10 Untold X-Men Stories From Age of Apocalypse We Still Want To Read

The X-Men have starred in some amazing stories over the years, but there’s one story that many fans keep going back to – the Age Of Apocalypse. The X-Men popularized the dystopian alternate universe story with Days Of Future Past, and readers got glimpses of other terrible universes in X-Men stories. Still, none of them have had the staying power of AoA. This story’s run – from December 1994 to May 1995 – captured the imaginations of a generation of X-Men fans and Marvel has gone back to the AoA well many times, sometimes successfully and other times not.

One of the things that made The Age Of Apocalypse so captivating was that it dropped readers into a fully formed world, giving them hints of the past and how things got to the point they did. This set the imaginations of readers ablaze, awash with possibilities. However, Marvel has never fully taken advantage of the AoA‘s past; instead, the focus has been on a series of sequels that are the definition of diminishing returns. There are so many stories from AoA left to tell that fans have been begging to read for almost three decades.

10 The X-Men Had A Long Road From Mount Wundagore To The X-Mansion

Readers met the X-Men of the Age Of Apocalypse after they had operated for years. X-Men Alpha #1 opened about twenty to thirty years after the events of “Legion Quest” and the death of Charles Xavier. Readers get a glimpse of the early days of Magneto’s X-Men in X-Men Chronicles #1. This book’s first issue showed Magneto’s X-Men at Mount Wundagore and outlines their early battles against Apocalypse’s forces.

• The X-Men’s first mission mirrors the 616 X-Men’s first mission against Magneto, except it’s Apocalypse and his team trying to take control of the nuclear arsenal at Cape Citadel
• During the mission, Nemesis (the son of Apocalypse who would become Holocaust), attacked the X-Men’s Wundagore Base
• The only X-Men there to fight him were Rogue and Scarlet Witch, and Nemesis killed Scarlet Witch

The next time readers see the X-Men chronologically is in X-Men Chronicles #2, when the X-Men have taken residence in New Mexico. There’s a long stretch between that and X-Men Alpha #1, so it would be interesting to see a story – or even an entire series – that outlined the X-Men’s journey from Wundagore to New Mexico to the mansion. The mansion was especially risky since it was a stone’s throw away from Apocalypse’s Citadel in New York City. What caused the X-Men to pick a base to close? Was it just honoring Xavier, or was there another reason? What dangers did they encounter trying to create an entire underground base right under Apocalypse’s nose? There are a lot of interesting questions that readers would love to explore.

9 Colossus’s Battle To Save Russia From Apocalypse Seems Epic

616 Colossus has had a rough few years in the Krakoa Era but he has nothing on the AoA Colossus. Colossus was responsible for training the next generation of X-Men and helped plan the team’s attack on the Seattle Core, where his sister Illyana was imprisoned. However, the whole thing went pear-shaped despite the team saving her. Colossus goes to try to help the remnants of his team escape but abandons Husk when he sees she is the last one left. Later, during the battle at Apocalypse’s Citadel, his fear of losing his sister Illyana caused him to trample his wife, Shadowcat. Colossus’s life in the AoA universe was always like that, though, and readers got clues about how bad things were.

• Colossus and his brother Mikhail were part of the Soviet Super Soldiers, and Mikhail was considered Russia’s greatest hero
• Apocalypse forces attacked Moscow and were able to brainwash Mikhail, turning brother against brother
• Colossus became the leader of the Soviet Super Soldiers, but his failures resulted in the deaths of his comrades, the kidnapping of his sister, and the destruction of his homeland

Readers know the broad strokes of that fight but little else. Colossus was easily one of the AoA’s most tragic X-Men, haunted by his past and the guilt of his failures. Seeing how and why he failed would go a long way towards fleshing out the character. Plus, it would be cool to see who was in the Soviet Super Soldiers and who Apocalypse sent to defeat them.

8 The Fate Of The Other Essex Clones

Mister Sinister played a small but important role in The Age Of Apocalypse. Sinister was portrayed as Apocalypse’s second in command, and he ran the genetic laboratories that created Apocalypse’s Infinite soldiers and experimented on mutants. Mister Sinister was as untrustworthy in the AoA universe as he was in the 616; using genetic material from Cyclops and Jean Grey, he created Nate Grey as a living weapon to use against Apocalypse, just in case Sinister decided that he wanted power.

