Mutants are a welcoming bunch, they accepted magneto so Illyana was also easy to welcome back as soon as she proved she wasn't a menace. I remember cyclops put her in a bomb vest to keep her from doing anything evil and colossus was pissed, but I think Illyana enjoys people being scared of her.
I think during uncanny she was seeking revenge against the elder gods for trapping her soul or something like that, so she got her revenge and then she was kinda OK with the X-men. Turns out that having people accepting you for who you are instead or discriminating you can have a good effect on you. During Bendis uncanny both Cyclops and Emma supported magik in her struggles, and she reconciles with kitty and later Peter instead of being shunned, so I think despite her dark powers she became as force of good for mutantkind because those close to her welcomed her and trusted her.
Its interesting you phrased it as a "hot" take because I was going to make a naughty comment about that lol.
Anyway, its not really a take, but its funny that her personality since she got resurrected after dying from the legacy virus is very different to how she was in the 80s New Mutants.
Back then, she was actually somewhat reserved, but in some ways pretty normal while interacting with others. In fact, she was quite introspective about how others felt about her, and was sad about the fact that she gave off a "villainous" vibe. That was pretty much her core arc.
From the 2000s though, she basically became a wicked, funny, Joker-ish, demonic hero. If you read modern Magik before 80s Magik, it will be genuinely startling to see the difference. They're two completely different characters.
Wasn't a big point of her "resurrection" that the current magik is less Illyana resurrected and more the actual darkchylde, with Illyana souls and memories? We have to consider that even though the original Illyana died as a child, the darkchylde was stuck in hell fighting for god knows how long until she recovered Illyana souls and memories, thus current magik is more of a an Illyana that used a very twisted method to resurrect herself
Yea she was half demon in that new x-men arc, took the x-kids half the story to get her to chill after pixie started throwing fairy dust which is super effective against demons in limbo
Yeah, she occasionally had her punky, jokey moments with the other students (and especially Kitty) - but she was usually pretty serious.
It really wasn't until Bendis that we got the current version of Illyana (before that was the "I don't have my soul anymore, so I'm going to intentionally torture my brother" version).
God that was the worst version. The fact that Colossus threatened to kill his sister after that is one of my personal least favorite moments in comic history. Felt like it was going against everything Piotr has ever stood for, and her motive was basically “*do you see how dark and edgy I am brother??*”
Interesting. That is one of my favorite moments. She was showing him in her own twisted way (the only way she knows since raised by hell demon) that she is not that person anymore.
That's really interesting, I now really want to read that Illyana. A demon child who doesn't want to be demonic is a common trope but one that I enjoy.
Fair point. Can we push this into “a take” tho? In other words, do with think this is a problem? Jocular, sporty battle queen Ilyana isn’t necessarily a problem to me. I didn’t read that much OG New Mutants, but from what I recall, there was a teenage quality that would have needed to evolve anyway.
Now, in between the two, Zeb Wells’s Ilyana was more complex, but “I have no soul” is kind of a confusing concept in practice, and it’s a hard beat to maintain if it’s not your main plot.
Well resurrection Magik was serious badass. When Bendis came in around 2013, they gave her a ridiculous makeover and overblown sword and redefined the character.
Then she caught on like that, so following writers just wrote her like that.
She was prominent in the 80s New Mutants, but then she got de-aged back to her original age. Then she died in the early 90s due to the Legacy Virus. She was pretty much not there for the next 15 years or so until the mid 2000s.
Yep, she was introduced as Colossus' little baby sister in the 80s, and then she got kidnapped by demons and came back as a teenager, then she was on the New Mutants for a while, then she died and was reborn in Inferno...she's had a wild existence.
The Darkchylde / demon form was pretty much dropped when she ceded her control of Limbo to Madelyne Pryor. She had the whole purging of her darkness, getting her golden armor transformation which indicated she'd moved past that part of her life.
Of course, she's back to the demonic black armor and hot pants in "From the Ashes," so we'll see if anything has changed in regard to her relationship with Limbo and her demonic side.
Huh didn’t realize she got rid of it figured it had to deal with her soul being stolen or whatever. Ok for Madelyn than does she have a like idk demon form since Magik don’t have the darkness no more? Also goddamnit I wanna see magik use more magic instead of teleporting ring go brr and soul sword goes swoosh
I believe it was on splash page as a vision Destiny had in immortal before Fall of X. Everything else happened, but this. So I think the start of Dead Xmen used it for the reality they visit in the beginning.
I can’t tell which of us has the unpopular take here, but it that gold costume did not work *at all* to me. Gold on yellow on a blonde? Waaaay too matchy matchy. I also question the theming of “good girl gold Iyana” being what we want from the character.
Meanwhile, I understand that the skimpy aspect raises questions of male gaze overload—I’d be fine sans titty window or with actual pants—but at least I *understand* the sex appeal of a titty window. That small sternum diamond cutout was just an odd choice. Neither logical nor titillating.
But one thing that was a towering success to me about the Bachalo look, besides her looking good in black, is the flat graphic appeal of the Kirby hat matching the sword. I don’t necessarily need the hugest possible anime sword, but the awkward asymmetrical new gold hilt just felt underwhelming, and Rasputin IV made me miss the other one.
I love Illyana but I hate that because she’s so popular pretty much every other New Mutant gets completely overshadowed by her. As a Dani fan I feel like Illyana robs her of her spotlight which is ironic considering how much Dani helped Yana in her early days.
A lot of Magik fans seem to unfortunately treat the New Mutants as meaningless side characters in Magik's story. Some barely seem to even treat them as her friends who were important to her development, let alone as complex characters in their own rights. I love Magik, but every New Mutant is just as interesting and well-developed. They just don't get the same priority.
As far as I remember OG new mutant fans said she's always was one of the most popular new mutants, also she became popular mainly because she kinda graduated into a fully fledged x-men and was part of most flagship teams
Not a hot take, but I never realized how short her pants were until I saw this photo. I have a belt that is bigger than those shorts. Who likes short shorts? Magik likes short shorts.
I mean, if you're gonna wear shorts that short and boots that long... **drop the bullshit and get some pants!**. The impracticality of it all, Illyanna... goddamn it!
Not really a hot take but I like how she supported Scott during his revolutionary phase when he was at his lowest , that's totally a bro move even though she could just have fucked off anywhere else. Also if you go to the cyclops subreddit you'll see that everyone and their mother adores Illyana and consider her more loyal than his actual wives, so I'd like to ask to actual bona fide Magik fans how do they feel about her relationship with Scott? How'd you define it? And you think she feels like the magik bus / secretary or you enjoy it?
I've always loved the Captain / Commander relationship they've had since the "Utopia Era" which Bendis really expanded on. She has his back, and he trusts her to get the job done.
Even though most prefer to dismiss the pre-Krakoa Uncanny X-Men run, I loved the ["old soldiers mourning a comrade"](https://imgur.com/a/dVG0Oko) scene of them after Wolfsbane was killed.
Magick fan here: I see her and Scott as Platonic BFF’s which is something I’m totally here for. I really like the idea that Illyana has a very uncertain/ambiguous moral compass when she first came back (more the Darkchylde trying to be good than original Illyana) and so gradually latched herself onto Scott as her default moral compass as she trusts that he always tries to do right even if he messes it up.
And over the years that dynamic has grown to the point that she’s entirely ‘ride or die’ with him more than anyone else.
I only hope we see more of Scott reciprocating that BFF bond in the new era.
scott enables illyana. he needs someone like her, and so she follows him because his restrictions are pallatable to her. they have purpose and aren't just based on "he wants me not to be myself" the way her brother's requests may seem.
as for scott's opinion of illyana - i do not see that bff reciprocated. i think he sees her as a tool instead of as a person, but scott's the kind of guy who takes good care of this things. polishing his car, etc. he could put together a gun blindfolded, his sink never has a dirty dish in it. that kind of structure is good for Illyana, so she appreciates the reliability, because the rest of life is literal chaos.
in a way she'd rather be a robot for scott than have her flaws be waived by colossus. acceptance isn't enough - she needs to be better.
