Different X-teams is nothing new. We've seen several X-Men squads operate at the same time on different missions. The idea of other X-teams like X-Force, X-Factor and New Mutants meant each had their own agendas. Since Decimation and M-Day, the number of mutants has dwindled down to a dangerous all time low. The very existence of mutants was put at risk. The arrival of Hope, the mutant messiah, has given some reassurance that the survival of mutants is indeed a possibility. They're not out of the woods just yet.

When Utopia was formed, it became a haven for mutants. Not just the X-Men and their friends were welcome here but all mutants. With the different threats against their survival, the mutants banded together to become a stronger force. Second Coming, First to Last, etc. showed us that they were all X-Men. The lines between the separate teams didn't matter. With Cyclops as the leader, separate squads of mutants were dispatched to deal with different situations. Having so many mutants on hand allowed for the appropriate group of mutants to be sent out, based on their strengths and powers that would be best suited for the mission.

With Schism, this ideal situation will no longer be a possibility. A clear cut divide will be formed among all the mutants. The recent revelations of the different team members shows the possibility of each team working together as being unlikely. With a low number of mutants and deadly threats continuing to pop up all around them, can the X-Men afford to have separate alliances?

The best example of a major division between ideals goes back to Professor X and Magneto. In the beginning they were practically on the same page. Soon it became clear that their methods of choice would put them at odds. The results were numerous battles and destruction. Professor X formed the X-Men and Magneto gathered the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In these early days of threats against mutants, if they had been able to overcome their conflicting views, today's state of mutant affairs could be a completely different situation. Mutants could have even been accepted by the general public rather than feared by many.

The results of Schism have put Cyclops and Wolverine at odds. Mutants will be forced to choose sides. Why is it that they really have to decide? It's also unclear what exactly is driving this division. In Schism #3, Cyclops allowed Idie to do whatever she needed to do to stop the bad guys...including killing. Wolverine, who has been known to kill now and then, was completely opposed to this. While he is a killer, he does understand what it does to a person. Once you go down that road, it's not one you can come back from. Wolverine pleaded with Cyclops to order her out of there. Now, Idie can be considered a murderer.

Is this the spark that separates the mutants? The division between the Gold and Blue doesn't quite fit in. If Wolverine's beef is against killing, its odd to see X-Force, Toad, Kid Omega and Beast (or is it Dark Beast?) on his side. Why is Jubilee choosing Cyclops' side over Wolverine's? Warpath and Magik have also been known to do whatever it takes...which then could make sense to follow Cyclops' "do what you feel you have to" belief.

Despite having a Blue and Gold divide, the individual teams also have an isolated feel. X-Factor may have Havok back on their team but that does that mean their days as X-Factor Investigations are over? We have some surprises on each team and the decision for some to side with Wolverine or Cyclops doesn't seem to make sense.

Of course we have Psylocke appearing on both teams. Is she spying for one over the other? Is it really possible for her to be on both sides without the other not knowing? If she was spying on the Blue team, that would make sense since no one is supposed to know about X-Force's existence.

But why would there be a need for spying? That is the problem with dividing the X-Men. In these times, they need to band together. They can't afford to take separate fronts. If any of the recent events have shown them, it's that they need to have a wide variety of members available. An individual set roster isn't always enough. It might not contain the ideal individuals that could turn the tide in the middle of a battle. More lives, mutants and civilians, could be lost as a result of this. Splitting up isn't going to solve whatever the problem is. Both sides need to talk things through. Simply turning your back is immature. If the X-Men can't get over their differences, they're leaving themselves vulnerable to future attacks. It's time for Cyclops and Wolverine to grow up and settle their differences.

Isn't it ironic that Cyclops is turning into Magneto even though he was taught by Prof X? Gotta love the irony is all of this.

Sooner or later regardless of what happens in Schism or Regenesis the entire X-Men will reform. I mean it has happened before when Cyclops lost leadership to Storm and he former X-Factor, eventually they remerged with the X-Men, even the original Gold team/Blue team didn't last forever.

I'm sure they'll be another big event in a few months and they'll all make up. That's what I'm hoping for anyway, X-mens my favourite title but 8 books is just too much to keep up with.

My only problem with the entire thing is that the split is between Cyclops and Wolverine.  I understand this is done because Cyclops is in a leadership position and Wolverine is insanely popular but it still doesn't sit right with me.  I find it ironic that someone with as much blood on his hands as Wolverine is somehow the one Marvel is hitching as taking the high road.  Again, I know this is done simply because of his popularity but it never made sense to me that popularity so often dictates continuity.  This is the same problem I have with characters like Luke Cage having a problem with the Punisher but working with Wolverine when the midget has a much higher body count and has killed more innocents when he's mindcontrolled/feral/ or just angry.  When you have Wolverine telling his X-force teammates to just "get over" Fantomax shooting kid Apocalypse in the head, I don't see him as the moral compass for the X-men.

