I can't with the people that don't acknowledge or appreciate what Storm has done or what she symbolizes in the fictional world and actual world.

In her first appearance, Ororo chose to leave her life and homeland, where she was worshiped, beloved and appreciated. to join some white man's cause and move to America, where she would be hated and feared not just for her mutation but for being an African woman. All those other leaders have white male privilege to keep them in power and in the spotlight since it's so much easier for them to identify with someone like themselves then a woman of colour. Which just goes to prove how insufficient they are as writers, when other have no problem depicting the complexity and diversity of characters. If only white male writers could go to the Chris Claremont School of Higher Learning.

Thanks to Chris Claremon, Storm was not just some token female and/black character but a real fully formed fictional person. She is was an inspired and aspirational character for many of us fans who don't always have heroes. And she proved herself a worthy leader.

She rose up the ranks to become well respected among her team mates of men, and the Professor saw natural born talent as a leader and asked her to take over for Scott when he left the team.

She also took over leadership of the Morlocks from Callisto in order to save the lives of her teammates and to support an underground community of mutants that had a bigger challenge conforming with society.

Then, she was depowered, a fate that is so common among super heroines, she found more strength, surety and determination to return to the X-men and lead them as another minority among the X-men, a human.

She bested Scott in a fight for leadership, by using her natural skill and cleverness. And was never challenged by any of the X-men, including alpha males like Wolverine, Magneto, and Cable.

She formed an alliance with the Hellfire Club, to protect her team and the New Mutants, by becoming their White King but put Magneto in place as her representative.

In the 80's, when the X-men were at their most successful and iconic, she was THE LEADER of the X-men and everyone knew it. Even when she was in a child form, she still commanded authority. Her status as the top X-women had been established and her role as a leader carried her into the 90's where she co-lead the x-men with Cyclops on two different teams.

Sadly, there was a long ignorance of her leadership, as the 90's saw new writers come in that had no respect for her, and all the accomplishments she had, and marginalized her like the female and minority character she was.

The "real" Storm finally made a come back into prominence in X-treme X-men, where Claremont returned her to her former status as an alternative to the status quo of leadership which was Cyclops and Professor X. And if people were not all so up Grant Morrison ass kissing it, they would have seen Storm breaking away from the Professor's dream and creating a new direction for mutants in the original Schism story line. She aligned with the United Nations to form a team called X-treme Sanctions Executive, that would protect the peace between mutants and humans all over the world.

If it wasn't for Marvel's decision to marry off Storm to the Black Panther she might have had more influence on the fate of mutantkind and used her connections with the U.N. or even Wakanda to protect the remaining population of mutants but no one paid her any mind and left her to waste away as some trophy wife.

It wasn't until recently that new writer finally restored some of Storm's former power and had her return to the X-men and start to lead new teams. She also chose to stay with Scott despite her wanting to side with Logan, but joined the Extinction team to keep them in check and provide the moral compass for the team. But after AvX, she finally could follow her heart instead of her head.

The current Storm is who she is was supposed to be if the writers of the past would have acknowledged her strengths and skills. She is one of the most well connected super heroes with ties to the X-men, Fantastic Four, Avengers, the Morlocks, the Hellfire Club, and the Fearless Defenders. And was part of a U.N. peacekeeping organization, something no other mutant has been able to do because they all segregate themselves from the human world while Storm embraces it, whole heartedly.

She is the perfect leader. But it's all up to the writers to follow up on her promise and potential, even if she is a black female character, and they will never know how much more exceptional she is because of that.

What I wish to see happen for the direction and development of the X-men is a better vision of where they belong in their world and new leaders who can help them achieve a better future.

First they need some new leadership and guidance, now that Professor X is dead and the dream of mutant co-existence is evolving and branching in new directions.

My favourite leaders of the X-men are Storm, Mirage, Jean Grey, Psylocke and Mystique. The all have the extra X to make them all more valuable and exceptional leaders because they not only have to overcome the oppressive barriers of being a mutant but also deal with the sexist and racist ideas that keeps women out of leadership roles. These women have all proven themselves as equal to the X-men and sometimes better. So i would rank them always higher than the rest because a leader of mutants needs to see from more than one perspective and understand the complexity of being a minority even if they don't have any mutant powers. So in my mind that would rule out Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, Wolverine, Havok, Cable, Multiple Man, and Cannonball. And guess what they all have in common they are all white, straight, cis males who only understand oppression from the perspective of a mutant.

