Warning: Spoilers for Way of X #3 ahead!
The X-Men franchise can be a hard one to follow, with its multiple timelines, stories, and every growing set of characters, but now it's come to a point where even the mutants themselves are aware they've become a fractured mess. In Marvel's Way of X #3 Nightcrawler is on a mission to unite mutants under the three laws of Krakoa, but it's a much harder job than he originally thought..
The Hellfire Gala event has brought all twelve X-Men titles together for a night of extravagance prepped to usher in a new era. Over the month-long release, fans have gotten the chance to piece together the evening's events through different perspectives, interactions, and moments in time. The multiple issue storytelling has additionally allowed writers to explore character dynamics in a whole new way. It's also brought to light just how many separate groups and stories there are within the franchise, as well as how disjointed they've grown over the years. This is why Nightcrawler's attempts at finding a way for the nation to thrive isn't as easy as following a few simple rules.
In Way of X #3 by Si Spurrier and Bob Quinn, Kurt Wagner dips into the libations a little too much and ends up going around spewing fairly nonsensical, semi-religious jargon, along with his opinions on following the rules of Krakoa. When he wakes up the next morning with a gnarly hangover, questioning his actions from the prior evening, he goes out and finds himself running into Stacy-X. While he's going on about trying to get his fellow mutants to abide by the first law of Krakoa, "make more mutants," she's handing out contraceptives to hungover mutant natives. He may think the path to a thriving nation is adhering to the simple Krakoan laws, but she disagrees. When he asks what the answer is if not procreation, she answers simply: "connections" and making "mutants feel like they're all in the same story."
For her the answer is easy, but it's much harder in practice. It also proves that both Marvel and its mutants have become self-aware of the mess X-Men comics have evolved into. The disjointed nature wasn't a huge issue back before mutantkind founded its own nation on Krakoa, but now that they've come together, villain and hero alike, it's apparent that being so disconnected isn't doing them any favors. In order to be unified as a nation, to make a successful society, the main thing they need is a community that feels listened to, acknowledged, and not cast by the wayside or forgotten.
This is easier said than done, especially given how vast both the franchise and Krakoa's influence have become. It's not so easy to stay on the same page when you have multiple titles running simultaneously, and it's made even harder with all the retcons and changes introduced in recent years. It's obvious the real world feeling of disjointedness is felt on the island nation as well. Plus, it doesn't help that lesser mutants most assuredly feel downcast in relation to the X-Men A-listers. So, how is everyone supposed to feel connected when X-Men comics have become such a discombobulated mess? Hopefully they're able to figure that out soon in order to bring some strengthened unity to Krakoa and the many plots surrounding it. There's no doubt that Nightcrawler will be at the forefront of this effort moving forward. And who knows, maybe he'll even be able to bring a sense of connectedness to his fellow wayward mutants.