Marvel’s X-Factor Just Gave The Series A Perfect Ending

Warning: Spoilers for X-Factor #10 by Leah Williams and David Baldeón ahead!

This isn’t the first time an X-Factor title has come to a close, but this may be the most fitting and poignant send-off the fan favorite series has gotten yet. It’s never easy for readers to see their favorite teams’ stories end, and it’s made especially difficult when their run wasn’t that long to begin with. Nonetheless, Marvel’s X-Factor #10 bid a beautiful, melancholic adieu to the series.

The first X-Factor team debuted in 1986 and featured the five original X-Men: Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman. Throughout its 149-issue run, the team saw multiple rosters and since then, the X-Men spin-off has continued to evolve. The current volume launched in the summer of 2020 as a part of the Dawn of X relaunch initiative and is now concluding its short-lived life on the evening of the notorious Hellfire Gala.

This reboot’s team is lead by Northstar and is otherwise comprised of Polaris, Prestige, Daken, Eye-Boy, Prodigy, and Aurora. They also work closely with The Five – the mutant team responsible for all Krakoan resurrections, basically supplying mutantkind with virtual immortality. In this final issue, X-Factor and The Five rolled up to the extravagant Hellfire Gala… not knowing that it could be the last time they assembled as a team. Throughout the night the group experienced a plethora of individual milestones. Polaris left the team to become a member of the new X-Men, Prodigy finally confronted the man that killed him almost a year prior, Daken and Aurora became even closer, and Eye-Boy exercised his powers to greater strengths than ever before. Unfortunately, the latter is also what allowed Trevor to see tragedy strike before anyone else at the end of the issue.

Eye-Boy wanted to do something nice for Prodigy by inviting Tommy (Speed) to come celebrate at the gala with them. But he had no idea how much of a heartbreaking mistake that would be. At the end of the issue, the three boys winded down after a night of partying when Trevor’s heightened sight allows him to see something horrible. He tries to stop Tommy from getting any closer and yells for David to call Northstar… but it’s too late. Tommy finds his own mother, the Scarlet Witch, dead on the ground. This moment and tragic death is the catalyst for the X-Men: The Trial of Magneto saga, which is set to release in August.

Although X-Factor #10 may be the end of this particular series, the team itself is still prepped to play an important role in solving the mystery behind Wanda’s killer in the upcoming saga. Whether or not Polaris will join them for their last case is yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure; the characters in the Marvel universe are not the only ones shook by this finale.

Creators Leah Williams and David Baldeón are also finding this goodbye particularly difficult. They both included long, heartfelt notes to the readers explaining their reasoning behind ending the series and how much this venture truly meant to them both. These characters became like their own kids, with Baldeón claiming it felt like they were, “holding their hands during a journey of recovery, of acceptance, of rebirth.” Now, their beloved X-Factor heroes are being freed to move on to new titles, chapters, stories, mysteries; and readers will most assuredly be along for the ride.

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