I would rather see mutants with visible mutations would have a great sense of understanding and stake in the cause. The are not only at odd with humans but mutant as well who can pass as human and don't suffer the same oppression they would have endured for just looking different on top of being genetically different. But as has been proven by the X-book these characters have a harder time being lead figures because their looks marginalize them and keep them in a certain niche. This is why so many of them decided to live underground as the Morlocks or are driven to crime and becoming villains. Sadly among the X-men have had a harder time integrating more mutant who can't pass for human on the team and let alone have the experience to lead a team. Beast, Archangel, and Nightcrawler are the three who come to the top of my mind but none of them have ever been developed as more than beta male characters and as such not leadership material.

I am a big supporter of Marvel's minority characters and i wanted to list some of my fav few that need more attention and hopefully get a role on some book.

Photon- Monica Rambeau is the lady of light, but Marvel keeps on leaving her in the dark, i want her back on the Avengers

Dr. Voodoo - became the Sorcerer Supreme in the Marvel Universe over Dr. Strange but then was killed off right after

Sway -a Chinese American mutant who Professor X and Moira MacTaggert recruited as X-men but died in their attempt to save the original X-men from Krakoa

Echo -a Mestiza heroine, who is deaf but can mimic and learn by photographic memory, one time Avengers

Risque - a Cuban girl with the mutant power to manipulate gravity

Neal Sharra -a fire powered mutant from India who was part of the X-treme X-men and has not been seen in years

Shola Inkosi- a telepathic and telekinetic mutant from Genosha who worked with Professor X but then was depowered

Firebird -a Latina character imbued with the power of a shooting star, and member of the West Coast Avengers

Omega Sentinel -Indian woman turned prime sentinel but was aligned with the X-men

Timeslip -Indian woman who appeared in New Warriors, was a mutant with time displacement powers,

I have been noticing this for a while now, but I think when Avengers the movie came out I really began to feel there was something more intrinsically racist about who Marvel as a company has portrayed as the hero to counter all forms of villainous oppression. And in my X-books is becoming more and more apparent how many blondes are running around being pushed to the forefront while other minority characters are pulled to the shadows

I would like to list all the characters that i feel are too blonde for me to handle anymore. Most of course are men, because they have enough white male privilege in this world and when your blond and blue eyes everyone seems to think you are golden. Sorry not in my book.

Captain America - the golden boy of Marvel comics. I guess in those days the rationale for his origin was that who better to fight a Nazi then to create a super solider with all the Aryan looks they wanted to possess...? He could have at least been Jewish himself or some kind of minority but that was the Golden Age of comics. And heroes on came in two colour blonde or not blonde.

Thor -I guess in Norse mythology he has to be blonde so I can't really blame Marvel for depicting him in all his Nordic glory but with him comes all his other blonde supporting cast and a mythology that is so Euro-centric that it excludes deities and races of other cultures who would make for good stories too.

Hawkeye-i liked him better when he was dead.

Giantman-another blonde man that gets all the attention and spotlight even though he doesn't deserve it. Remember him beating up his wife, the Wasp. Well i don't forget and I hate how popular he is.

Human Torch -iconic character, even died, but that didn't last long.

Sentry -Marvel's blonde Superman. Heaven forbid they try to create a character that is original and even if you do copy the powers and prestige of a Superman, at least try to give that power to a less cliche type of person.

Angel -such a tired old and cliche character. At least when he was archangel he had blue skin. But now why even bring him back from the died. Oh yeah he's a blond male character. It's his privilege.

Havok -he has been such a boring and bland character who still managed to gain some level of leadership and authority just for being born a white male and brother to the MAN, Cyclops. So i guess we are to believe he is the best and more experience X-men to lead a team like the Uncanny Avengers. And when he talks about being a mutant we must believe that he truely understands the plight and disparity of being a minority when he looks like every other blond male in the Avengers, but don't call him a "mutant". He is a white man and don't you forget it.

Now as for the blonde ladies in the Marvel U, there are some who i can recognize as being different and more deserving of attention based soley on their gender, because sexism is an issue and I rather see Captain Marvel lead the Avengers over Captain America.

