Warning: spoilers for New Mutants #19 by Vita Ayala, Alex Lins, Matt Milla, and Travis Lanham are ahead.
A new era for the X-Men has begun with the establishment of Krakoa's first official team. With a new lineup of heroes consisting of Cyclops (Scott Summers), Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Polaris (Lorna Dane), Wolverine (Laura Kinney), Rogue, Synch (Everett Thomas), and Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida), longtime fans can look forward to seeing the mutants return to a more familiar role in Marvel Comics. But even as the announcement of a new X-Men team has been cause for celebration on Krakoa, not everyone is as equally enthused about it.
In New Mutants #19, Magik (Illyana Rasputin) revealed in a group chat with other members of the New Mutants that she thought that Sunfire wouldn't last long on the new X-Men team (written by Vita Ayala, art by Alex Lins, colors by Matt Milla, letters by VC's Travis Lanham, design by Tom Muller). When Sunspot (Roberto Dacosta) jokingly called Cypher (Douglas Ramsey) a "betrayer" for having voted for Sunfire in the election, Magik commented, "5 to 1 odds that Sunfire quits the first day anyway." While Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair) called her out for being disrespectful, none of the other New Mutants disagreed with Magik's remark.
Magik's comment is not completely unfounded, seeing that Sunfire joined the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 from 1975 (written by Len Wein, art by Dave Cockrum, colors by Glynis Wein, and letters by John Costanza) and subsequently quit in the next story with X-Men #94 (written by Chris Claremont, art by Dave Cockrum, inks by Bob McLeod, colors by Phil Rachelson, and letters by Tom Orzechowski). Though Sunfire was not alone in his abrupt arrival and departure, seen in the fact that Thunderbird was introduced in Giant-Size X-Men #1 and killed off not long after, it is clear that this history still has a bearing over Magik's opinion of him.
Sunfire does not have a great track record when it comes to a commitment towards the X-Men, but this could be from shaky writing inconsistencies. His reasons for joining the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men were unclear, as he had declined helping the new team on their first mission, only to show up minutes later stating that he had decided to help, and that his "reasons [were] nobody's business but [his] own." His departure in X-Men #94 was not the last time he worked with the team, but it still has defined part of his relationship to mutantkind's most prominent group.
It should also be noted that Magik's opinion on Sunfire's future in the X-Men is significant, given that she is one of the four Great Captains of Krakoa. Charged with helping protect the nation, Magik's opinion of Sunfire could be a symptom of the fracturing that has been taking place on Krakoa for quite some time. Additionally, this is the first time that anyone has raised concerns about the heroes on the new X-Men team, but it is possible that more could come along sometime in the future. Either way, it remains to be seen if Sunfire can outgrow his reputation in this brave new world for the X-Men.