History YMMV / AvengersVsXMen

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: On an issue-to-issue basis this event was received much better than [[Comicbook/FearItself its immediate predecessor]], and even those who didn't like it were at least interested in where it was going.

* MisaimedFandom: ''Avengers vs. X-Men'' was supposed to be the culmination of Cyclops delving too far into the WellIntentionedExtremist realm since ''ComicBook/HouseOfM.'' Much like the ''Schism'' storyline [[note]]A storyline which ended with Wolverine leading an exodus of most of the X-Men sick of Scott's morally dubious decision[[/note]] a year earlier, many fans found themselves siding with Cyclops despite the writers intention. Cue the resurrection (again) of the catchphrase, "Cyclops was Right."

** Either you think that Captain America was right in presume over Scott's mental condition, and his lack of open remorse is evident of his fall from grace, or you think he's a detached political sock puppet incapable of recognizing how Scott had been carrying on his shoulders a situation for years so impossible that if one, and only one of his friends dies in an attempt to stave off genocide (of the usually hate induced variety), rather than say, a bus full of children, then it was in fact a very good day, and think Cap's reactions to his imprisonment are, at best, embarrassing.

** Either you think that the actions of the Phoenix Five are in line with the corrupting influence of Phoenix Force or that things are being wildly exaggerated for dramatic effect with the main group being written incredibly out of character.

** Either you think that the portrayal of the Phoenix as a destructive entity is fine and in line with the most well-known Phoenix story (''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'') or you feel like it's a flimsy premise that ignores 15-20 years of Rachel Summers' existence and her bonding with and complete control of the Phoenix Force (although this is YMMV, as Rachel largely controlled the Phoenix by never trying to access its full power, and even she did slip sometimes).

** Either you think the Avengers were assholes who came to San Francisco in bad faith ready to kidnap a kid for dubious reasons with no intentions of negotiating or you think that they were justified because the Phoenix is a giant threat, has been a threat in the past and they have to do anything necessary to stop it from potentially destroying everything.

** Did "Pax Utopia" ever stand a chance of truly being paradise or was it just a prison where the Phoenix 5 could subtly abuse every and anyone who had ever wronged them (remember, in the name of "peace" and supposedly encouraging humanity to "go and build great things", the Phoenix 5 destroyed all the world's weapons, or as many as they could get their hands on, thus making it impossible for humanity to attack them)? After all, nice weather, plentiful food and maybe even health care aside, a prison by any other name is still a prison no matter how you dress it up.

** Did "Pax Utopia" ever stand a chance of truly being paradise or was it just a prison where the Phoenix 5 could subtly abuse every and anyone who had ever wronged them (remember, in the name of "peace" and supposedly encouraging humanity to "go and build great things" the Phoenix 5 destroyed all the world's weapons, or as many as they could get their hands on, thus making it impossible for humanity to attack them)? After all, nice weather, plentiful food and maybe even health care aside, a prison by any other name is still a prison no matter how you dress it up.

** When the Phoenix 5 were flying all over the world creating their "Pax Utopia" were they really trying to improve the world because improving the world is the ultimate goal of any hero, or were they just wanking off at themselves and their new power and taking advantage of the chance to take all their oppressors and effectively imprison them?

* AcceptableProfessionalTargets: The villain in ''Consequences''? [[spoiler:The privatized prison system]].

* AssPull: The "Anti-Telepathy" nano-machines Tony Stark creates and injects into all of the Avengers ''specifically'' so Emma Frost can't end the event in issue 2. To be fair, though, anti-telepathy technology is relatively common in TheVerse, even if this was an unusually handy application of it.

* SignatureScene: The choking scene in issue #11 was framed as being the most brutal moment of the event up to that point with a mostly silent double-paged spread and images of Emma screaming horrifically and then laying still with blood coming out of her mouth.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Fans were getting just a little tired of watching heroes fight each other, so Marvel throwing their two most popular teams at each other was kind of a hard sell to begin with.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** By and large, this storyline was one for numerous critically panned creative decisions made under Creator/JoeQuesada's tenure as Editor-in-Chief. Among the elements thrown out were [[spoiler:Wakanda as unrealistically perfect, the [[TokenRomance Storm/Black Panther relationship]], making ComicBook/ScarletWitch crazy, and, at the very end, [[ComicBook/HouseOfM the Decimation of mutants]]]]. While ''[=AvX=]'' was (likely intentionally) polarizing, those stories were all reviled to a much greater degree.
** Dan Slott (who has a flair for these) supplies a hilarious one in the final issue of ''Vs.'' for a couple of the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu more ridiculous victories]] in prior issues. [[spoiler:Turns out Squirrel Girl and Pixie, completely ignorant of the conflict, were playing an RPG with the Puppet Master's voodoo dolls. This implies that Pixie and Squirrel Girl are accidentally responsible for starting the Avengers/X-men conflict, without anyone knowing it]]. It's somewhat unclear whether this was intended to be canon, but more than a few fans accept it.

** On the X-Men side ,they want to keep Hope on Utopia based on the idea that the Phoenix will allow her to restore mutants as a species. While this is risky based on how unpredictable the Phoenix tends to be it should be noted that the X-Men have a much greater understanding of the Phoenix than most people, especially since one of their members ([[ComicBook/RachelSummers Rachel Grey-Summers]]) was a host for it and never lost control. Cyclops thought process also shows a rational understanding of the nature of the Phoenix Force in that he understands the loss of an entire species would attract the attention of such a life giving force. Their complaints towards the Avengers about staying out mutant affairs carries some truth with it as well.

** By and large, this storyline was one for numerous critically panned creative decisions made under Creator/JoeQuesada's tenure as Editor-in-Chief. Among the elements thrown out were [[spoiler:Wakanda as a MarySuetopia, the [[TokenRomance Storm/Black Panther relationship]], making ComicBook/ScarletWitch crazy, and, at the very end, [[ComicBook/HouseOfM the Decimation of mutants]]]]. While ''[=AvX=]'' was (likely intentionally) polarizing, those stories were all reviled to a much greater degree.

* WhatAnIdiot: Plenty of it, but Rachel and pretty much anyone else who seriously believed that the Phoenix 5 were seriously making the world a better place by turning the world into a dictatorship (though claims they were initially dictators are themselves YMMV). Equally so were Captain America and those who seriously thought that repeatedly prodding at a group of insanely powerful but emotionally unstable entities until they really did snap into full-on villainy was a good idea. Cyclops isn't immune to this either, unfortunately. To be specific, he demonstrates this at the beginning, where he was assuming that the Phoenix was there to restore Mutants as a species with no proof to back up said claim, seemingly conveniently forgetting all the trouble it brought to the X-men in the past, ignoring what the Phoenix did to his deceased ex-wife and essentially risking the entire planet to restore a minority of the people that lived there.
** Although in Cyclops' defense, Cable (Hopes adopted father and Cyclops' time traveling son) assures him at the end of the Second Coming event and later during Avengers: X-Sanction that Hope would bring back mutant kind. Combine this with the fact that Scott's OTHER time traveling kid from the future Rachel Grey-Summers is a former Phoenix host who even tells the Avengers at one point that the Phoenix CAN be controlled and it makes sense why Cyclops would believe that the Phoenix was coming to reignite mutant kind.