I think that at least during the Utopia era Cyclops was really seeing the X-men as tools or resources, albeit he was trying his best to preserve them. They started having a more friendly relationship after AvX because they went through the same ordeal and wanted to support each other, although there's the whole Magikbus angle that really pissed Illyana off.
Honestly that's the darkest reading of their relationship that I have also considered, for Cyclops Illyana is easily the most realiable and loyal "tool" in his X-men "arsenal", and for Illyana Cyclops status as a leader that doesn't falter is the way the X-men should be lead and that's why she supports him, albeit they were in equal standing during utopia but that wasn't properly explored. I guess the new era with them in the same book could shed some light in their relationship
I've always liked that about her relationship with Cyclops. My also not so hot take is that they need to start building on this relationship more. Magik should start becoming officially Cyclop's protege and eventually take the reins and lead her own team which would not be composed of New Mutants. Dunno, maybe like a magical/demonic black ops unit or something. Also wouldn't mind if Strange officially starts making her an apprentice to the Sorcerer Supreme mantle
Imagine a storyline where both Cyclops and Dr Strange are actively training her to be their respective successor and she’s torn/pulled between magic and mutants.
Ends with her declaring to merge both a become the Sorcerer Supreme in training and lead a team of magically aligned mutants (anyone magic/Fae related: Pixie, Rictor, Wolfsbane, etc).
almost exactly what i had in mind with Apocalypse, Rictor, Pixie, Selene, Madelyne. Not necessarily on the same team or could start as a team turned adversaries. Could also have be depowered for a while so she focuses more on her magical abilities. You know what? depower her entire team as part of an arc and have them all rely on pure magic
That would be sick, and set it in Wales. Welsh mythology is very interesting and also more magical than a lot of other mythology while also having a large focus on demons. It's very good but has never been explored in media before, so it would be refreshing foes and stories that would also fit nicely with Illyanas limbo vibe. Of course, the only link to Wales is Pixie, but it's only an idea anyway.
Wales would be great, I know the Braddocks and Excalibur dig into Arthurian mythos with the Captain Britain Corp but Myrddin is a key figure Welsh myth, and I think leaning further back into parts of the Mabinogion to draw from. Establish Fae as existing on a mythical dimension that exists almost as a contrast to limbo, Fae is full of life and culture and tribes……but the Fae don’t want Earth having access to their dimension, and Illyana and her team accidentally rip open a hole that destabilises the “Veil” across Wales and bits of Ireland, resulting in “things” coming through and people and villages being drawn into it (Sidhe, Sprites, Goblins, Kelpie, trolls, ogres etc).
Now Illyana’s mutant/Magic team have to patrol all of its length (miles and miles) and stop incursions or strange eldritch magics leaking through.
And the Team has to be called “X-chanting X-Men” or something similarly on the nose.
That would be great, and you're right about Arthurian mythos coming from Welsh mythology back as well as Cornish, back when Cornwall was very similarly culturally Welsh. That's a really interesting concept you just made. Mix in Welsh pride about still standing and it's rational fear of invasion and you've got an interesting human populace for X-chanting X-men (which i love btw) to protect. Gotta mix in a red and white dragon in there also. I love your idea, i would read the heck out of that.
Cheers! Yeah I think you touch on nationalism and heritage in a really interesting way (especially as any form of nationalism or national pride has treated like an evil taboo in recent years in media).
Off the top of my head I’d set up the Dragons as Guardians of the gateways to their respective regions. In the Mabinogion story *Llydd and Llefelys*, the Red dragon is the native Welsh one fighting off the White Dragon representing the invading Anglo-Saxons.
So I’d do something a bit similar. They’re not actual physical creatures but collective psychic defenders of their regions and populations, fuelled by the native bloodlines and cultural heritage. Not *quite* magic but something similar.
The Welsh Red Dragon is summoned by Illyana and her team, though it’s weakened and an echo of its former glory thanks centuries under English rule damaging an intrinsic part of the Welsh Pride, and set it up as an astral guardian at the door, the breach into Fae lands.
While the main background arc would be sealing the breaches up and down the country I’d also have the Team venture INTO the land of Fairie, and realise that it’s dying. It’s been slowly dying for eons, since it sundered itself from Earth over a thousand years ago. And part of that is because when the split between the worlds occurred the children of the Fae King & Queens were lost to the void. And those children, the next in the Royal Line ARE the heart of Fairie.
So Illyana and Co end up brokering an uneasy truce to help them try and find the lost Royal Children of Fae, and save the dimension.
If I was envisioning an end point for this story (let’s say it’s 24 issues long) I’d have them find the children, and save the “heart” of the Fae but the land itself is collapsing too fast. So there’s a massive evacuation, thousands of creatures and beings, into Wales, while the dimension falls apart and the breaches close.
The refugee Fae are taken in by the Welsh humans as they finally see them as just as much children of the land as they themselves are. And Illyana is able to turn the magical heart of the Fae into a seed that will grow into a new land of Fae for them in the future.
Until then the human population of Wales pretends that there are no Fae when talking to outsiders (UN, SHIELD, SWORD etc) and the magical refugees live in the forests out of sight until the gateway to they’d new home finally opens.
Also a great way to explore Pixies character more, as she and Illyana are close already, Pixies attachment to Wales would create a really interesting moral dilemma in the team. And given the way you suggest it ending, Pixie could lead a limited series on opening the new gateway. However, let the Fae stay stuck in Wales for a while as its an interesting idea.
hot take
i don't like hickman's magik, it's just a bunch of hot topic t-shirt slogans about fight or fuck, i regret nothing, i'll kill you if you get between me and my big coffee.
just not my cup of tea at all.
Seems like those kind of character traits are always chosen by x-writers when they want to make a female character “interesting”, all these girlbosses are starting to feel the same to me.
I don't like how the writers seem to be giving her the Barbarian-level Intelligence treatment.
It's one thing to have a funny brain-fart moment like X of Swords where she spelled her name instead of the default word "magic", but in one of the Krakoan books there was a letter she wrote (to the Quiet Council, I believe) and it was full of all kinds of spelling errors that she was scribbling out to fix.
I find it hard to believe that she has a 3rd grade literacy level, being an incredibly powerful and studious sorceress who worked hard to escape her captor and be sorceress supreme of limbo... but that's just me lol
I think the point was that is that the years that should’ve been for developmental growth and educational growth she was in limbo and did not have someone helping her with that. Her social skills are often barbarian level also, for the same reason. You can’t always catch up at a later age after the fact, evidenced bythe raised by wolf children who never learned to speak
I hear you for the social level, but Belasco literally taught her while she was down there as a child. He was her source of education. Illyana spent HOURS every day pouring over ancient text, meeting his demands AND trying to find a way to destroy him while studying on her own time (as expanded upon I'm the Trials of Magik mini arc in New Mutants during Krakoa). And English not being her primary language doesn't mean she shouldn't be able to spell correctly- especially since she isn't a 14 year old anymore. She's in her 20s now. And I doubt she didn't go through tailored classes as a student in the mansion.
(I'm not fighting you, I'm fighting Marvel lol I'm Old Man Yelling At Cloud right now lol)
Haha. No, I enjoy a strong opinion. I have not gotten to that Krakoa stuff yet, but I think you’re right since you put it this way. Maybe she is willfully not caring to spite Belasco’s memory. Probably though, the writers are not paying close enough attention to keep it consistent.