Emma Frost- is a good character but she has been given a status in large part due to her sexual objectification. Her popularity is mainly due to her being man's woman instead of woman's woman. She is given power only by the men she associates with and

Layla Miller-somehow during the House of M, this character was created and for whatever reason she never everything about and was brought over to X-Factor where she remains. The weird icky aspect of her though is she started as a young teenage girl who foresaw herself become Multiple Man's wife So the little lolita was aged in an alternate universe and returned to the team as an adult so she could fulfill her mission and sleep with Madrox. How convenient, eh.

Mockingbird-why did she and Hawkeye need to be resurrected?!? Does Marvel really need their own Black Canary and Green Arrow so badly. Or do they just like seeing blonde on blonde action.

Lady Mastermind- there was already a female Mastermind who was the daughter of the original mutant with that name. But they had to create a new one with blonde hair this time instead of brunette. And now she is more popular than he sister who came before her.

Namora -if it wasn't for the foot wings she would look like every other blonde superheroine. she should have black hair like her cousin or go the other extreme with white hair. I know she has history and is a strong female character but we enough of those that look like her.

Dazzler-I really like her but one thing i would change about her is needs to go back to her original light orange (strawberry blonde?) look or dye it blue like any good music idol would.

Snowbird-is my favourite Alpha Flight character and i wish she would appear in more books but one of my biggest gripes about her origin is that she is the daughter of an Inuit goddess but was born blonde and has never looked different. I loved how she was portrayed in the Ultimate universe by looking like Native Canadian. I would also not mind if she appeared with white hair since she does shapeshift into white animals all the time but she always goes back to being blonde?!

Magma -i like her look but i would prefer it if she was actually of Brazilian origin and a mix or races then having her as some Roman empire refugee. In X-men Evolution they made her look like she actually came from Brazil with brown hair and skin.

the Stepford Cuckoos- i love all 2 of them but like Emma they sometimes get used as fan service. I like them creepy not sexualized

Gold

Storm, Dani Moonstar, Magik, Sage, M, Jean Grey

Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, Psylocke, Revanche,

Wind Dancer, Armor, Blindfold, Dust, the Cuckoos

Mystique, Destiny, Selene, Spiral, Lady Deathstrike

Magneto, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Gambit

Cannonball, Sunspot, Cypher, Warpath, Caliban,

Neal Shaara, Pete Wisdom, Christopher Muse,

Silver

Emma Frost, Jubilee, Domino, Petra, Sway

Karma, Magma, Risque, Aurora, Omega Sentinel

Cecelia Reyes, Lifeguard, Stacy-X, Nocturne, Blink

Surge, Mercury, Trance, Oya, Sharkgirl, No-girl

Legion, Hellion, Prodigy, Match, Rockslide,

Quicksilver, Madrox, Darwin, Thunderbird, Banshee

Iceman, Sunfire, Rictor, Shatterstar,

Bronze

Wolverine, Cable, Bishop, Havok, Beast, Forge,

Northstar, Box, Northstar, Mimic, Synch, Random,

Elixer, Wither, Anole, Velocidad, Zero, Gentle

Rachel Grey, Polaris, Siryn, Angel Salvadore, Pixie

Tempus, Wolfsbane, Frenzy, Skids, Boom Boom,

Others

Cyclops, Rogue, X-man, Chamber, Husk, Skin, Longshot, Archangel,

Namor, Dr. Nemesis, Danger, Ariel, Hepzibah, Warbird, Kid Gladiator,

First off, i would need to prepare in advance by setting the event. A prelude issue where the Avengers come to the rescue of Wanda after a mob of humans attack her, thinking she is responsible for some tragedy, that was staged by some other villain. The witch hunt would show the team of how much she has suffered and much she still struggles being a mutant. The seeds of empathy and guilt take root and they try to reach out to other mutant Avengers. The X-men would have a prelude issue where Utopia has become a holy site for Cyclops' to preach about Hope and the return of the Phoenix. He gathers his own Acolytes and inspires other to belief in a mutant rebirth. Hope become more burdened with responsibility and begin to feel she has no choice. Cue the return of the Phoenix from the sun.

