Marvel’s Pressures on X-Men Revolution

Revolution marked Claremont’s return to the X-Franchise, but it came at a time when Marvel was in a dire financial situation and facing pressures that were not conducive to creative success. The situation is summarized by Dirk Deppey of The Comics Journal as follows: #XMen 1/7

Jemas and Quesada wasted no time in transforming Marvel’s publishing philosophy from a conservative, formulaic reliance on established superhero tropes to a more adventurous, whatever-sticks-to-the-walls approach… 2/7

…conducted in the shadow of ironclad market reality. Both men made clear in interviews that they clearly understood that growth in Marvel’s publishing division meant walking a fine line between two seemingly incompatible constituencies – on the one hand… 3/7

…the company needed to maintain its existing base… while on the other, it also needed to experiment with new genres and storytelling techniques, in order to appeal to potential readers who might not be interested in what the existing fanbase craved.” (qtd. in Darowski 120) 4/7

This duality was especially problematic for the X-Men franchise with a blockbuster movie release in 2000 (happening simultaneously with Claremont’s return) fostering hope that cinema-goers would follow their favorite new superheroes to the comics they’d originated from. 5/7

X-Men Revolution, then, can be seen to embrace a philosophy of “both and” rather than “either or.” The time jump creates an effective entrypoint (a clear new beginning) while the return of Claremont (and certain key story beats) drip-feeds nostalgia to the audience. 6/7

Adding context to this, Claremont has stated repeatedly in interviews that company indifference was a key factor in the success of his original X-Men run. In the year 2000, however, Marvel – and X-Men in particular – were very much on the hot seat. 7/7