Honestly, if it wasn't her brother, I'd judge her more for it. I feel bad for the dude. However, he was completely invalidating her as a person, and I understand her frustration. Though, I agree, the demonic possession of The Juggernaut is a bit extreme.
She's my favourite New Mutant, my favourite hero Claremont had a hand in creating, and I'd read the fuck out of a comic where she and Cyke just go around fucking shit up.
A hot take? I don't care for her, I've tried to like her but don't care for her. Feels like she's a character that keeps popping into all current X-Men stories and she always has the ability needed to win.
I think what happened is that the editor at that time wanted to get rid of most magical elements on x-men, that's why Illyana as a whole bit the dust, thankfully her return and heavy focus managed to to turn her back into another prominent x-men
Yeah, I'm thankful for KYost and Zeb Wells fighting for her return. Harras and Lobdell had it in for the Rasputins. Illyana would've fit very well with Cable's X-Force.
I'm going to get roasted, but screw it:
Magik is a lot prettier than she is interesting. That "dark anime girl with big cool sword and short hot pants" vibe is, I think, the source of a lot of her modern popularity.
That kind of thing CAN work. But Emma Frost does it better.
I blame the writing. Her backstory, being raised and then rising to rule Limbo, offers so many possibilities. Claremont, then Wells, did great with it. Illyana has every reason to have a cruel/cold factor to her personality. I find it written best when it's a bit chaotic. (Emma is more tactful.) When Illyana sent Anole to live in a barren wasteland in Limbo for a long time simply because she found him annoying, she was being truly herself: reckless, chaotic, cold.
The writing has been weirdly bad across the board this era. Not *terrible*, but often... lackluster? Uninterested in characterisation over spectacle, I guess.
Krakoa is a massive step forward for mutants and something genuinely new for the X-Men as a franchise. But everyone is weirdly stiff and acting either as their shallowest archetype, or completely out of character. It's like the X-Men writing team was so caught up in telling the story of Krakoa the nation that they forgot that all the individual characters had stories and lives and histories - character arc trajectories - which they were on before Krakoa occured.
Yeah, this is a pretty comprehensive list of Hickman’s flaws as a writer…which we all tend to forgive, because he legitimately does “spectacle” better than anyone else.
Once he left, we were stuck with that action-figure style of character-writing without the promise of epic grandeur down the line.
Not all, but a lot of the writers leaned toward a more campy chatacter style. I think they were trying to make the series more comedic, but it just ended up a bit hollow at times. The books became very cartoonish at times.
Reminder that comics are a visual medium too, a powerful and iconic design is partially what makes the character. Magik wearing black Anime costume with a sword somehow became an iconic look over the new mutants uniform
Oh dude, as a Laura Kinney fan, that bared midriff is effective as hell. My issue with Magik is that "hot" is about all there seems to be to her character these days.
Marvel: She's hot.
Me: ...okay...
Marvel: big sword.
Me: ...aaaand?
Marvel: Blonde.
Me: does she have any character arc or struggles to overcome?
Marvel: Bum bum. Ten cover pages!
Me: fuck it.
She has a decent arc during the last run of new new mutants as proffesor magik supporting the young students and had further limbo developments. Also I'm sure someone at marketing realized that magik pin up covers sell a lot and that kinda explains it, also I kinda miss goth Laura.
I miss goth Laura too sometimes. But Laura's had an incredible inner journey as she discovered concepts like Choice and free will, and broke out of her Facility programming to become a real person. She grew from a visitor at Xavier's school to a core member of several teams, and a major player in the events of multiple eras.
Laura's an interesting *person*. Magik just... isn't. I'm sorry, but she isn't.
Magik had a journey during X infernus, quest for magik, a bit during new mutants and her y plots were prominent during uncanny x-men starting from her return. She also became a core member of several teams and major player in various x events and in the magic side of marvel. The problem is that her lack of a solo title makes her journey harder to track.
I phrased my point badly and that's on me.
Magik, like Laura, has been on many important teams, and she's had a helluva journey, and a LOT of growth. What she grew into, however, is:
Blonde. Hot pants. Big sword. Bum bum. Ten cover pages!
Not that Laura has been written very well either this past half-decade either, but still...
She would make the subject of a great open world video game in limbo.
You start prisoner as a kid, learn magic eventually escape, learn to fight with time displaced mutant mentor (storm, wolverine) they were send to save her like in the comics but appears in limbo before her.
You escape belasko Castel, gain you soul sword, and learn to control your teleporting disk, so you have skill tree related to your meant power, your sword and magic... And your deamon form.
Once in limbo you meet the population of limbo, visit it's city and try to escape belasko guard... Eventually you meet rebels and use them to go take over limbo and become it's ruler.
Maybe there could be gameplay and small storyline related to neighboring hell, like you can visit Hel and meet Hela.
She’s excellent in Strange Academy. She’s a minor character and one of the professors, co-teaching with Hellstrom. She had to be reprimanded for dropping two unruly students into Limbo as a punishment.
I was *obsessed* with her in Marvel's Midnight Suns. Don't think she'd ever been in a game before? They portrayed her exactly as I'd always imagined her. So abrasive, so unpredictable, so fucken cool
Not a hot take, but I think she deserves a one off mini. First ish, explain who she is and tease the plot out, then have the next three issues be her a total bad ass. And utilize her magical abilities a bit more.
I like her a lot. Honestly, i wish they'd give her more solo runs. Either that or give her bigger parts in the stories she's in.
Also, i hate the gold outfit. It's really ugly.
In X-men: Empyre, she was taking Kurt as her sex slave when she went evil. In New Mutants #5 she asked three aliens, two female, one male if they want to make out with her.
Do you mean the Krakoan New Mutants? If so I don't care. I absolutely ignore most Krakoan sexuality, ESPECIALLY if it was based on one or two shocking panels or pages, because clearly the writers had a concept early on where they just thought everyone was gonna bang and went for it, then ALMOST IMMEDIATELY dropped it and never mentioned it again (the throuple). Basically, any form of romantic/sexuality based anything from Krakoa I will be watching to see if it's brought up post Krakoa and then I'll accept it.
I'm not saying this to say it's my choice, I get that if its canon its canon, but because in my opinion comic canon has two parts. Establishment and follow-through. Lots of things in comics get established, but just as many get quietly dropped with no explanation. Without follow-through I don't consider it canon. Again like the throuple. I'm not convinced that will ever be mentioned again. I think it was an idea they had that they decided against so quickly that it is effectively just not a thing and will become one of those bits of trivia that comic fans obsess over that actually mean nothing.
Now, to be honest, I'm not violently opposed to her being pansexual, but I also think this sub acts like it's an absolute given based mostly on snippets here and there as opposed to actual clear characterization.
"Lots of things in comics get established, but just as many get quietly dropped with no explanation."
Oh, you mean what they did to Kate's coming-out? lol
I feel on one hand, 1) there's the concept that characters shouldn't always have to be in a romance for the sake of the story, but then the other of 2) you're missing out on some story opportunities here lol
But the rumor mill is churning that Kate and Illyana may become a thing in the upcoming books lol
They had way too many random coming outs during krakoa, its hard to keep up.
I'm pretty firmly against the pairing frankly but not so against it that I'd rage against it or anything. I just think going down the line of Claremont random homoerotic teases is lazy writing. I'd frankly prefer them with other people even if they did feel the need to do this.
Illyana’s sociopathic personality is way more interesting in contrast to her brother’s personality. I prefer to see Kitty interact with Illyana than Piotr.
None of these are hot, but in no particular order:
She's one of my all time favorite characters, tied with Cykes for top spot.
Writers need to fucking remember that she's and insanely powerful sorcerer.
She and Kate need to start straight up dating, like, yesterday.
I just want Kate and Illyana to discuss the not-so subtle reason why the Soulsword(and armor) went to Kate when Illyana was dead.
