Warning: X-Cellent is a direct sequel to events in X-Force (Milligan & Allred) and X-Statix, so Late Arrival Spoilers for those series are unmarked on this page.
X-Cellent (titled The X-Cellent on covers, and subtitled New Blood, New World for the collected edition) is a 2022 comic-book series from Marvel Comics, created by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred. It is a sequel to Milligan and Allred's X-Statix.
Years ago, the world watched in horror as Axel Cluney, the Zeitgeist, was viciously gunned down by terrorists during a failed attempt to rescue a boy band. What the world doesn't know is that Cluney was a massive jerk, and his death was the result of a failed attempt to kill his teammates.
Fast forward to the modern day, Cluney has returned, his badly-damaged body having been restored by the latest in cybernetics and plastic surgery, and he's formed a new, media-friendly team, X-Cellent, that that is wreaking havoc on celebrities but posturing themselves as activists, forcing Guy Smith, the only person who still knows about his criminal misdeeds, to reform the X-Statix to try and investigate him. Of course, first, he has to get his new teammates to work together, which, considering that they are X-Statix, is a tall order.
The series ended with issue #5, with an announcement that it would return for 'Season 2', later revealed to be a five-issue sequel series, The X-Cellent (2023).
This series contains examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: The A lost his right arm in the team's first adventure when he got sprayed by Zeitgeist's acidic puke.
- Back from the Dead: Axel Cluney was believed to be dead after the Boyz 'R' US incident way back in X-Force #116, but is now back, his body restored by a combination of heavy cybernetics and plastic surgery.
- Bad Influencer: Axel's X-Cellent carries the same Celebrity Superhero goals as X-Statix, but is much sleazier with focus on manipulating their social media image while viciously taking out competition.
- Care-Bear Stare: Hurt John's powers allow him to see someone's inner pain and psychically project it at them.
- Disappeared Dad: Whoosh's dad abandoned him when he was a kid.
- Driven to Suicide: Toodle Pip's father shot himself in the head when she was a child, after his plan to move to American and start a new life ended in failure. Her codename is the last thing he said to her (and she said back to him) before he pulled the trigger.
- Everyone Has Standards: Fluff decides to go against Zeitgeist's wishes and rescue Girl Joe from his rabid fans, if only because doing so earns him some good publicity.
- From Hero to Mentor: Guy Smith, formerly the hero Mr. Sensitive, is forced to resurrect his old team, X-Statix, to deal with his evil predecessor Zeitgeist, who's Back from the Dead. With most of his former teammates now long dead, Guy is forced to turn to the next generation, training his former teammates' children. This is particularly awkward for him as one of those kids is the daughter of his dead girlfriend.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: Fluff's ability to generate hair-follicle clouds seems like an utterly useless power up until Zeitgeist tries to use his corrosive vomit against him, and discovers that all that fluff absorbs his vomit easily. The fourth issue reveals that he can also alter the chemical composition of the fluff, transforming it into a cyanoacrylate - fast-setting glue.
- It's All My Fault: Katie readily takes the blame for X-Statix's failure to rescue Girl Joe from the Zeitgeisters, as she chose to ignore an order from Guy out of spite.
- Mistaken for Racist: In issue 4, Guy tries to put the breaks on Katie and Mike's relationship, because he's worried that they'll get distracted, or that if one of them dies in the field, the other will take it hard. Mike accuses him of coming down on them because he doesn't like the idea of his ex's daughter dating a black guy.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- In the first issue, Rick Ragger, the dead celebrity whose holographic concert X-Cellent crashes, appears to be an expy of Freddie Mercury, with some elements of David Bowie thrown in. Apparently, the creative team has learned their lesson after the controversy that happened when they tried to bring back Princess Di as a mutant in the old series.
- XC member Fluff is a dead-ringer for a young Mick Jagger.
- Opposite-Sex Clone: Phatty is a female clone of Phat, from the classic X-Statix team.
- Power Incontinence:
- Joe Bomb has the power to create explosions out of thin air. The slightest fluctuations in his metabolism or blood-alcohol levels can cause him to go off involuntarily.
- Whoosh is a powerful teleporter, but while he can get other people away easily enough, he has a much tougher time with specific destinations. He also sometimes forgets to teleport people's limbs with the rest of their bodies.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The modern X-Statix is made up of the closest approximations that Guy and Myles could find to their former teammates. The A, Anarchist's son, has his late dad's ego but none of his better instincts. Phatty is a vain female clone of Phat who cares more about her modeling career than superheroics. Gone Girl, the daughter of U-Go Girl, is well-adjusted enough to want nothing to do with being a superhero. And newcomer Rosa Lemper is friendly enough, but she's older than most of the other new recruits and only recently got into the superhero business.
- Red Right Hand: Axel used to be a reasonably attractive man with a very ugly soul, but now he's got a horribly mangled midsection and a large X sliced into his face. The final issue leaves one of his eyes red and blind as well.
- Refusal of the Call: Katie Jones has tried repeatedly to get out of the superhero business, having seen what it did to her famous mother, Edie Sawyer. Unfortunately for her, she is a dead-ringer for her mom, so living a normal life was never in the cards, especially not with Axel Cluney still alive.
- Sequel Series: The series is a sequel to X-Statix, with the same writer and artist as well as much of the same cast.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Mike Alicar and Katie Jones look a lot like Tike Alicar and Edie Sawyer, respectively, but their personalities are very different; Where Tike was arrogant but also Genre Savvy, Mike is just plain reckless, and where Edie was self-absorbed but also brave, Katie is well-adjusted but also unsure of herself.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In the second issue, Axel tries to get Katie to defect, and when she doesn't, he petulantly burns her face with acid. This ends up backfiring on him; first of all, he failed to plan for how his team would flee the battle without the aid of a teleporter, meaning that they all get filmed awkwardly fleeing the scene. Plus, maiming the teenage daughter of a beloved celebrity doesn't help their reputation.
- Villain Protagonist: The X-Cellent, not the more heroic X-Statix, are at the center of the book. Although some team members are conflicted or less villainous, the team are definitely acting as bad guys.
- Wrong Line of Work: Mirror Girl was a novitiate nun before Axel lured her away from her convent, and she is increasingly uncomfortable with the kind of things he's planning.
