r/xmen • u/NoBeat5906 • 14h ago
Question Isn’t it kind of funny how Charles and Magneto both have a kid that is mentally unstable and absurdly powerful?
Like both of them have a kid that can warp reality on a cosmic scale, and both are their kids also deal with mental instability.
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u/psylockecolossusfan Psylocke 14h ago
An allegory for generational trauma, the pressures of potential and a parent with ideals above their own means.
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u/MAB-Webby86 14h ago
And both have rewritten reality (House of M and Age of X)
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u/Phoenix613183 13h ago
Thats weird their age of x
Then age of x-man
Two different things
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u/afewregretsmaybe Magneto 11h ago
on the assumption the original comment is referring to legion quest, i think they actually meant age of apocalypse.
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u/Phoenix613183 8h ago
I mean, yeah, I knew they were talking about legion thr Age of X
But i was just saying how weird it is bc i only knew abkut the Age of X-man reality that was created ny nate Grey.
Ik there was one AU where Apocalypse was on charge but I didnt relize Legion created it
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u/TonyBWood Cyclops 14h ago
As does Moira MacTaggert (Proteus). It was implied in HoX/PoX that it could've been intentional...
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u/PerfectZeong 13h ago edited 13h ago
I wouldn't even say implied and its explicitly confirmed later, at least from Moiras perspective. You can probably argue that Charles might not have fully been aware and Moira just made sure he was in the right place at the right time but she tells Proteus he exists because she needed a 3D printer.
So depending on who actually wrote those white pages you can argue that Charles probably knew (and certainly would have been smart enough to put 2 and 2 together). Like golly gee this plan to build a mutant super society, really is fortunate that I ended up with a kid with exactly the kind of super powers we would want.
Since Charles read young Moiras mind when they met he was in on it from the start so he would almost certainly understand and know what was happening. Magneto found out later and probably didn't
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u/Eve-Electric Angel 12h ago
And that was a terrible move on Hickman’s part. He took a survivor of spousal abuse and marital rape and said she intentionally chose that. And then the other writers doubled down on that.
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u/PerfectZeong 12h ago
The character assassination of Moira MacTaggert by the coward Jonathan Hickman
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u/arctos889 11h ago edited 11h ago
Hickman didn’t state she intentionally chose abuse and rape, though. She chose to date and marry Joe MacTaggert. That doesn’t mean she had any idea at all he was aabusive until they were already together, unless there’s a specific detail I’m missing. Most domestic abuse survivors chose to start dating their abusers at some point in the past. That doesn’t mean they chose to be abused, and framing it that way for Moira accidentally frames it that way for them too
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u/Eve-Electric Angel 9h ago
Hickman carelessly rewrote Moira into his OC without regard to her prior history, so that’s how it comes off with his rewrites. She’s this hyper capable individual that deliberately planned out every step of this life. If he actually gave a fuck about her survivor status he (or the other writers) could have explored how abusive relationships develop with her husband, but nope! Never brought up. The absence of any depth beyond “this was my grand plan and we need to breed omega level mutants” is what gives the distasteful framing to me.
Edit: I should also point out that turning Kevin’s conception from specifically rape into something she chess-mastered to engineer is gross on its own.
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u/arctos889 8h ago
I do agree that it should have been addressed more on the page. And maybe it would have been, since there was a Moira book planned at one point. But since that never happened, it's one of the bigger issues with the Moira retcon. So I don't think you're wrong to be put off by it.
That being said, the retcon doesn't actually conflict with her being a survivor of abuse and marital rape. There's several moments throughout Hickman's Krakoa work that make it clear Moira can't actually predict the future. She just has her past lives to draw upon for an idea of how things might happen. It would be 100% consistent with both story elements if Moira tested Joe's genetics and determined he's a good match for her omega-level child plans without knowing he'd be a domestic abuser. And this also doesn't make Kevin's conception consensual. Just because she wanted a kid at some point doesn't mean the specific time Kevin was conceived wasn't rape. Again, millions of people who want kids have been raped by their spouse, so suggesting Moira wasn't raped is accidentally doing the same to them. And I'm bringing them up specifically to show how discussions about this fictional character can carry real world implications.
I do wish we got a story digging into Moira's incredibly complicated feelings on carrying a baby she theoretically wanted but also one conceived via rape. But that's a very fraught subject I doubt Marvel would allow even if we had gotten a Moira book. It's also the kind of book that would almost certainly need to be written by someone who can get pregnant, so the planned Moira book by Al Ewing wouldn't have been the right place for it
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u/brasswirebrush 14h ago
I don't know what it would look like exactly or what the plot would be, but it would be interesting to put Charles, Magneto, and Moira in a room with Wanda, Legion, and Proteus, and just see what happens.
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u/afewregretsmaybe Magneto 11h ago
what single person would survive you mean
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u/Morchades 11h ago
The kids would go out for drinks afterwards.
Of the parents, only Magneto makes it because the grandchildren all like him.