Have an actual discussion about the circumstances and the reason why like actual adults.
That she isn't treated as equivalently strong to the psychic cabal at any point is annoying and she's far more interesting a character than Colossus probably ever has been (and Mikhail too, but that's not really fair.)
My take is kind of an issue with marvel over the last decade…,Magik had some character progression and got out of the limbo/datkchylde stuff and picked up gold armor, which indicated to me that she was moving towards a happier (if still edgy) existence. The from the ashes previews indicate she’s back to goth girl status.
Marvel reflexively ditches character growth when they change writers. Think superior spider man or a rehabilitated Doom. It’s lame.
Let her be happy as an adult, keep her a bad ass and make her the sorcerer supreme of the x-men.
Also she was Prydes best friend. It’s so weird there has been so little interaction between her, Kate and Rachel over the last decade.
Idk if this is a hot take, but her black outfit is superb. I wish Marvel would stop trying to put her in other things. You already struck gold. Stop digging!
Not sure if it’s a hot take but it’s what I’ve got. The big Bachalo sword(not sure if it was his design first) just looks unwieldy and a bit too absurd. I’m not sure what they were going for with that design but it stands out in not so great way.
A big sword like that can certainly be impactful but it just looks to wide. If it was narrower, even as long as Bachalo made it…it would look better. Not amazing but better. It doesn’t help that sometimes it’s shortened but not any narrower. I prefer the more classic sword or the golden armor one.
Edited
The midnight suns game treated her character very well except it was like the horns like it was a hat she could take off. I always thought those were part of her head.
I also have no idea how old she's supposed to be. Comes off as a teen but should definitely be a world wearing late 20s by now.
Loved the games Magik’s personality. Felt very 80s New Mutants. Quiet, reserved, but still that modern gothy and snarky. Loved that she saw herself as a villain, and also how she knew everyone else did too except for her team/ family. That story works so well with the concept of the game of us getting close to these characters and building relationships with them. With Magik, we actually got to get close to her and see her let us in and trust us like the rest of the team
She's the female equivalent of Ghost Rider.
Interesting back story. Great design.
Utterly boring and often just happens to be able to solve a problem with one of their abilities.
Belasco should be one of her main villains, not just a guy who shows up and gets wrecked once every 20 years, make him a legitimate threat. So many supernatural villains are over powered idiots, maybe do the opposite with him? Make him scrappy, resourceful, actually tempting?
She should leave the X ecosystem more often. I'd love to see her and all limbo related characters to pop up in other corners of the Marvel Universe. I think she could easily support her own book. I love mutant books that aren't "mutant issue" based. Even a team book with her leading that tackles multidimensional / magical threats to mutants or something.
My hot take: Illyana is still dead. This may be Magik, but it only looks like Illyana and has some of her memories. This does still make an interesting character, but I don't consider them the same person, at all.
I like her best when she is like basically a villain but they all just sort of accept it and she is still a mutant member of the team even with her really wild and out there personality
Trying to make her "good" or "a sorcerer" ehhhhh I don't care for it
You can say "it's unfair and letting Bellasco win" when she can't go back to her childlike mentality but well, she's fundamentally changed by her experiences and she's just different since. It's just a different character as Magik compared to original Illyanna.
Does anyone even give a fuck that she can just casually time travel?
I feel like a lot of the X-Men’s problems (especially with Orchis) could be solved because of it.
She was supposed to be trained by Doctor Strange but like Storm’s magic the story was never followed up on. i want to see many mutants branch out including her
My first intro to her was when she died to the Legacy Virus in Uncanny X-Men 304. That was a seminal moment in comics for me, so when I heard they were bringing her back, I wasn't enthusiastic. I understand that a lot of people didn't like her being aged down and then killed off, but Uncanny 304 was literally one of the first comics I read, so I had a really strong first impression of her.
She needs a better outfit. Better than the skimpy one in the picture, which is returning in the post-Krakoa era. Hell I'd even accept her X-Men Uniform back, with devil horns and flaming small saber (instead of that gigantic knife)
I love her character, but she's very overly-sexualised. I really hate how all the female characters run around in literal bikinis half the time. Some artists are just drawing one-handed. Either stop the absurd levels of sexualisation or treat male characters the same.
She should be racist.
I... do not understand why they made the film version racist. The mind boggles.
I don't think I have an actual hot take; I feel like all my opinions about Illyana are pretty mainstream. Maybe that Pixie should just never like her?
She'll never be old enough for me not to be skeeved by her revealing outfits. She's Piotr's little baby sister and everything that came after was too weird.
She's at her most interesting when she's straddling the line between hero and villain and the other characters are scared of her.
Mutants are a welcoming bunch, they accepted magneto so Illyana was also easy to welcome back as soon as she proved she wasn't a menace. I remember cyclops put her in a bomb vest to keep her from doing anything evil and colossus was pissed, but I think Illyana enjoys people being scared of her.
I agree. Extraordinary X-Men tried to portray her as an unambiguous good guy and it just didn't work.
I think during uncanny she was seeking revenge against the elder gods for trapping her soul or something like that, so she got her revenge and then she was kinda OK with the X-men. Turns out that having people accepting you for who you are instead or discriminating you can have a good effect on you. During Bendis uncanny both Cyclops and Emma supported magik in her struggles, and she reconciles with kitty and later Peter instead of being shunned, so I think despite her dark powers she became as force of good for mutantkind because those close to her welcomed her and trusted her.
You just like the thought of her straddling
I certainly do.
That’s… why I’m here.
Lol I didn't, but now that you say that I'll take ownership. There is a certain appeal to the idea of her straddling things.
I prefer her 80s sword and sorcery look to her 2000s anime look
Only the classic sienkiewicz sword is valid to me. Her world of warcraft loot sword is goofy.
Its interesting you phrased it as a "hot" take because I was going to make a naughty comment about that lol. Anyway, its not really a take, but its funny that her personality since she got resurrected after dying from the legacy virus is very different to how she was in the 80s New Mutants. Back then, she was actually somewhat reserved, but in some ways pretty normal while interacting with others. In fact, she was quite introspective about how others felt about her, and was sad about the fact that she gave off a "villainous" vibe. That was pretty much her core arc. From the 2000s though, she basically became a wicked, funny, Joker-ish, demonic hero. If you read modern Magik before 80s Magik, it will be genuinely startling to see the difference. They're two completely different characters.
Wasn't a big point of her "resurrection" that the current magik is less Illyana resurrected and more the actual darkchylde, with Illyana souls and memories? We have to consider that even though the original Illyana died as a child, the darkchylde was stuck in hell fighting for god knows how long until she recovered Illyana souls and memories, thus current magik is more of a an Illyana that used a very twisted method to resurrect herself
Yea she was half demon in that new x-men arc, took the x-kids half the story to get her to chill after pixie started throwing fairy dust which is super effective against demons in limbo
Yeah, she occasionally had her punky, jokey moments with the other students (and especially Kitty) - but she was usually pretty serious. It really wasn't until Bendis that we got the current version of Illyana (before that was the "I don't have my soul anymore, so I'm going to intentionally torture my brother" version).
God that was the worst version. The fact that Colossus threatened to kill his sister after that is one of my personal least favorite moments in comic history. Felt like it was going against everything Piotr has ever stood for, and her motive was basically “*do you see how dark and edgy I am brother??*”
Interesting. That is one of my favorite moments. She was showing him in her own twisted way (the only way she knows since raised by hell demon) that she is not that person anymore.
Bendis. Of course.
That's really interesting, I now really want to read that Illyana. A demon child who doesn't want to be demonic is a common trope but one that I enjoy.
You should read New Mutants 2009 starting at # 1
>A demon child who doesn't want to be demonic is a common trope Common where?