• Mister Sinister abandoned his office just as AoA began to hunt down Nate Grey and convince him to attack Apocalypse; However, Grey seemingly killed him
• Sinister survived and went into hiding, somehow getting his hands on Jean Grey’s corpse and experimenting on her
• Sinister used Jean’s connection to the Phoenix Force to save the world from nuclear annihilation, which Magneto took credit for, leading to a battle between Sinsiter and the X-Men

Recent revelations about the origin of Mister Sinister – that he’s not actually Nathanial Essex, but one of several clones – mean that readers could get a story about AoA Sinister learning about the existence of the clones. It would be interesting to see Sinister, with Factor X and maybe even Apocalypse, backing him up against AoA versions of Doctor Stasis, Orbis Stellaris, and Mother Righteous. There’s even the Enigma AI to deal with. Watching Sinister try to keep his newfound clones secret from Apocalypse like he did so many other things would be a great story.

7 There Has To Be A Story About How Weapon X And Sabretooth Became Friends

Age Of Apocalypse showed a very different relationship between Logan, Sabretooth, and the X-Men. Weapon X was no longer on the X-Men when AoA started and Sabretooth was. X-Men Chronicles #1 showed Sabretooth and Weapon X fighting each other, as Sabretooth was a member of Apocalypse’s mutant forces and Weapon X had just joined the X-Men. Sabretooth eventually joins the X-Men while Weapon X is still on the team.

• Astonishing X-Men shows a scene where Sabretooth finds the young Blink and he and Weapon X are together
• There isn’t the usual animosity between the two characters at that point
• X-Men Chronicles #2 shows Weapon X leaving the team with Jean Grey, and Sabretooth is mouthy with him but doesn’t try to stop him

Wolverine and Sabretooth’s relationship in the 616 universe is terrible, but their relationship in AoA seems mostly friendly after Sabretooth joins the X-Men. Weapon X and Sabretooth probably had a similar relationship in the late 19th and early 20th century, so co-existing without constantly killing each other is a big step up. There has to be a story behind that unique relationship.

6 Gambit’s Time With The X-Ternals Deserves Its Own Series

AoA Gambit left the X-Men after the events of X-Men Chronicles #2. Gambit and Rogue had a similar relationship to the 616 at first, and Gambit was great friends with Magneto. Magneto told the two of him he would try to make it so that Rogue and Gambit could touch. However, much like in the 616, Magneto could only figure out how to allow himself to touch Rogue, not Gambit. Gambit witnessed the two together, misconstrued the whole event, and ended up leaving the team.

• Gambit went back to his old thieving ways after leaving the X-Men
• Gambit gathered a team of mutants – Lila Cheney, Strong Guy, Jubilee, and Sunspot – and dubbed them the X-Ternals
• Cheney’s powers allowed her to teleport anywhere in the universe so the team could pull heists anywhere

Readers have rarely gotten to see Gambit in full-on thief mode, and that’s basically what his time on the X-Ternals seemed to be. Gambit and his team teleporting around the AoA universe and stealing from everyone would be so much fun. The X-Ternals are an intriguing assortment of mutants and a book about universe-hopping thieves could answer questions about what was going on with the Kree and Skrull, and maybe even show Galactus and other cosmic beings There’s a lot of potential for a Gambit and the X-Ternal series.

5 Weapon X’s Mission To Save Jean Grey Would Be A Great Read

There are several constants in the X-Men in any universe; one is that Jean Grey is a powerhouse. Jean was a member of the X-Men in good standing from the beginning of the AoA. Cyclops was nowhere to be found, so she and Weapon X started a relationship. Mister Sinister had access to both Summers brothers and soon got his hands on Jean Grey, bringing her to the heart of Apocalypse’s Citadel. Magneto forbade the X-Men from going after her because he was sure the team would have been killed.

• Weapon X didn’t listen to Magneto and struck out on his own
• Logan was able to use his infiltration skills to get into the Citadel and free Jean Grey from Sinister’s clutches
• Cyclops confronted Weapon X in a battle that cost him his eye and Logan his left hand

Readers saw exactly one panel of this fight in Factor X and the aftermath in X-Men Chronicles #2. It would be a treat to see Weapon X’s entire mission – sneaking into New York City, getting into the Citadel, saving Jean, the fateful confrontation with Cyclops, and how Logan and Jean escaped. The battle between the wildly different takes on the X-Men leaders is something that AoA fans have always wanted to see.

