Warning: The X-Cellent is a direct sequel to the original X-Cellent series and Late Arrival Spoilers for that series are unmarked on this page.
The X-Cellent (collected as X-Cellent: Unsocial Media) is a 2023 comic book limited series from Marvel Comics. It's written by Peter Milligan with art by Mike Allred and color art by Laura Allred.
Nominally set in the shared Marvel Universe, The X-Cellent is a Sequel Series to 2022's X-Cellent, itself a revival of characters and themes first introduced in Milligan and Allred's X-Force (2001) and X-Statix (2002) stories. Although part of the wider X-Men franchise, it's not linked into the Krakoan Age saga that the other X-books have been telling since 2019.
Many years ago, the acid-spitting mutant Zeitgeist was the leader of X-Force, a team of amoral, publicity-obsessed mercenaries who’d stolen their 'brand name' from the previous team of mutant heroes. He was double-crossed by their backers, ambushed and believed dead.
After his 'death', the survivors of X-Force founded X-Statix, a more well-intentioned mutant team, under the leadership of Mister Sensitive.
But now Zeitgeist has been revived as a cyborg, and has recruited his own villainous team - the titular X-Cellent. They've stolen the 'Rite of Apotheosis' from sorcerer Doctor Strange's Book of the Vishanti, and if Zeitgeist can make his new team popular enough before X-Statix stop him, he might be able to convert that attention into godhood...
The first issue was released March 15, 2023.
The X-Cellent (2023) contains examples of the following tropes:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Axel struggles to control Dox, because Dox's programming makes him immune to Axel's usual strategies of bullying and gaslighting. On the other hand, Dox is unable to personally kill him, because he was programmed to follow any sufficiently authoritative voice.
- Anger Born of Worry: In issue #2, after Myles's faked death is revealed, he gets an earful from his husband, who genuinely believed he was dead.
- Betrayal by Offspring: Dox's research suggests that Rosa Lemper was spying on her own parents for The Stasi.
- Blackmail:
- Zeitgeist uses Dox's research to blackmail the X-Statix team into attending a b-list gala, further harming their reputations.
- Dox blackmails Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl into trying to murder Zeitgeist, who killed his creator. If they don't do it, he'll release the shameful information he's found about their pasts.
- Blackmail Backfire: Dox's attempt to blackmail Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl into killing Zeitgeist backfires on him. First, Toodle Pip decides it would be easier to kill Dox - and tries to teleport him into the Hudson River. That fails completely due to his countermeasures - but then Mirror Girl tells Zeitgeist about the blackmail and he deals with Dox himself.
- Bullying a Dragon: Zeitgeist's Bad Boss tendencies haven’t improved. He tries Mind Control on Toodle Pip when she tells him to stop harassing Mirror Girl - which doesn't work fast enough to prevent her teleporting him to Antarctica. He backs down before he freezes to death. Unfortunately for Toodle Pip, the next time they clash he simply kills her with acid vomit before she can react.
- The Bus Came Back: Despite the slow progress of Zeitgeist's project to reassemble mutant Energy Being Venus Dee Milo (who was scattered across the universe at the end of the earlier X-Statix series), Venus appears in the final issue, weeks ahead of schedule. After becoming aware of Zeitgeist's plan, she simply decided to reassemble herself.
- Cannot Tell a Lie: Dox, the Digital Man, is unable to lie to "human voices of authority". So when Zeitgeist asks if Dox really needs his creator Max to operate, Dox confirms that he doesn't. At which point Max has outlived his usefulness to Zeitgeist.
- A Day in the Limelight: Issue #1 is largely narrated by Uno, the X-Cellent's disembodied floating mutant eye, who handles surveillance duties for Zeitgeist.
- Dead Artists Are Better: In the wake of Myles' supposed death, sales of his book suddenly shoot up.