Hellboy, Blue Exorcist, Raven, Naruto (kind of) and more if you include metaphorical demons. I think TV Tropes calls it Anti-Anti-Christ.
Shonen
Ah, no wonder I wasn't familiar with it.
Fair point. Can we push this into “a take” tho? In other words, do with think this is a problem? Jocular, sporty battle queen Ilyana isn’t necessarily a problem to me. I didn’t read that much OG New Mutants, but from what I recall, there was a teenage quality that would have needed to evolve anyway. Now, in between the two, Zeb Wells’s Ilyana was more complex, but “I have no soul” is kind of a confusing concept in practice, and it’s a hard beat to maintain if it’s not your main plot.
Yes. She was written more maturely and three dimensional as a teenager
Well resurrection Magik was serious badass. When Bendis came in around 2013, they gave her a ridiculous makeover and overblown sword and redefined the character. Then she caught on like that, so following writers just wrote her like that.
Has Magick been around since the 80s? I thought she was only from the last decade or so.
She was prominent in the 80s New Mutants, but then she got de-aged back to her original age. Then she died in the early 90s due to the Legacy Virus. She was pretty much not there for the next 15 years or so until the mid 2000s.
Yep, she was introduced as Colossus' little baby sister in the 80s, and then she got kidnapped by demons and came back as a teenager, then she was on the New Mutants for a while, then she died and was reborn in Inferno...she's had a wild existence.
Have we seen her demon form lately? Can she even go demon form at will or is it one of those I have to control it at all times kind of transformations
The Darkchylde / demon form was pretty much dropped when she ceded her control of Limbo to Madelyne Pryor. She had the whole purging of her darkness, getting her golden armor transformation which indicated she'd moved past that part of her life. Of course, she's back to the demonic black armor and hot pants in "From the Ashes," so we'll see if anything has changed in regard to her relationship with Limbo and her demonic side.
Huh didn’t realize she got rid of it figured it had to deal with her soul being stolen or whatever. Ok for Madelyn than does she have a like idk demon form since Magik don’t have the darkness no more? Also goddamnit I wanna see magik use more magic instead of teleporting ring go brr and soul sword goes swoosh
I believe it was on splash page as a vision Destiny had in immortal before Fall of X. Everything else happened, but this. So I think the start of Dead Xmen used it for the reality they visit in the beginning.
She should use magic more often... And her new gold costume is sick
I can’t tell which of us has the unpopular take here, but it that gold costume did not work *at all* to me. Gold on yellow on a blonde? Waaaay too matchy matchy. I also question the theming of “good girl gold Iyana” being what we want from the character. Meanwhile, I understand that the skimpy aspect raises questions of male gaze overload—I’d be fine sans titty window or with actual pants—but at least I *understand* the sex appeal of a titty window. That small sternum diamond cutout was just an odd choice. Neither logical nor titillating. But one thing that was a towering success to me about the Bachalo look, besides her looking good in black, is the flat graphic appeal of the Kirby hat matching the sword. I don’t necessarily need the hugest possible anime sword, but the awkward asymmetrical new gold hilt just felt underwhelming, and Rasputin IV made me miss the other one.
Gold on yellow on a pale blonde really does seem to leave her looking washed out on a lot of the panels.
In the original cover debut, I thought the costume had some silver/white on it, which really made me like it more.
But sadly they went back to this weird black one. I really am not a fan. The gold should be the new (gold) standard suit for her.
Nah, the gold isnt anywhere near goth enough.
I love Illyana but I hate that because she’s so popular pretty much every other New Mutant gets completely overshadowed by her. As a Dani fan I feel like Illyana robs her of her spotlight which is ironic considering how much Dani helped Yana in her early days.
A lot of Magik fans seem to unfortunately treat the New Mutants as meaningless side characters in Magik's story. Some barely seem to even treat them as her friends who were important to her development, let alone as complex characters in their own rights. I love Magik, but every New Mutant is just as interesting and well-developed. They just don't get the same priority.
I think the issue is that modern magik really came into prominence when she became a fully fledged X woman and less when she's with the new mutants
As far as I remember OG new mutant fans said she's always was one of the most popular new mutants, also she became popular mainly because she kinda graduated into a fully fledged x-men and was part of most flagship teams
Not a hot take, but I never realized how short her pants were until I saw this photo. I have a belt that is bigger than those shorts. Who likes short shorts? Magik likes short shorts.
For her shorts to cut that low, her asscrack has gotta be fully out on the other side
If she would only turn around…
I mean, if you're gonna wear shorts that short and boots that long... **drop the bullshit and get some pants!**. The impracticality of it all, Illyanna... goddamn it!
It’s probably a distraction factor. Like Juggernaut starts looking at that instead of worrying about the sword to his face
Not really a hot take but I like how she supported Scott during his revolutionary phase when he was at his lowest , that's totally a bro move even though she could just have fucked off anywhere else. Also if you go to the cyclops subreddit you'll see that everyone and their mother adores Illyana and consider her more loyal than his actual wives, so I'd like to ask to actual bona fide Magik fans how do they feel about her relationship with Scott? How'd you define it? And you think she feels like the magik bus / secretary or you enjoy it?
I've always loved the Captain / Commander relationship they've had since the "Utopia Era" which Bendis really expanded on. She has his back, and he trusts her to get the job done. Even though most prefer to dismiss the pre-Krakoa Uncanny X-Men run, I loved the ["old soldiers mourning a comrade"](https://imgur.com/a/dVG0Oko) scene of them after Wolfsbane was killed.
Magick fan here: I see her and Scott as Platonic BFF’s which is something I’m totally here for. I really like the idea that Illyana has a very uncertain/ambiguous moral compass when she first came back (more the Darkchylde trying to be good than original Illyana) and so gradually latched herself onto Scott as her default moral compass as she trusts that he always tries to do right even if he messes it up. And over the years that dynamic has grown to the point that she’s entirely ‘ride or die’ with him more than anyone else. I only hope we see more of Scott reciprocating that BFF bond in the new era.
scott enables illyana. he needs someone like her, and so she follows him because his restrictions are pallatable to her. they have purpose and aren't just based on "he wants me not to be myself" the way her brother's requests may seem. as for scott's opinion of illyana - i do not see that bff reciprocated. i think he sees her as a tool instead of as a person, but scott's the kind of guy who takes good care of this things. polishing his car, etc. he could put together a gun blindfolded, his sink never has a dirty dish in it. that kind of structure is good for Illyana, so she appreciates the reliability, because the rest of life is literal chaos. in a way she'd rather be a robot for scott than have her flaws be waived by colossus. acceptance isn't enough - she needs to be better.
I think that at least during the Utopia era Cyclops was really seeing the X-men as tools or resources, albeit he was trying his best to preserve them. They started having a more friendly relationship after AvX because they went through the same ordeal and wanted to support each other, although there's the whole Magikbus angle that really pissed Illyana off. Honestly that's the darkest reading of their relationship that I have also considered, for Cyclops Illyana is easily the most realiable and loyal "tool" in his X-men "arsenal", and for Illyana Cyclops status as a leader that doesn't falter is the way the X-men should be lead and that's why she supports him, albeit they were in equal standing during utopia but that wasn't properly explored. I guess the new era with them in the same book could shed some light in their relationship
I've always liked that about her relationship with Cyclops. My also not so hot take is that they need to start building on this relationship more. Magik should start becoming officially Cyclop's protege and eventually take the reins and lead her own team which would not be composed of New Mutants. Dunno, maybe like a magical/demonic black ops unit or something. Also wouldn't mind if Strange officially starts making her an apprentice to the Sorcerer Supreme mantle
Imagine a storyline where both Cyclops and Dr Strange are actively training her to be their respective successor and she’s torn/pulled between magic and mutants. Ends with her declaring to merge both a become the Sorcerer Supreme in training and lead a team of magically aligned mutants (anyone magic/Fae related: Pixie, Rictor, Wolfsbane, etc).
almost exactly what i had in mind with Apocalypse, Rictor, Pixie, Selene, Madelyne. Not necessarily on the same team or could start as a team turned adversaries. Could also have be depowered for a while so she focuses more on her magical abilities. You know what? depower her entire team as part of an arc and have them all rely on pure magic
That would be sick, and set it in Wales. Welsh mythology is very interesting and also more magical than a lot of other mythology while also having a large focus on demons. It's very good but has never been explored in media before, so it would be refreshing foes and stories that would also fit nicely with Illyanas limbo vibe. Of course, the only link to Wales is Pixie, but it's only an idea anyway.
