What if Chris Claremont had never left the X-Men?

[Emerald Ghost]

I just wonder, if Chris had never left the X-Men, how things would be different today?

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

I just wonder, if Chris had never left the X-Men, how things would be different today?

Mutant and human relations would have gotten to the point of near war around Uncanny #300 - the issue which would have had wolverine getting tortured and going through the most pain he ever had.

Claremont said it years ago in a wizard article.

[Emerald Ghost]

Mutant and human relations would have gotten to the point of near war around Uncanny #300 - the issue which would have had wolverine getting tortured and going through the most pain he ever had.

Claremont said it years ago in a wizard article.

Wow. So he's said what he would do if he had stayed? Awesome.

I wish Marvel would make a non-canon book for him, and have it pick up after he left, and we could see what he would do. It could be an alternate universe. I think it would be cool reading.

[DDM]

The Shadow King would be defeated, but at the cost of Xavier's telepathy. Xavier's next encounter with the Shadow King would prove fatal as he would not survive, although the evil Shadow King would seemingly be defeated.

Magneto would have returned to Xavier's school as co-headmaster.

Gateway would become the spiritual leader of the X-Men, replacing Xavier, for the same dream of mutants & humans living in peace.

The Hellfire Club would have been destroyed & remade into a new Hellfire Club, more than likely reformed by the Shadow King.

Tessa would have rejoined the X-Men as Sage; she would be revealed to be Xavier's double agent spy.

Wolverine would slowly lose his mind over several months (remember Wolverine's hallucinations of Carol Danvers & Nick Fury?). Eventually, Wolverine would become the Hand's assassin & the X-Men's most dangerous foe yet.

Psylocke may fall prey to the Hand as well. Were they really done with her?

The original X-Factor would have still rejoined the X-Men, but Claremont would have written both Uncanny X-Men & X-Men.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

Wow. So he's said what he would do if he had stayed? Awesome.

I wish Marvel would make a non-canon book for him, and have it pick up after he left, and we could see what he would do. It could be an alternate universe. I think it would be cool reading.

Do wizard archive their old interviews on their website?

If so it was the article where Jim Lee interviewed claremont.

[hbkabdul]

We would have had more nonsensical issues of X-men to read in the last 6 years.

[DDM]

We would have had more nonsensical issues of X-men to read in the last 6 years.

I disagree. Claremont has plans, often long term ones, but definite plans for all of the X-Men. After Claremont left in 1991, the editors had no clue what to make of Claremont's dangling plots such as Psylocke, Gambit, Sinister, & Wolverine. Either they were ignored (Wolverine) or they were rewritten (we got the horrible Ravanche/Kwannon mess, & Gambit being some shady traitor which never really manifested since Bishop's traitor turned out to be Onslaught).

You want nonsense? Read Uncanny X-Men & X-Men from late 1991-2000. Most of the stories run together in an incoherent mess.

[Ant-Man]

I disagree. Claremont has plans, often long term ones, but definite plans for all of the X-Men. After Claremont left in 1991, the editors had no clue what to make of Claremont's dangling plots such as Psylocke, Gambit, Sinister, & Wolverine. Either they were ignored (Wolverine) or they were rewritten (we got the horrible Ravanche/Kwannon mess, & Gambit being some shady traitor which never really manifested since Bishop's traitor turned out to be Onslaught).

You want nonsense? Read Uncanny X-Men & X-Men from late 1991-2000. Most of the stories run together in an incoherent mess.

I agree on some points. Hooking up Gambit and Rogue ruined both characters. And the Psylocke thing was dumb as well.

[The Shadow]

I just wonder, if Chris had never left the X-Men, how things would be different today?

The title wouldn't have wandered into the incoherent mess it was mired in throughout the 90s until Chris's permanent return.

[Ant-Man]

The title wouldn't have wandered into the incoherent mess it was mired in throughout the 90s until Chris's permanent return.

And it's still an incoherent mess, but I still likes my X-Men :D .

[UniqueFrequency]

I just wonder, if Chris had never left the X-Men, how things would be different today?

i'd have no x-books in my collection.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

I just wonder, if Chris had never left the X-Men, how things would be different today?

I have no Idea. As someone mentioned...he had plans. Its just that Marvel wanted the X-Franchise to match the cartoon being fixed on Fox and I'm sure Chris didn't want no part of that. He for years really was allowed to go where he wanted with plots and what not. Then he had editors telling him what he cold....and couldn't do. It must have Irked him. I know It would me.


Now he's back and odds are he has control where he goes with a roster and what storylines he'll run.

[xakko]

Now he's back and odds are he has control where he goes with a roster and what storylines he'll run.

well, I for one would've liked it if Jean had lived after Dark Phoenix, even though the story wouldn't have been great by a long shot. I know the death of Phoenix is crucial for its classic status; I just wish we could have seen her as the school teacher he'd planned.

I'm also terribly curious what would've happened to Kitty and Peter had editorial not broken them up. I can't imagine they would've stayed together 20 years real time (5 years Marvel time), but I wish I knew his plans.

I wish Gambit had remained a villain. He never interested me as a hero.

I really wish we could get that alternate "What if?" Chris Claremont followed through on his plans book.

Oh yeah, we have "The End"...

[Frank]

What the books did before the early 90s relaunch was destroy all the old concepts, kill all the old villains to make way for something new. X-Men 1-3 was about Magneto`s last stand and his death wich new cocky young turk Fabian Cortez using his legend as a crusade for his own means. And Cortez was part of a new version of the Hellfire Club called The Upstart with new guys trying to take the mutant World by storm.

What I liked about what Chris Claremont and Jim Lee were trying to do is basicly start from scratch with new ideas, ushering a new Golden Age for the X-Men books. All the plans they mentioned they had in minds was exciting as Hell, and Jim wanted to do 50 MORE ISSUES OF X-MEN!!!! These guys would have stirred shit up with cool stories with no ends in sight!

But what was exciting about it is that after years of weird, hard-to-read psychadelic stories, X-Men were fun again with an artist in Jim Lee that had a John Byrne-like clean style, making the X-Men kick-ass but easy to read. Plus the dude had literaly gotten a great energy back into the X-Men with neat designs and even if he was an artist- he had plans on his own.

But then CC leaves. Jim Lee is alone for a while then leaves too(saying something like "if they gonna screw up with someone like CC that has given everything he had for X-Men why should I stay? I prefer not get screwed and do my own stories with my own characters"). And the X-Men book for a while used a few ideas that CC and Lee had came up with(The Upstarts)...until it`s crossovers after crossovers and it becomes an incoherant mess worst FAR WORST than what it was before Jim Lee got there.

And then everything that was cool about those characters dies.

And now here we are.

[Siddon]

I think it would have been pretty good for a few years and then it would have turned to garbage in the late 90's. Claremont was a great writer but his plans where a bit to 80's and the tentpole events of 91-95 would not have happened.

Odds are we not have
Age of Apocaylpse
Wolverines Weapon X/Solo Adventures/Adamantium loss
Fatal Attractions
Onslaught
Generation X

You may like or dislike some of those but they made the X-men the top franchise in Marvel and kept them in the black for many years.