While the majority of the Marvel Universe's mutants are living together in harmony in the newly founded nation-state of Krakoa during the Dawn of X relaunch, it wasn't all that long ago that the X-Men were acrimoniously split down the middle in the crossover event X-Men: Schism. The 2011 storyline was written by Jason Aaron with a different superstar artists illustrating each of the core series' five issues, including Carlos Pacheco, Frank Cho, Daniel Acuna, Alan Davis and Adam Kubert.
By the end, the friendship between Wolverine and Cyclops appeared to be irreparably fractured. The remaining X-Men chose sides between the two men while the separate factions made increasingly rash decisions in the immediate aftermath of the event. Here's a quick primer for readers who may have missed this acclaimed comic book story the first time around.
The Lead-Up
Following Messiah Complex and the apparent death of Professor X, the X-Men's classic headquarters in New York was in ruins. While the arrival of Hope Summers signaled the awakening of new mutants for the first time since the species had been nearly eradicated by Scarlet Witch in Avengers Disassembled, the X-Men were still largely on the defensive from resurgent extremists seeking to wipe out mutants once and for all.
The X-Men regrouped on an island off the coast of San Francisco, naming it the nation-state Utopia, a move welcomed by the Mayor of San Francisco.
In a desperate effort to defend themselves, Cyclops had Wolverine lead a new incarnation of X-Force, proactively using lethal force to target extremist groups before they could strike themselves. The black ops wetwork took a psychological toll on the team, with Wolverine especially concerned about the impact the group's murderous activities was having on his young clone X-23.
Meanwhile, Hope led the group of a new mutants in coming to terms with their true nature, including a teenager named Oya whose family in Nigeria was killed by an angry mob after her powers first manifested. Sensing Oya's inner turmoil, Wolverine adopted a nurturing role to the young girl, as he had to Kitty Pryde and Jubilee when they first joined the X-Men.
Key Issues
In contrast to other X-Men events, Schism was largely accessible and easy to follow for those that just kept with the five-issue core series. A four-issue prologue written by Paul Jenkins and illustrated by Roberto De La Torre, Andrea Mutti, Will Conrad and Clay Mann established the key players and mutants' new status quo on Utopia for those who hadn't been actively following along, but the opening issue of the core series serves as a strong jumping-on point regardless.
The Hope Summers-led series Generation Hope by Kieron Gillen and Tim Seeley featured three tie-in issues running from #10-12, expanding on Hope and the new generation of mutants' role in the story. Gillen also penned the crossover's epilogue X-Men: Regenesis #1, illustrated by Billy Tan. Two new X-Men teams were formed in the wake of Wolverine leading his own faction back to New York, disgusted with Cyclops' increasingly hardened ideology.
Impact on the Marvel Universe
True to its title and premise, the X-Men were split into two separate camps following Wolverine and Cyclops' rift in Schism. Wolverine took on the surprising role of school headmaster, founding a new school for young mutants on the grounds of the former X-Mansion and naming it after Jean Grey to further anger her ex-husband Cyclops. The X-Men that followed Wolverine became teachers at the new school, with the living mutant island Krakoa serving as the school grounds.
Cyclops continued his hardline agenda from Utopia, with many of the more powerful -- and violent -- mutants remaining under his leadership. This culminated in the Phoenix Force arriving on Earth and apparently targeting Hope, with the Avengers attacking Utopia to take custody of Hope during Avengers vs. X-Men.
In the fallout, Beast retrieved the original X-Men from their early history and brought them to the present, in an effort to remind Cyclops of how far he had fallen. Both Wolverine and Cyclops died of different causes before an epic conflict against the Inhumans, with the mutants vulnerable from the Terrigen Mists unleashed on Earth.
Following Moira MacTaggert developing her mutant powers and rewriting history after continually reliving her past life, Cyclops and Wolverine now live together in apparent harmony on Krakoa.
Schism represents the X-Men at their lowest point, facing a crisis of conscience after desperate times had pushed the team's leaders to their breaking point. In many ways, it revisited the ideological rift between Professor X and Magneto and their stance on coexisting with humanity for a literal new generation of mutant superheroes that arose from the ashes of Decimation -- which temporarily made mutants an endangered species. While Wolverine and Cyclops have since mended fences, the crossover still provides an extensive showcase on how different the two X-Men really are.