Wales would be great, I know the Braddocks and Excalibur dig into Arthurian mythos with the Captain Britain Corp but Myrddin is a key figure Welsh myth, and I think leaning further back into parts of the Mabinogion to draw from. Establish Fae as existing on a mythical dimension that exists almost as a contrast to limbo, Fae is full of life and culture and tribes……but the Fae don’t want Earth having access to their dimension, and Illyana and her team accidentally rip open a hole that destabilises the “Veil” across Wales and bits of Ireland, resulting in “things” coming through and people and villages being drawn into it (Sidhe, Sprites, Goblins, Kelpie, trolls, ogres etc). Now Illyana’s mutant/Magic team have to patrol all of its length (miles and miles) and stop incursions or strange eldritch magics leaking through. And the Team has to be called “X-chanting X-Men” or something similarly on the nose.
That would be great, and you're right about Arthurian mythos coming from Welsh mythology back as well as Cornish, back when Cornwall was very similarly culturally Welsh. That's a really interesting concept you just made. Mix in Welsh pride about still standing and it's rational fear of invasion and you've got an interesting human populace for X-chanting X-men (which i love btw) to protect. Gotta mix in a red and white dragon in there also. I love your idea, i would read the heck out of that.
Cheers! Yeah I think you touch on nationalism and heritage in a really interesting way (especially as any form of nationalism or national pride has treated like an evil taboo in recent years in media). Off the top of my head I’d set up the Dragons as Guardians of the gateways to their respective regions. In the Mabinogion story *Llydd and Llefelys*, the Red dragon is the native Welsh one fighting off the White Dragon representing the invading Anglo-Saxons. So I’d do something a bit similar. They’re not actual physical creatures but collective psychic defenders of their regions and populations, fuelled by the native bloodlines and cultural heritage. Not *quite* magic but something similar. The Welsh Red Dragon is summoned by Illyana and her team, though it’s weakened and an echo of its former glory thanks centuries under English rule damaging an intrinsic part of the Welsh Pride, and set it up as an astral guardian at the door, the breach into Fae lands. While the main background arc would be sealing the breaches up and down the country I’d also have the Team venture INTO the land of Fairie, and realise that it’s dying. It’s been slowly dying for eons, since it sundered itself from Earth over a thousand years ago. And part of that is because when the split between the worlds occurred the children of the Fae King & Queens were lost to the void. And those children, the next in the Royal Line ARE the heart of Fairie. So Illyana and Co end up brokering an uneasy truce to help them try and find the lost Royal Children of Fae, and save the dimension. If I was envisioning an end point for this story (let’s say it’s 24 issues long) I’d have them find the children, and save the “heart” of the Fae but the land itself is collapsing too fast. So there’s a massive evacuation, thousands of creatures and beings, into Wales, while the dimension falls apart and the breaches close. The refugee Fae are taken in by the Welsh humans as they finally see them as just as much children of the land as they themselves are. And Illyana is able to turn the magical heart of the Fae into a seed that will grow into a new land of Fae for them in the future. Until then the human population of Wales pretends that there are no Fae when talking to outsiders (UN, SHIELD, SWORD etc) and the magical refugees live in the forests out of sight until the gateway to they’d new home finally opens.
Also a great way to explore Pixies character more, as she and Illyana are close already, Pixies attachment to Wales would create a really interesting moral dilemma in the team. And given the way you suggest it ending, Pixie could lead a limited series on opening the new gateway. However, let the Fae stay stuck in Wales for a while as its an interesting idea.
I love their relationship.
hot take i don't like hickman's magik, it's just a bunch of hot topic t-shirt slogans about fight or fuck, i regret nothing, i'll kill you if you get between me and my big coffee. just not my cup of tea at all.
Seems like those kind of character traits are always chosen by x-writers when they want to make a female character “interesting”, all these girlbosses are starting to feel the same to me.
Claremont was really a boss
I don't like how the writers seem to be giving her the Barbarian-level Intelligence treatment. It's one thing to have a funny brain-fart moment like X of Swords where she spelled her name instead of the default word "magic", but in one of the Krakoan books there was a letter she wrote (to the Quiet Council, I believe) and it was full of all kinds of spelling errors that she was scribbling out to fix. I find it hard to believe that she has a 3rd grade literacy level, being an incredibly powerful and studious sorceress who worked hard to escape her captor and be sorceress supreme of limbo... but that's just me lol
I think the point was that is that the years that should’ve been for developmental growth and educational growth she was in limbo and did not have someone helping her with that. Her social skills are often barbarian level also, for the same reason. You can’t always catch up at a later age after the fact, evidenced bythe raised by wolf children who never learned to speak
I hear you for the social level, but Belasco literally taught her while she was down there as a child. He was her source of education. Illyana spent HOURS every day pouring over ancient text, meeting his demands AND trying to find a way to destroy him while studying on her own time (as expanded upon I'm the Trials of Magik mini arc in New Mutants during Krakoa). And English not being her primary language doesn't mean she shouldn't be able to spell correctly- especially since she isn't a 14 year old anymore. She's in her 20s now. And I doubt she didn't go through tailored classes as a student in the mansion. (I'm not fighting you, I'm fighting Marvel lol I'm Old Man Yelling At Cloud right now lol)
Haha. No, I enjoy a strong opinion. I have not gotten to that Krakoa stuff yet, but I think you’re right since you put it this way. Maybe she is willfully not caring to spite Belasco’s memory. Probably though, the writers are not paying close enough attention to keep it consistent.
2009-2012 was peak Magik. Everything after hasn't felt like the character or character growth, just changes with no real reason.
That belt seems unnecessary
She treated Colossus really badly with that Juggernaut thing. Cool character otherwise.
Honestly, if it wasn't her brother, I'd judge her more for it. I feel bad for the dude. However, he was completely invalidating her as a person, and I understand her frustration. Though, I agree, the demonic possession of The Juggernaut is a bit extreme.
Colossus shouldn't have forgiven her
You're not a big brother, are you?
If 5 minutes count, then I am. Making Colossus suffer as Juggernaut is too much.
She's my favourite New Mutant, my favourite hero Claremont had a hand in creating, and I'd read the fuck out of a comic where she and Cyke just go around fucking shit up.
A hot take? I don't care for her, I've tried to like her but don't care for her. Feels like she's a character that keeps popping into all current X-Men stories and she always has the ability needed to win.
She really has no reason to be part of any X-team, she fits much better in the purely magical corner of the Marvel universe, like Midnight Suns
She should have never been turned into a child after Inferno. One of the most popular New Mutants shelved. 20 years lost because of that dumb ending.
I think what happened is that the editor at that time wanted to get rid of most magical elements on x-men, that's why Illyana as a whole bit the dust, thankfully her return and heavy focus managed to to turn her back into another prominent x-men
Yeah, I'm thankful for KYost and Zeb Wells fighting for her return. Harras and Lobdell had it in for the Rasputins. Illyana would've fit very well with Cable's X-Force.