As the event begins, the Avengers get news from the Silver Surfer that the PF approaches and start to dread the possibilities of another Dark Phoenix after learning about the prophecies Bishop foretold. The Avengers split into three teams, one to engage the X-men, the second to find a scientific solution and the third to find a mystical solution to stop it. On the other side Hope is being mentored by mutant with great power, like Professor X, Legion, Rachel, Storm and Magneto. When both sides decide to debate the issue, on neutral ground, arguments arise out the tension between the two team. Each side brings up past offenses, like the Avengers ignorance of mutantkinds plight and the X-men's harbouring of many ex-villains. The main concern for the Avengers is another Dark Phoenix while the X-men fear their extinction but no side finds a resolution so they part ways. The Avengers try technology and magic but nothing will stop the PF so the come up with a back up plan. The X-men however anticipate a last attempt to prevent Hope from receiving the PF so they have Magik and Magneto raise Utopia to the moon. Hot in pursuit are the Avengers with their secret weapon the Scarlet Witch. As the Phoenix arrives, Hope and the X-men await in the Blue Area of the Moon but get interrupted by the Secret Avengers who create a diversion for Scarlet Witch who hexes Hope right before the Phoenix embodies and is in turn possessed by cosmic force and becomes the Scarlet Phoenix. End of Act 1.

With a newborn Phoenix too weak to fight the Avengers rally around her and protect her from the wrath of X-men. Cyclops realizing the nightmare of chaotic phoenix and small window they have at taking her out orders the extinction team to strike and battle that takes place echoes the duel on moon in the Dark Pheonix saga. Wanda awakens in her friend time of need and teleports them all away. Only to leave an even angrier Cyclops to utter, "No More Avengers". The X-men begin a witch hunt of their own using cerebra to track her and take down any Avengers standing in their way defeated easily by the X-men, while Wanda slowly masters her powers. The X-men unleash armies of Atlanteans and limbo demons to take out Avenger strongholds in New York, Wundagore, Wakanda, and Iron Fist Land (or where ever they are). Unfortunately, the media start portraying the X-men as monstrous villains as well and those reluctant to fight feel they have no choice because of the threat the Scarlet Phoenix poses.With Wolverine on the side of the X-men, the school has a mutiny and expel him as the students side with the X-men, with only a few setting out to help. With the Avengers running out of places to hide they arrive in Australian to take on the X-men in a deserted place. As the Scarlet Phoenix rises she makes quick work of the Extinction team, leaving only Storm, Magneto and Hope. Wanda and her father have a talk where he takes the blame for House of M/Decimation and when she drops her defenses to forgive him with a hug, Cyclops blasts her trying to kill her but only ends up blinding himself by her "her shield" and Hope mimics an EMP from Magneto and Storm to knock out Wanda. With the Phoenix Force stunned she finally is able to mimic the Phoenix but can only siphon half of Wanda power until she is stopped and the result is two Phoenixes. (End of Act 2.)

At last with both sides evenly matched the story finally nears it climax. Both Phoenix hosts try to out do the other but are to evenly matched thanks to Hope mirroring all of Wanda's powers. As the X-men and Avengers try to intervene to give one Phoenix the upper hand the chaos they create destroys the land. When their power clashes and in the cross fire they take out their teams do they both deice to revive their friend but in that act of good will are transported to the White Hot Room. There, the Phoenix of the Crown (Jean) schools them about absolute power and the wisdom to wield it, she tells them the true origin of Hopes. With a lot of dialogue and flashbacks we all learn Hope is actually the Phoenix in human form. Wanda ask for forgiveness from Jean and entrusts Hope with the rest of her power and disappears (she now has the strength to control her chaos magic and use it for good). With Hope finally at home in the White Hot Room and with all her omnipresence returned she asks Jean if she would like to return now. Jean smiles and Hope goes all White Phoenix. Back on Earth, Wanda returns in flash of light, followed by Jean in Hope's body. Wanda comforts the reborn Jean. Cyclops now blinded, asks Jean if she remembers the first time they met and she replies. He verifies her return and the X-men go to embrace her. The White Phoenix appears above, healing the hurt and restoring the land with her power. She tells them she has always been Hope and that she was born to give mutants a rebirth because Jean willed it to be. As she says her final words she asks those gathered to come together and fight for peace. She disappears in a flash and all over the world mutants start reappearing on Cerebra. Jean tells everyone that the Phoenix is gone to renew life in the universe and she can finally be herself again. But she and all the new mutants in the world will need protecting. The Avengers, represented by Captain Marvel, pledge to defend the right of the mutants and join forces with the X-men. Storm, now leading the X-men, accepts. They form the X-Avengers. The have a party to celebrate their new team. Happy ever after. (End of Event.)

