charle
Warning: includes spoilers for X of Swords: Destruction #1 and Champions #3!
Things are happening fast for Marvel's mutants, with the founding of X-Men as Krakoa's heroes, a separate entity from the Council.
With Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, voting that any X-Men must leave their seat on the Quiet Council, Cyclops' move has been the first major challenge to the state that Charles Xavier has been building in the shadows through much of Marvel history. While Professor X still loves his former students, he itted that he has to take a larger view of mutant affairs, setting up a potential powder keg should the X-Men disagree with the Council in future. In Champions #3 by Eve Ewing and Bob Quinn, the cracks may already be starting to show.
Marvel's young heroes are currently dealing with Marvel's overarching Outlawed! storyline, with the US Government bringing draconian measures to bear against teen heroes under a measure named "Kamala's Law," which used a disastrous mission by the Champions to fuel for tighter regulation of super-powered youths. With jackbooted task force C.R.A.D.L.E. dragging heroes off to sinister re-education camps, Kamala's Law has many young heroes on the run, especially since Viv Vision is informing on her former teammates, helping C.R.A.D.L.E. chase them across America.
In Champions #3, things come to a head. Exhausted and with nowhere left to go, the teenage Spider-Man Miles Morales, Nova, Ironheart, and Ms. Marvel are surrounded by C.R.A.D.L.E., resolving to be taken down in a blaze of glory rather than submit. They're just about to fall when a familiar ruby-red optic blast strikes the ground, announcing the heroic arrival of Cyclops, who tells the assembled troops that the Champions are under the protection of Krakoa, and that any act of aggression will be considered an act of war.
It's a truly triumphant moment, and the first luck the Champion have had in weeks. Thanks to time-travel shenanigans, Cyclops was actually a member of the Champions as a teenager, and has now arrived as an adult to help take care of his "old" friends. The cover for Champions #4 sees the Champions at sea with Scott - the only way for non-mutants to reach Krakoa - suggesting that Cyclops is ready to follow through on his offer of asylum on Krakoa; a society that has taken a "mutants only" approach to citizenship with very few exceptions.
But despite Cyclops' awesome entrance, this act may be the first true fracture between the X-Men and the Quiet Council. Ongoing series X-Force and X-Men have made it clear that Professor X is playing an incredibly delicate political game to establish Krakoa as a respected world power, and Cyclops threatening war to protect his buddies is decidedly not part of that game plan, amounting to a direct intervention by Krakoa into America's self-governance. While it seems like C.R.A.D.L.E. won't take Cyclops up on his threat, the X-Men's leader just brought America and Krakoa to the brink of war to protect his friends - none of whom are mutant citizens.
Cyclops does have some latitude to make decisions as Captain Commander of Krakoa, and X of Swords: Destruction #1 made it clear he isn't afraid to tell Professor X what's what, but Xavier is no longer Scott's kindly mentor, and this act is likely to make it clear to both men that their interests and priorities aren't perfectly aligned. Whether Professor X puts his foot down in Champions #4 and denies the Champions refuge or not, the cracks of Krakoa's alliances are starting to show, and Cyclops is likely to face some very hard choices in the near future.
