In 2019, author Jonathan Hickman ushered in the most sweeping reinvention of a major X-Men’s “Krakoan Era,”; according to Hickman, though, as much as the beginning of the era was a success, the fact that he wasn’t able to see it through to completion in the way he’d envisioned stands as the “most disappointing creative experience” of his career.

ending to the Krakoan Era that fans got in 2024 is not what he originally had planned, explaining that he pitched the era as a complete three-arc story, but his early departure from X-Men in 2021 ultimately resulted in significant changes to the story in his absence.

House of X #1 cover, Professor X leading Magneto, Jean Grey, Cyclops, & Wolverine through a Krakoan Gate.

The author called it “a total bummer” that he wasn’t involved with the culmination of the Krakoan storyline, leaving readers to wonder how differently the last few years of X-Men lore might have gone with Hickman at the helm.

Jonathan Hickman Calls Not Finishing X-Men's Krakoan Saga His "Most Disappointing Creative Experience"

The Author Opened Up On The Off Podcast

"Daring," "innovative," groundbreaking," even "revolutionary," these are just a sampling of the superlatives often used to describe Jonathan Hickman's reboot of the X-Men franchise in 2019, the intertwined House of X/Powers of X pair of miniseries, which were as much of a breath of fresh air at the narrative level as they were in of their recontextualization of decades of X-lore. Hickman's initial establishment of the franchise's new Krakoan mythology remains revered by most Marvel fans, but the post-Hickman years of the Krakoan Era, especially its final act, garnered a great deal more fan criticism.

Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert in Mark Brooks House of X/Powers of X teaser art
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X-fans have already known for a while that the Krakoan Era’s climax was not Jonathan Hickman’s original design; what is notable about his comments during his Off appearance is that they clarify just how much of a let-down this was for the author, as much, if not more so than for fans of the franchise. As Hickman stated:

It is the most disappointing creative experience that I've had, because I didn't finish the story that I set out to do. Which is a cardinal sin and a total bummer.

In other words, while the Krakoan Era might have ended last year, for its progenitor, it still feels like an incomplete arc, a massive creative "one that got away."

"It's Difficult To Think About": Hickman On The Missed Opportunity Of His Krakoan Ending

An All-Time X-Franchise "What If"

Perhaps at some point in the future Jonathan Hickman will be more open about what his arc was for the Krakoan Era, but for now, it remains a mystery. In any case, it is, without question, the biggest "What If?" of the author's career, and one of the most potent "roads not taken" in X-Men franchise history. For Hickman, it makes the triumph of the era's beginning bittersweet, because he lost creative control of it, so to speak, before getting to pay-off everything he set up.

Jonathan Hickman...has to carry the weight of knowing his vision for the full trajectory of the [Krakoan Era] will never be realized.

As the author put it:

It's really, really difficult for me to talk about it or think about it in any kind of positive aspect, because I would have crushed it.

Comments like this will invariably stoke speculation about how Marvel could have concluded the Krakoan Era differently, especially among those fans dissatisfied with the finale as it happened. Yet, though they might not realize it, in a sense, X-Men fans are better off not knowing how Hickman would have finished the story of the Krakoan Era. For the reason why, look no further than Jonathan Hickman himself, who has to carry the weight of knowing his vision for the full trajectory of the era will never be realized.

If You Think The Krakoan Era's Ending Wasn't Perfect, You're Not Alone

Jonathan Hickman Hints At A Strong Conclusion That Didn't Materialize

Rise of the Powers of X #5 cover, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Xavier, Magneto, & Wolverine leave through Krakoan Gate.

Out of respect for his colleagues at Marvel, who delivered the alluded to on the Off podcast:

If you talk to people in the room who knew what the whole thing was...it's a bummer.

In the end, Marvel’s Hickman affirmed that he doesn't "have any negative feelings about any of the other stuff outside of [him] not bringing it home" when it comes to his exit from X-Men mid-Krakoan Era.

Source: Off Podcast, Jonathan Hickman interview