Uncanny X-Force Vs. AOA

I know this isn't the latest news, but it has been announced that the current X-Force roster will be venturing into the world of Age of Apocalypse in a future story. I'm not entirely sure how that works. The last I remembered was that AOA came to be because of killing Xavier in the past, thus altering the present. It was set back to normal at the end, thus negating the effect of Xavier being dead, the Age of Apocalypse itself. I would think AOA shouldn't exist anymore, but it looks like it's just it's own alternate universe instead. Anyone that has seen Back to the Future 2 should understand this concept due to Doc Brown's chalkboard diagram.


That's not really what struck me when I came across this promotional image for the upcoming story. It was how dark the Marvel U has become. When AOA first came out, our regular cast of characters received new, deadlier makeovers than what we knew. They were brutal, full of sorrow, and violence. They had really taken characters like Nightcrawler and Cyclops to a different, darker place. However, when I look at the cast from AOA charging at our current X-Force, all I can think is the AOA guys are toast. Seriously, I would bet money on the new X-Force destroying these guys.

Somewhere along the way, I lost sight as to exactly how dark things in the Marvel U have become over the past decade. House of M, Nation X, Skrull Invasions, Osborn's Dark Reign, all of these things have caused our heroes (especially mutants) to become fiercer than they ever have been. When a world that is devestated by Apocalypse just doesn't seem that bad anymore, you know things have gone south.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the current Marvel Universe. I'll gladly eat it up with a spoon. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this. I gladly welcome yours.

Also, since changes to the time stream create alternate universes...can we head back to House of M for a bit. I loved that place.