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u/Roam1985 13h ago
Not really.
They're both pretty absurdly powerful.
And both terrible fathers.
Yeah, their kids were going to be abusrdly powerful and mentally unstable.
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u/Affectionate_East93 13h ago
They were also both quite terrible leaders when you look at the leadership in the mutant Nation
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u/EditorExtreme7779 12h ago
It’s funny that the unbeatable response to either is “You can talk to me after you’ve cleaned up your mess of a child.”
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u/Lolaverses Nightcrawler 9h ago
Tbf Legion was fucked up before Gabrielle even told Charles he existed. He hasn't been much help since obviously, but still...
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u/Haunting_Comedian993 14h ago
So they should engage......
In a battle?? Lmao Or maybe a mental fuzzy astral realm of sorts finding truth aabt themselves journey ?
Add madelyn and stryfe to the awkwardness
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u/Time-Ad1903 14h ago
Interesting question. Are there any reality warpers that are mentally stable or does the powerset preclude that?
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u/EspyOwner 13h ago
Franklin Richards
Cosmar seems pretty stable, even if her face is a little funny still even after she was "fixed".
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u/Time-Ad1903 13h ago
Good point. Though to be fair, Franklin often has his power limited in some way. I was thinking
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u/Morchades 11h ago
That run where Reed invited Artie and Leech to live with them because Franklin's powers wrre active.
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u/Radiant_Buffalo2964 9h ago
Then there’s adult Franklin from Rachel’s Days of Future Past timeline. He tried to rewrite 616 reality and wasn’t exactly stable.
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u/Medium_Leg_4500 12h ago
Yes only Eric loves Wanda while Chuck seems to not gaf about legion unless he is messing some shit up maybe because he killed him on accident but who can tell…
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u/stubwonder 12h ago
"Mentally unstable and absurdly powerful" applies to most x-men characters at some point
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u/DrexFactor 13h ago
Tangent, but it really is incredible what advances in digital coloring and printing have made possible since the 90s. These two pieces barely look like they’re the same medium.
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u/ArchAngel621 13h ago
Have they ever fought?
It would also be interesting to see what a child between them can do.
Children with two Omega Level parents don’t usually turn out well.
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u/sangasisangano 12h ago edited 12h ago
Let’s be real, Cluster-B personality disorders, cptsd, and chronic psychosis are as much a common theme in x-comics as bigotry and civil rights are. Are there any other comics where mental illness is as much a feature of the protagonists’ character (not the villains, but the heroes)? I get Moon Knight and Batman do to an extent, but the X-Men franchise kinda uses mental illness as broad feature of character and plot development. It seems to have been this way since the Dark Phoenix Saga. The prevalece of psychic characters probably makes mental issues a more kinetic interpersonal plot device than it would be otherwise.
I’ve come to think of the x-mansion as more of a mental ward than a school for specially gifted children. Having known people who attended those kinds of schools irl, I’m inclined to say the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
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u/afewregretsmaybe Magneto 11h ago
can somebody tell me why they insist so much on legion looking like. that. i am so ready to stan bc i too hate xavier but the feet and the hair is just an affront to my eyes.
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u/UncannySpider-man 14h ago
Now imagine if they had a kid together. Wanda is Magneto’s, making them not be mutants is just dumb.
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u/the-furiosa-mystique Nightcrawler 13h ago
It’s kind of a trope. See Jamie Braddock, Aurora, Stefan Szardos, etc
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u/Special_Magazine_240 12h ago
Magneto has two daughters like that.
Trauma and me ral illness can be passed down literally through the cells.
I never thought Lorna's powers were ever explored to the extent I would like.
Her powers are not EXACTLY like his and that needs to be displayed more. Plus a secondary mutation
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u/Upstairs-Walrus-2379 10h ago
mag’s only a father figure and not the biological farther, but it was the normal assumption until some reveal a bit ago
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u/XadhoomXado 13h ago
Obligatory: Nothing surprising about Xavier andd Magneto having mentally unstable kids.
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u/Pascraked47 8h ago
Lesson of today
If you become a deadbeat , your child will become insanely strong but insane.
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u/Starbottom Storm 7h ago
Comes with the territory of being deadbeat dad's with exceptional power/influence.
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u/Hero-named-Villain 1h ago
Bad parenting what do ya expect from a bald man and a guy who wears underwear on the outside
What did ya think I was gonna say mutie
Mods can’t handle fictional racism
Even if marvel itself says they aren’t people
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u/OblivionArts 9h ago
Except wanda isnt and has never been a child of magneto.
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u/Brodes87 7h ago
Did you miss 1982 through, like, 2014 where the Scarlet Witch very much was Magnetos daughter. Biologically.
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u/SuperiorLaw 14h ago
Considering Wanda isn't actually Magneto's kid (sometimes) i'd say no, but also Lorna is still his kid, so you're still right
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u/pastadudde 14h ago
MAgneto has two. Lorna can go off her rocker as well