- Description Cut: When his attempt at Bullying a Dragon goes wrong and Toodle Pip forces him to back down, Zeitgeist assures her that he's happy with their new arrangement. The next panel cuts to his base, where he's punching a wall in frustration and yelling about how much he hates it.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Toodle Pip admits she's "pretty evil" herself, but won't stand for the way Zeitgeist treats Mirror Girl. When Zeitgeist decides to push the issue, he finds himself Bullying a Dragon (and teleported to Antarctica).
- Fake Relationship: Gone Girl and The A break up, only for Mister Sensitive to tell them that they need to pretend they're still in love to help X-Statix win the media and publicity duel with the X-Cellent.
- Killed Offscreen: Vivisector apparently dies between scenes in the first issue, which guarantees a 'death bounce' for sales of his final novel. Subverted when the next issue reveals he's Faking the Dead as part of the wider plan.
- Non-Protagonist Resolver: Venus Dee Milo reassembles herself four pages before the end of the final issue - and immediately teleports the newly divine Zeitgeist into a warped dimension that even his new powers can't escape.
- No-Sell: After Dox blackmails Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl into trying to murder Zeitgeist, they decide it would be easier and safer to destroy Dox himself. Unfortunately Dox's artificial brain understands the physics of Toodle Pip's teleportation powers better than she does herself - and has designed countermeasures. An attempt to teleport him into the Hudson river fails, leaving her confused and exhausted.
- Phlebotinum-Proof Robot: Dox is immune to most of the abuse that Axel Cluney heaps on his teammates, because Axel relies heavily on intimidation and bullying to make others obey him, and as a robot, Dox's feelings aren't so easily manipulated.
- Punch a Wall: After Toodle Pip forces him to stop harassing Mirror Girl, Zeitgeist spends a few panels punching a wall and yelling about how much he hates the situation. He manages to do some visible damage to the wall, but as he doesn’t have Invulnerable Knuckles, he's also nursing his injured hand for the next few scenes.
- Self-Deprecation: In the second issue there's a "low-rent gala" full of b-list heroes, and it's implied that being seen in that company is bad for a hero's reputation. Attendees include Dazzler, Beak, Speedball, Hellcat and Wonder Man. Amusingly, it was published just after a new Hellcat series launched.
- Sequel Series: It's a direct sequel to the 2022 X-Cellent, series, continuing Zeitgeist's Godhood Seeker arc. It's even billed as 'season 2' on the first cover. Despite the title change and renumber, the first issue doesn't really stop to reintroduce the cast.
- Villain Protagonist: As with the 2022 X-Cellent series, the focus is on Zeitgeist and the title team. The X-Statix team trying to stop them still gets a few scenes of its own, but the X-Cellent tend to get at least half of the book.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- At the end of issue #1, Max Poindexter, creator of Dox the Digital Man, escapes unharmed when the X-Cellent steal Dox, convincing Zeitgeist that he's needed to operate the robot. At the start of #2 Dox, who Cannot Tell a Lie, confirms that he can operate without Max. Zeitgeist promptly kills Max.
- In issue #3, Zeitgeist decides that Toodle Pip, who stood up to him to protect her colleague Mirror Girl, and was later blackmailed into trying to kill him, is more trouble than she's worth. Mirror Girl gets forgiven for her role in the blackmail scheme; Toodle Pip gets abruptly killed by a blast of Zeitgeist's acidic vomit. Subverted in the following issue, as he belatedly realises that the matter machine is still some way off reviving Venus Dee Milo, so he still needed Pip as the team's teleporter.
- In issue #4, Zeitgeist realises that he doesn't need Dox to unearth X-Statix's guilty secrets when fake news will work just as well for damaging their reputations, so kills him in a brutal No Holds Barred Beat Down.
- You Killed My Father: Zeitgeist kills Dox's creator, Max Poindexter, as soon as the robot (who Cannot Tell a Lie) confirms that he doesn't require Max to operate. That doesn't mean Dox is happy about it, though - and he immediately starts plotting revenge, blackmailing Toodle Pip and Mirror Girl into trying to murder Zeitgeist.