4 Cyclops As Mister Sinister’s Enforcer Would Show A Completely Different Side Of The Character

Cyclops’s family tree has always been interesting. Mister Sinister was a very important player in the fortunes of the Summers family. He ran the orphanage Scott and Alex were sent to and realized how powerful the two boys would be. In the 616 universe, he allowed Alex to be adopted away so he could have Scott all to himself, but that didn’t happen in the AoA universe. Apocalypse took power while Scott and Alex were still at the orphanage, and Sinister joined En Sabah Nur with the two young mutants in tow.

• Sinister was responsible for training Cyclops and Havok
• The two became Prelates and helped Sinister run the slave pens, where humans and mutants were experimented on
• The two of them were enforcers for Sinister as well, going on missions for Sinister and Apocalypse

Readers watched Cyclops go from Sinister’s second in command, taking his place when Sinister left Apocalypse, to a firebrand liberating the slave pens. However, it would be interesting to see Cyclops, basically the mutant Captain America in the 616, leading the forces of Sinister and Apocalypse. Seeing how his life developed in the years before the AoA started would be a treat for Cyclops fans.

3 Apocalypse And Holocaust’s Attack On Japan Would Be Brutal But Amazing

Sunfire was a member of the X-Men in the AoA, but he was quite different from what readers were used to seeing. In the 616 universe, Sunfire is known for being arrogant and disrupting the X-Men basically every time he’s on the team. AoA Sunfire was still rather angry but worked well with the team—until he saw Holocaust, that is. Sunfire and Holocaust had some history, as revealed in Astonishing X-Men, which caused Sunfire to disregard Rogue’s orders in a rage.

• Holocaust and Apocalypse led an attack on Japan, while Holocaust was still known as Nemesis
• Sunfire led the Japanese resistance against Apocalypse’s forces, but Japan was destroyed
• Sunfire was badly injured in the battle and his skin burned, leaving him a broken shell

Sunfire was always shown as the main Japanese superhero, but later, there were groups like Big Hero Six. With Apocalypse rising in the AoA, Japan would go out of its way to create a superpowered army. There was a page of the war’s final moments at the end of Astonishing X-Men, but the whole shebang would be something to see.

2 Weapon X’s Time In Team X And Beyond Would Have Been Quite Different In The AoA

Legion Quest took place at some point in the 1960s, when Xavier and Magneto were in Israel. This coincided with Logan’s time as a part of Team X with Sabretooth and Maverick. The last part of Legion Quest shows Apocalypse watching the battle between the time-lost X-Men and Legion and deciding that it is time to show the world the power of mutants. That means Apocalypse’s attacks on the human world began while Logan was still working with the CIA, the precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D., and Department H. Wolverine has a storied history in the 616, and Apocalypse’s rise would have changed all of that.

• Team X was created as a mutant strike force that could do things that no one else could
• If Apocalypse and his mutants were making moves overtly, Team X or Logan specifically would have been called into service
• Logan would have definitely been involved in covert actions against Apocalypse

Readers never saw how Magneto brought Weapon X onto the X-Men – X-Men Chronicles #1 opened with Weapon X being introduced to the team and had him exercising his grudge against Sabretooth. That means there are stories there. Maybe Sabretooth betrayed Team X on a mission, so he joined Apocalypse. Logan still joined Weapon X in the AoA, so it stands to reason Team X was a thing that could use further exploration.

1 Apocalypse Knew About Krakoa

Krakoa is extremely important to the history of the X-Men. The mutant island captured the original X-Men, causing Xavier to send two groups of mutants there to save them. Krakoa appeared several more times over the years and has since become the home to the mutant race for a time. Apocalypse was revealed to have a very long history with the mutant island, and that history changed the way everyone looked at Apocalypse. So, that begs the question – where was Krakoa in the AoA?

• Apocalypse was a member of the mutant society on Okkara, a mutant continent that was split into Krakoa and Arakko
• Krakoa made no appearances in the Age Of Apocalypse
• Since Apocalypse knew about Krakoa, there has to be a story of how he dealt with it

Apocalypse’s survival of the fittest ethos means that he would have found some way to deal with Krakoa. The island was able to create massive monsters that could drain mutant power, so Apocalypse may have destroyed it so he couldn’t be used against him or sent Sinister’s forces there to get his hands on it so Dark Beast could create something from it. Even before Apocalypse’s history with Krakoa was revealed, the mutant island definitely should have been touched upon in the Age Of Apocalypse.