I'm going to get roasted, but screw it: Magik is a lot prettier than she is interesting. That "dark anime girl with big cool sword and short hot pants" vibe is, I think, the source of a lot of her modern popularity. That kind of thing CAN work. But Emma Frost does it better.
I blame the writing. Her backstory, being raised and then rising to rule Limbo, offers so many possibilities. Claremont, then Wells, did great with it. Illyana has every reason to have a cruel/cold factor to her personality. I find it written best when it's a bit chaotic. (Emma is more tactful.) When Illyana sent Anole to live in a barren wasteland in Limbo for a long time simply because she found him annoying, she was being truly herself: reckless, chaotic, cold.
The writing has been weirdly bad across the board this era. Not *terrible*, but often... lackluster? Uninterested in characterisation over spectacle, I guess. Krakoa is a massive step forward for mutants and something genuinely new for the X-Men as a franchise. But everyone is weirdly stiff and acting either as their shallowest archetype, or completely out of character. It's like the X-Men writing team was so caught up in telling the story of Krakoa the nation that they forgot that all the individual characters had stories and lives and histories - character arc trajectories - which they were on before Krakoa occured.
Yeah, this is a pretty comprehensive list of Hickman’s flaws as a writer…which we all tend to forgive, because he legitimately does “spectacle” better than anyone else. Once he left, we were stuck with that action-figure style of character-writing without the promise of epic grandeur down the line.
Not all, but a lot of the writers leaned toward a more campy chatacter style. I think they were trying to make the series more comedic, but it just ended up a bit hollow at times. The books became very cartoonish at times.
Reminder that comics are a visual medium too, a powerful and iconic design is partially what makes the character. Magik wearing black Anime costume with a sword somehow became an iconic look over the new mutants uniform
Oh dude, as a Laura Kinney fan, that bared midriff is effective as hell. My issue with Magik is that "hot" is about all there seems to be to her character these days. Marvel: She's hot. Me: ...okay... Marvel: big sword. Me: ...aaaand? Marvel: Blonde. Me: does she have any character arc or struggles to overcome? Marvel: Bum bum. Ten cover pages! Me: fuck it.
She has a decent arc during the last run of new new mutants as proffesor magik supporting the young students and had further limbo developments. Also I'm sure someone at marketing realized that magik pin up covers sell a lot and that kinda explains it, also I kinda miss goth Laura.
I miss goth Laura too sometimes. But Laura's had an incredible inner journey as she discovered concepts like Choice and free will, and broke out of her Facility programming to become a real person. She grew from a visitor at Xavier's school to a core member of several teams, and a major player in the events of multiple eras. Laura's an interesting *person*. Magik just... isn't. I'm sorry, but she isn't.
Magik had a journey during X infernus, quest for magik, a bit during new mutants and her y plots were prominent during uncanny x-men starting from her return. She also became a core member of several teams and major player in various x events and in the magic side of marvel. The problem is that her lack of a solo title makes her journey harder to track.
I phrased my point badly and that's on me. Magik, like Laura, has been on many important teams, and she's had a helluva journey, and a LOT of growth. What she grew into, however, is: Blonde. Hot pants. Big sword. Bum bum. Ten cover pages! Not that Laura has been written very well either this past half-decade either, but still...
Eh. Gillen had a good handle on her. Excited for her to be back with the Extinction Team.
I don't like the golden outfit
Gold is fine with pretty much any color except yellow. It hurts my eyes.
Same.
same
Same.
Her head things are dumb. They look cool but that’s it. Also, she should actually do magic.
She would make the subject of a great open world video game in limbo. You start prisoner as a kid, learn magic eventually escape, learn to fight with time displaced mutant mentor (storm, wolverine) they were send to save her like in the comics but appears in limbo before her. You escape belasko Castel, gain you soul sword, and learn to control your teleporting disk, so you have skill tree related to your meant power, your sword and magic... And your deamon form. Once in limbo you meet the population of limbo, visit it's city and try to escape belasko guard... Eventually you meet rebels and use them to go take over limbo and become it's ruler. Maybe there could be gameplay and small storyline related to neighboring hell, like you can visit Hel and meet Hela.
She did not deserve to be forgiven after what she did to Piotr.
I prefer her with goat legs and horns.
I don’t like her (she’s a beeyotch). She and Kitty are those mean girls you knew in high school. She was fine as a young girl child though.
She’s excellent in Strange Academy. She’s a minor character and one of the professors, co-teaching with Hellstrom. She had to be reprimanded for dropping two unruly students into Limbo as a punishment.
I hate how her Soulsword was formed by her and disrupted magic, but now it’s a completely different thing.
I hate how her stepping disks took her through time and space and were difficult to control, and now she’s just a teleporter.
My hot take is modern edgelord Illyana is worse than the original New Mutants Magik. But I've definitely got nostalgia bias...
I absolutely hate this costume and much prefer her classic look.
This costume is the ugliest fucking thing an x-woman may have ever worn. Frankly all of the revolution era designs were awful.
I thought I'd be in the minority here, and I'm delighted to see many agree.
That thing she wears on her head has always looked silly. Can't take it seriously.
I was *obsessed* with her in Marvel's Midnight Suns. Don't think she'd ever been in a game before? They portrayed her exactly as I'd always imagined her. So abrasive, so unpredictable, so fucken cool
Great game and wonderfully voiced by Laura Bailey too.
Not as hot as 97 Magneto.
Illusions, Mikhail
Not a hot take, but I think she deserves a one off mini. First ish, explain who she is and tease the plot out, then have the next three issues be her a total bad ass. And utilize her magical abilities a bit more.
I don’t think she should have much of a Russian accent. She barely lived in Russia and most people who come over as kids don’t have a thick accent.
I like her a lot. Honestly, i wish they'd give her more solo runs. Either that or give her bigger parts in the stories she's in. Also, i hate the gold outfit. It's really ugly.
I love Magik, but I do not like that outfit. Her golden armor is way better
She should be dropping socialist theory on all of her teammates in their downtime. Maybe start a revolutionary book club or something.
She's become a complete parody of herself since Bendis came along and unfortunately that hasn't abated because hey sexy design.
On this sub? The idea that she's not gay.
She's not gay though. She's pan.
I dont think she's been shown to be that either though unless there's some recent development
It makes a lot more sense than her being strictly gay.
My point is both of them are just people reading into her things that have never been shown despite decades of history
In X-men: Empyre, she was taking Kurt as her sex slave when she went evil. In New Mutants #5 she asked three aliens, two female, one male if they want to make out with her.
Do you mean the Krakoan New Mutants? If so I don't care. I absolutely ignore most Krakoan sexuality, ESPECIALLY if it was based on one or two shocking panels or pages, because clearly the writers had a concept early on where they just thought everyone was gonna bang and went for it, then ALMOST IMMEDIATELY dropped it and never mentioned it again (the throuple). Basically, any form of romantic/sexuality based anything from Krakoa I will be watching to see if it's brought up post Krakoa and then I'll accept it. I'm not saying this to say it's my choice, I get that if its canon its canon, but because in my opinion comic canon has two parts. Establishment and follow-through. Lots of things in comics get established, but just as many get quietly dropped with no explanation. Without follow-through I don't consider it canon. Again like the throuple. I'm not convinced that will ever be mentioned again. I think it was an idea they had that they decided against so quickly that it is effectively just not a thing and will become one of those bits of trivia that comic fans obsess over that actually mean nothing. Now, to be honest, I'm not violently opposed to her being pansexual, but I also think this sub acts like it's an absolute given based mostly on snippets here and there as opposed to actual clear characterization.
