X-Men #700 is now out, closing the book on the Krakoa era, in which the X-Men and thousands of other mutants founded their own nation before it was overthrown by anti-mutant villains.
Along with revealing the final fate of the story's last villains standing, it also sets the stage for the upcoming 'From the Ashes' relaunch of the X-Men line.
The Krakoa era was massive, lasting for years and running across many titles. But if you've been out of the loop for a while and you're about to jump back in, we've got a run down of all the major beats you need to know about the rise and fall of Krakoa and what it means for the future of the X-Men right here.
And needless to say, spoilers for the last few years of X-Men comics abound.
What was Krakoa?
The mutant nation of Krakoa was, in fact, a mutant itself - a living island which feeds on mutant energy and which shares a kinship with the X-Men. Krakoa has been part of Marvel lore since the '70s, but it wasn't until 2019 that Professor X, Magneto, and their allies came together to found their own mutant nation on the island.
Krakoa quickly became a haven for all mutants, even those who were once enemies of the X-Men, including recent X-Men '97 villains Apocalypse and Mister Sinister. The population ballooned to around 200-250,000 mutants, with more arriving every day - all with the intent of building a mutant utopia.
Through the vast array of abilities possessed by the mutants of Krakoa, the burgeoning nation developed special technology that allowed them to teleport instantaneously around the globe, medicines that could cure all kinds of diseases in both mutants and humans, and even the ability to resurrect dead mutants.
Later, the mutants of Krakoa were even able to transform Mars into a hospitable planet by bonding it with Arakko, the sibling island of Krakoa, with Iceman, Magneto, Storm, and others combining their powers to create new magnetic poles, icecaps, and atmosphere on the newly dubbed Planet Arakko.
But Krakoa had a third founder, whose existence was hidden from other mutants - Moira MacTaggert, who secretly had the ability to resurrect herself into a new timeline, giving Krakoa a secret weapon and a secret weakness.
What led to the fall of Krakoa?
Unfortunately, as is usually the case in the Marvel Universe, anti-mutant enemies dogged Krakoa from the time of its founding, most notably the anti-mutant group Orchis, a coalition of humans and advanced Sentinel AI working together to destroy Krakoa and mutantkind.
Orchis was led by Nimrod, a futuristic, super-advanced Sentinel, and his allies Karima Shapandar the Omega Sentinel, human industrialist Feilong, and several clones of Mister Sinister all operating in different capacities.
Despite their coalition, the villains are also at odds with each other, with Nimrod and Omega Sentinel planning to destroy all humans as well as mutants to make way for an AI takeover, Feilong planning to capture Mars/Arakko for humankind, and Sinister's various clones essentially attempting to achieve divinity as a so-called 'Dominion,' an omnipotent cosmic intelligence.
Even through all their interpersonal conflicts, Orchis manages to pull together a plan to fully destroy Krakoa and eliminate mutants from the Earth, and when Moira MacTaggert abandons Krakoa, she joins Orchis, giving them the secrets of Krakoa and allowing them to launch their final attack.
How did Krakoa end?
At the 2023 version of the Hellfire Gala, a special annual party where humans are invited to Krakoa to mingle with mutants, Nimrod himself and many Orchis allies crash-land on Krakoa, killing numerous X-Men. At the same time, most of the 200,000 mutants on Krakoa are forced into the White Hot Room, a cosmic place outside of time and space where the Phoenix Force is born.
Meanwhile, the X-Men are framed for killing all the humans at the Hellfire Gala, and Orchis poisons the Krakoan medicines that were proliferated throughout the world, leading to rising anti-mutant sentiment, and the quick passing of laws to hunt down mutants using Sentinels built from stolen Stark technology.
Mutants across the world are interned in camps or killed by Sentinels, while the X-Men and their allies form an underground resistance to fight back.
Eventually, though it costs them a great deal, the X-Men are finally able to defeat Nimrod, while also deprogramming Karima Shapandar from being the Omega Sentinel, neutralizing the AI faction of Orchis. Meanwhile, Feilong and his Stark Sentinels are also defeated by Iron Man himself.
This leaves only Mister Sinister's duplicates. Though most of them are quickly subdued, his final form as a rising Dominion remains, with a level of cosmic power capable of even rewriting history. Fortunately for the X-Men, Jean Grey is able to bond with the reborn Phoenix Force, allowing her to burn away Mister Sinister entirely after Moira gives him up, freeing herself from her own cycle of death and rebirth in the process.
How has the X-Men status quo changed?
Even though they ultimately win, the X-Men still wind up without a homeland, as in the conclusion of X-Men #700, the White Hot Room opens up, revealing that for the 200,000 mutants trapped there, 15 years have passed.
In that time, the mutants in the White Hot Room have built their own society known as New Krakoa which is a peaceful utopia free from persecution by non-mutants. What's more, they've managed to resurrect millions of dead mutants who were killed in the destruction of Genosha.
The mutants of New Krakoa take the original Krakoa into the White Hot Room, leaving the X-Men behind to fight for the mutants still left on Earth. This leads to the upcoming new 'From the Ashes' X-Men status quo, in which the entire X-Men line will relaunch.
What's next for the X-Men?
'From the Ashes' relaunches the X-Men line with three core titles - X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Exceptional X-Men - with multiple spin-off titles as well. Each of the three core X-Men teams is based out of a different location, while the spin-off teams such as X-Factor, X-Force, and NYX also have their own home bases around the planet.
Though the White Hot Room is home to New Krakoa, it's not easily accessible for most mutants, meaning that most of the Krakoan advances such as their medicines and especially the ability to resurrect mutants are now off-limits to anyone outside New Krakoa. This puts the X-Men back into a more vulnerable position than they've been in for a long time, with no readily available way to bring dead mutants back to life on demand.
At the same time, Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix, and Dazzler are all getting their own solo titles, and Storm is actually joining the Avengers as well as stepping in her own series.
With the announced 'From the Ashes' titles launching between July and October, we're expecting more titles to be announced as time rolls on.
There's still a lot we don't know about the 'From the Ashes' era, but we do have a handy-dandy rundown of all the new X-Men titles, creative teams, and more ready for you to dig into.
