new status quo established in the first issue, House Of X #2 introduces one of the biggest retcons in Marvel Comics history. With the revelation that Moira MacTaggart is a mutant who has lived numerous lives before, the entire past of the X-Men and Marvel Comics is recontextualized. What's more, the future of the comics is cast into deep mystery. What are Moira's ultimate plans? Will she get a tenth life? What happens if she dies, and does the Marvel Universe as fans know it continue? Few issues have ever had as much impact as this one for the X-Men.