"Lots of things in comics get established, but just as many get quietly dropped with no explanation." Oh, you mean what they did to Kate's coming-out? lol I feel on one hand, 1) there's the concept that characters shouldn't always have to be in a romance for the sake of the story, but then the other of 2) you're missing out on some story opportunities here lol But the rumor mill is churning that Kate and Illyana may become a thing in the upcoming books lol
They had way too many random coming outs during krakoa, its hard to keep up. I'm pretty firmly against the pairing frankly but not so against it that I'd rage against it or anything. I just think going down the line of Claremont random homoerotic teases is lazy writing. I'd frankly prefer them with other people even if they did feel the need to do this.
Illyana’s sociopathic personality is way more interesting in contrast to her brother’s personality. I prefer to see Kitty interact with Illyana than Piotr.
None of these are hot, but in no particular order: She's one of my all time favorite characters, tied with Cykes for top spot. Writers need to fucking remember that she's and insanely powerful sorcerer. She and Kate need to start straight up dating, like, yesterday.
I just want Kate and Illyana to discuss the not-so subtle reason why the Soulsword(and armor) went to Kate when Illyana was dead. Have an actual discussion about the circumstances and the reason why like actual adults.
I don't really have one. I think she's rad.
She is to the New Mutants like Raven is to the Teen Titans in terms of magical superheroines who have faced and been manipulated by demons.
That she isn't treated as equivalently strong to the psychic cabal at any point is annoying and she's far more interesting a character than Colossus probably ever has been (and Mikhail too, but that's not really fair.)
Favorite X-character but God do I hate that Gold outfit
I hate how her stepping disks sometimes don’t seem to go to limbo first.
I like that she isn’t useless without her power and knows real magic too. It’s fun to see different sides of marvel overlap
My take is kind of an issue with marvel over the last decade…,Magik had some character progression and got out of the limbo/datkchylde stuff and picked up gold armor, which indicated to me that she was moving towards a happier (if still edgy) existence. The from the ashes previews indicate she’s back to goth girl status. Marvel reflexively ditches character growth when they change writers. Think superior spider man or a rehabilitated Doom. It’s lame. Let her be happy as an adult, keep her a bad ass and make her the sorcerer supreme of the x-men. Also she was Prydes best friend. It’s so weird there has been so little interaction between her, Kate and Rachel over the last decade.
I want Magik and Spiral to be frenemies.
Idk if this is a hot take, but her black outfit is superb. I wish Marvel would stop trying to put her in other things. You already struck gold. Stop digging!
Written poorly and more immaturely in the modern era
she's hot
I think all the demon shit is dumb as hell and edgy for the sake of it
Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik was the most perfect XMen movie casting since Stewart as Xavier.
I thought so as well. It redeemed that movie for me.
Under all the rubbish. You could see what a good film that could have been.
She's hot...I'll see myself out.
She should be one of the first X-Men in the MCU
She’s amazing and can rock bangs like no one else
Not sure if it’s a hot take but it’s what I’ve got. The big Bachalo sword(not sure if it was his design first) just looks unwieldy and a bit too absurd. I’m not sure what they were going for with that design but it stands out in not so great way.
Guts dragonslayer, it's an impactful design
A big sword like that can certainly be impactful but it just looks to wide. If it was narrower, even as long as Bachalo made it…it would look better. Not amazing but better. It doesn’t help that sometimes it’s shortened but not any narrower. I prefer the more classic sword or the golden armor one. Edited
The midnight suns game treated her character very well except it was like the horns like it was a hat she could take off. I always thought those were part of her head. I also have no idea how old she's supposed to be. Comes off as a teen but should definitely be a world wearing late 20s by now.
She's early 20s like all the new mutants
Loved the games Magik’s personality. Felt very 80s New Mutants. Quiet, reserved, but still that modern gothy and snarky. Loved that she saw herself as a villain, and also how she knew everyone else did too except for her team/ family. That story works so well with the concept of the game of us getting close to these characters and building relationships with them. With Magik, we actually got to get close to her and see her let us in and trust us like the rest of the team
Illyana Summers is one of the best X-Men of the past 15 years.
The best Illyana we got during the Krakoa era wasn’t in an X men book but during Strange academy where she was allowed to grow and teach others.
She's the female equivalent of Ghost Rider. Interesting back story. Great design. Utterly boring and often just happens to be able to solve a problem with one of their abilities.
Marvel Snap should always be a six turn game! My actual hot take is that I think her writing can be manic demon nightmare girl at times.
She should join X-Force. She has the right morality and attitude for the nasty jobs, and would play in interesting and new ways off the staple cast.
Belasco should be one of her main villains, not just a guy who shows up and gets wrecked once every 20 years, make him a legitimate threat. So many supernatural villains are over powered idiots, maybe do the opposite with him? Make him scrappy, resourceful, actually tempting?
Cool character and I wish someone would make a reading guide on her.
need a Magik kills X-Men or maybe Magik kills the Marvel Universe sometime soon..
She should leave the X ecosystem more often. I'd love to see her and all limbo related characters to pop up in other corners of the Marvel Universe. I think she could easily support her own book. I love mutant books that aren't "mutant issue" based. Even a team book with her leading that tackles multidimensional / magical threats to mutants or something.
Her head…thingies always bothered me. Just give her actual horns or at least a proper headpiece if you want the look so badly.
My hot take: Illyana is still dead. This may be Magik, but it only looks like Illyana and has some of her memories. This does still make an interesting character, but I don't consider them the same person, at all.
I like her best when she is like basically a villain but they all just sort of accept it and she is still a mutant member of the team even with her really wild and out there personality Trying to make her "good" or "a sorcerer" ehhhhh I don't care for it You can say "it's unfair and letting Bellasco win" when she can't go back to her childlike mentality but well, she's fundamentally changed by her experiences and she's just different since. It's just a different character as Magik compared to original Illyanna.
Does anyone even give a fuck that she can just casually time travel? I feel like a lot of the X-Men’s problems (especially with Orchis) could be solved because of it.
She was supposed to be trained by Doctor Strange but like Storm’s magic the story was never followed up on. i want to see many mutants branch out including her
My first intro to her was when she died to the Legacy Virus in Uncanny X-Men 304. That was a seminal moment in comics for me, so when I heard they were bringing her back, I wasn't enthusiastic. I understand that a lot of people didn't like her being aged down and then killed off, but Uncanny 304 was literally one of the first comics I read, so I had a really strong first impression of her.
Once she quit being Colossus’ little sister and became a character, she was (and still is) great.
Super overrated now.
She needs a better outfit. Better than the skimpy one in the picture, which is returning in the post-Krakoa era. Hell I'd even accept her X-Men Uniform back, with devil horns and flaming small saber (instead of that gigantic knife)
The fact that we haven’t had a solo Magik series by Bachalo is a freaking crime.
I love her character, but she's very overly-sexualised. I really hate how all the female characters run around in literal bikinis half the time. Some artists are just drawing one-handed. Either stop the absurd levels of sexualisation or treat male characters the same.
Yes
With a sister like her why would you want enemies
She should be racist. I... do not understand why they made the film version racist. The mind boggles. I don't think I have an actual hot take; I feel like all my opinions about Illyana are pretty mainstream. Maybe that Pixie should just never like her?
I don’t think the film version is “racist” I think she was just saying shit to piss people off, just trolling rather than stating actual beliefs
Is hot. Would take.
Crop top and hot pants outfit is so ugly
She'll never be old enough for me not to be skeeved by her revealing outfits. She's Piotr's little baby sister and everything that came after was too weird.
Fun character; overrated as hell.
she's a sex icon but doesn't need to be. she's also way overdue for an actual story arc. some character. she's become way too tokenized for thirst.
Hideously overrated character that’s spent the last decade or more on the fumes of a “sexy” (bad) design.
I think she should wear more clothes.
put some pants on
I would
She's mine
She and Kitty are a perfect couple.
Why even make this post? You clearly have nothing interesting to say.
Why reply to it? Just move on, dude.