I Guess We Shouldn't Be Surprised That X-Men's Most Annoying Cliché Is Back in Full Force

In Uncanny X-Men #9 – written by Gail Simone, with art by Andrei Bressan – Rogue new X-Men recruits are attacked by bloodhound Sentinels at the mall, forcing the inexperienced heroes to fight the deadly robots. Calico, Jitter, Ransom, and Deathream, get separated during the fight and, in a brutal moment, it is revealed the bloodhounds have mauled Deathdream, killing him.

It is a visceral and upsetting scene, but honestly, I’d be more shocked if it were any other X-Men, since it’s already been established that dying is a part of Deathdream’s powers.

Marvel Shockingly Just Killed Off One Of The X-Men’s New Recruits, But Let’s Face It, We Know It Won’t Last

Uncanny X-Men #9 – Written By Gail Simone; Art By Andrei Bressan; Color By Matthew Wilson; Lettering By Clayton Cowles

Hotoru, aka Deathdream, is one of Rogue’s new Louisiana X-Men and has the incredible power to summon the dead. Killing off Deathdream would be a surprising and sobering moment, except that Deathdream has shown that he's already died before and his mutant powers allow him to choose between a state of life and death. While Hotoru’s death caught me off guard, I don’t think anyone was fooled into believing Deathdream is now dead for good, which also made me wonder if there is a possible alternate purpose for his death besides surprising fans.

The X-Men have used death and death fake-outs for years, with iconic staples like Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine being introduced because Professor Xavier thought the original X-Men team might have perished on Krakoa. Resurrection has been synonymous with X-Men characters like Jean Grey and over the years, the trope has been used so often that character deaths hold no weight, and are seldom permanent. Realistically, character deaths are never going away, but I wish death was used sparingly and done in a more compelling way, an issue I felt the Krakoan Era fixed.

The Krakoa Era Took Character Deaths Off The Table, but Now the X-Men’s Favorite Trope Is Back

Now That Krakoa’s Resurrection Protocols Are Gone, Death Should Matter

The Krakoa Era did something unique by taking away X-Men’s infamous death fake-outs and leaning into how often comics bring characters back from the dead. With the introduction of Krakoa’s Resurrection Protocols, and the Five, character deaths became a non-issue and writers created other ways to make stories interesting and different ways to build stakes. The resurrection protocols also gave way to new complexities, such as mutants who began to devalue life because they could easily be brought back, an issue that was also addressed in a fascinating way.

In Way of X #5 – written by Si Spurrier, with art by Bob Quinn – Nightcrawler scolds Fabian Cortez for not appreciating the gift of life, threatening to use his authority as a Quiet Council member to ensure Fabian be put on the very end of the resurrection waiting list should he die carelessly. I think this moment uses death as a risk but puts a spin on it that also deepens Nightcrawler’s character. After the Krakoa Era, it seems the X-Men have gone back to basics by using death as the main way to heighten the stakes.

Death Is A Major Risk of Being a Superhero, But I Think the X-Men Take The Trope To Its Absolute Limit

Do We Have To Count How Many Times Has Jean Grey Died Again?

Death is a major factor that comes with telling superhero stories, but the X-Men have always taken it to extremes with how often characters die or are presumed dead only to come back later. I’ve lost count of how many times Jean Grey has died, and it's recently been revealed Professor X is possibly dying. While Deathdream’s death was less surprising, he is an intriguing character I truly hope gets to show the full extent of his powers via his death. With how often death and resurrection occur in X-Men, I’d be more shocked if Deathdream stayed dead.

The issue of how often X-Men die is nothing new, but Hotoru’s death highlights one of the X-Men’s fatal flaws, a cliché that most X-Men stories and comics can never escape from. I think the mortality of characters is an effective way to show the risk of being a superhero, but when done so often, it loses that tension. The Krakoa era did something different with the X-Men death trope, and now that the era's time has passed, character deaths should hold more weight to them, but that is still to be seen.

Uncanny X-Men #9 is available now from Marvel Comics!