Marvel NOW! looks like it is really trying to re-imagine their universe by bridging the Marvel U the X-men and Avengers unifying into one super team and creating a new heroic landscape. For the X-men that will mean more prominence and positive PR for mutants as well as new X-teams that will protect and serve this new world. With so few books and some rosters already being previewed, there are a lot of character being displaced and in need of a team. And it doesn't help that one book that will have nothing new about it by bringing back the original 5 x-men and forcing them down our throats, yet again.

The ironically titled, "All New X-men", which will feature the first class transported from the past to the future and working alongside the current X-men. How this will affect the timeline or the continuity of character is unknown but it already makes no sense. This will also mean the focus will remain of character that have had attention since 1965 and had numerous stories told about instead of seeing new characters and new stories, or old characters who have been ignored and overlooked for many years. Jean who has been the only of the O5 who has been dead should come back but not this way. If she doesn't return as the (White) Phoenix or reborn as Hope, after AvX then Marvel will have to pay. They can't give us a teenage girl with none of the maturity or power she had as an adult woman and expect us to be pleased. And why do the other X-boys have to come with her. We don't need another Cyclops, Iceman, Beast or Angel. We have enough empowered white males on the team that is supposed to represent the oppressed and marginalized minorities of society. They could have given that spotlight to some of the real "New X-men", who have been shoved to the shadows to focus on the older X-men. Why can't we have new mutants instead of old mutants?

It's such an insult and let down if AvX doesn't deliver on the promises and solves the problems that were Decimation, Messiah Complex and AvX. Mutantkind need its rebirth, Jean needs to come back and the X-men need to be heroes again.

Psylocke is one of my favourite comic book characters but I can't fully commit to loving her because of the whole body switch incident.

Women of colour already have limited representation in comic books, among other media, so to have one who is just a vehicle for a white woman's identity; with all her thoughts, memories, emotions and perceptions; comes off as cultural appropriation to me. If Revanche were still alive and both Betsy and Kwannon could be represented in an equal light then I would be much more accepting of a British woman's mind in the body of an Asian assassin, because there would be a Japanese girl's mind in the body of a white lady. I really want to suport Psylocke but her identity seems insincere and superficial to me in the way the writers gave her an extreme psychic makeover without dealing with the racial implications and pervasive sexual objectification of her Asian body. And without Revanche around we lost sight completely of the person behind the body Psylocke has now. I want to preserve both identities of "Psylocke" and since Revanche has never had her rightful return, I can only half heartedly appreciate her.

I think Marvel really needs to be proactive on this and not wait for the audience to demand what should have been so, ages ago. The Marvel Universe has prominent and pervasive gender imbalance in its books and the other media. Marvel only seems to want to focus it's attention on their male leads, and each team seems to exclude women in lead roles or not have an equal representation of people. Most of the character who also have their own solo books also dominate in team books. And even though the X-books have a better balance of women yet they are following two men making a lot of bad decisions. The Avengers have constantly employed tokenism when it come to female superheroes. And this has even extended to the cartoon and movie of the same team. There are so many powerful ladies to pick from but they have to constantly compete with each other to get top billing. And someone like Ms. Marvel who should be a lead if not leader on any team she is a part has been outside the spotlight for a while had to get an even stronger title as Captain Marvel to be taken seriously again.

Another reason to make a real effort in creating a team with mostly if not all females, is to draw in an audience that appreciates strong powerful women. The X-men in the past have proven women could centre at the stories and maintain a big following. The book just needs a writer that can make the theme of a female centered book important and useful. Marvel Divas failed to win any fans because it pandered to a female audience but didn't present anything exceptional or innovative, this new book needs to open itself to a wider audience that loves superhero stories in general.

I love the idea of The Liberators and what that title could mean and stand for with a group of powerful women starring. I think they can create their own niche in the Marvel U, they can include character never before seen together and do things no other team has done before. I would love to see them represented like an all female Illuminati, working together to speak on behalf of their distinct communities and unique interests but supportive of each other's causes. If the idea is treated seriously and the stories convey that with realistic and relatable stories, i am sure it would be a success. And of course Marvel would have to get it behind it and make it integral to the framework of the other book so that what happens in it affects the other books and character. it can't stay in its own bubble it must make a splash and waves.