If i had to guess, and i noticed SO FAR from the onion-esque solicits we've been given that Idie doesn't seem to be in it at all and she may be killed over a judgment call made by Cyclops which may push Wolverine into the realm of not gelling anymore with the regime. In the past few years, we've seen Cyclops start accepting the idea that some threats need to be exterminated no matter the cost. Where that may be acceptable, what it comes down to is that the guy has really let the leadership role go to his head. Almost to the extremes of both Magneto and Xavier. Wolverine may start feeling that being ordered to kill isn't too far from the life he escaped as Weapon X and being used to do  the same exact thing on some level. Magik may just be following his lead because she is emotionless for the most part and likes his new take on leadership. Also, and i don't know if somewhere they said this proving this point wrong, but i'm pretty sure that's regular old Beast. Dark Beast has the old Beast look still to this day, you can see it in X-Force.

For pity's sake! This ain't Prof vs Mags part 2! It's Mags vs Another Mags!

What is the division over?? We know Xavier wants peace with humans and mutants, Magneto wanted dominance. What's the deal?? 
 
How can there be a secret team with a telepath on both sides??

I really don't see how a team of fictional characters will be in danger by thinning their ranks, the author would have to make that happen. I would think that it would be a waste of time to do that in a story unless it was mostly a minor bit of detail, of course it could serve as a reason for them all to get back together but that would completely disregaurd any form of meaning they may have put into the story and make all of it a waste of everyone's time...so they'll probably do this...

Sooner or later regardless of what happens in Schism or Regenesis the entire X-Men will reform. I mean it has happened before when Cyclops lost leadership to Storm and he former X-Factor, eventually they remerged with the X-Men, even the original Gold team/Blue team didn't last forever.

which side will xavier choose??? 
any idea?

don't tell me schism is over little girl who thinks she is a monster and as a monsters she should kill people because thats what monsters do(having said that i kinda like it)

To be brutally honest with you guys, I believed that X-Men lived in a dangerous world filled with dangerous oponents.  That is, before I started reading schism.
 
But apparently they have been facing kids, so it's pretty much obvious that all the other threats are gone anyway. I mean, that's a pretty desperate move from evil, to send devil's kids after them in a retard script.
 
It is not dangerous.

Isn't it ironic that Cyclops is turning into Magneto even though he was taught by Prof X? Gotta love the irony is all of this.

Isn't it ironic that Cyclops is turning into Magneto even though he was taught by Prof X? Gotta love the irony is all of this.

My only problem with the entire thing is that the split is between Cyclops and Wolverine.  I understand this is done because Cyclops is in a leadership position and Wolverine is insanely popular but it still doesn't sit right with me.  I find it ironic that someone with as much blood on his hands as Wolverine is somehow the one Marvel is hitching as taking the high road.  Again, I know this is done simply because of his popularity but it never made sense to me that popularity so often dictates continuity.  This is the same problem I have with characters like Luke Cage having a problem with the Punisher but working with Wolverine when the midget has a much higher body count and has killed more innocents when he's mindcontrolled/feral/ or just angry.  When you have Wolverine telling his X-force teammates to just "get over" Fantomax shooting kid Apocalypse in the head, I don't see him as the moral compass for the X-men.

I like all of this, I think it is really interesting, my wallet disagrees, oh well.

Someone needs to give Cycs a swift kick in the ass. I'm so tired of his "attitude" since Utopia/Second Coming.

I definitely see the parallel of Wolvie/Cyc's parting now just as it was for Charles and Erik, but the philosophies between the two are not as different as one might think.  As to whether the X-Men can recover from the break up, that just remains to be seen. After all, there has been divisiveness before but never before on this kind of scale.  And with certain members apparently acting on separate teams it does lead one to think that espionage is at work.  And if those kind of shenanigans are going on it clearly shows that there is a lack of trust among these mutants.  I honestly would not be surprised if somehow we find an event bringing them back together..or that perhaps Magneto was the real instigator of this division, not unlike Magog helping split up the JSA into separate teams.  It will be interesting to see what unfolds!

In the AoA universe Wolverine took one of Cyclops eyes and Cyclops took one of Wolverines hands in a fight. Maybe this fight is much more than being popular since it has happen before. We don't know how many alternate versions of Cyclops and Wolverine have battled before.

Someone needs to give Cycs a swift kick in the ass. I'm so tired of his "attitude" since Utopia/Second Coming.

@FadeToBlackBolt: Remember when Grant Morrison wrote at the end of New X-Men that without Cyclops in charge the whole world would go to s**t? I miss those days...

Maybe in the next X-event after Schism, or maybe in a couple years, a new threat will come that will force Cyclops and Wolverine to put their differences aside and join forces once more. That sounds to me like it could be done pretty great.

I'm still not convinced that Wolverine would follow this course of action considering that he has always been an advocate for children learning to defend themselves and doing whatever is necessary to get the job done.  
 
I also don't understand the Cyclops Hate. He's done nothing wrong, and is credited with saving his species. The way this is playing out makes Wolverine look like a flip flopper and incompetent to debate the method or means that Cyclops has used.

@FadeToBlackBolt: Cyclops is the true messiah of the mutant race, he's just too reluctant to admit it to himself for fear it will make him more like old Magneto. Instead, he places his faith in Hope and soldiers on as the only guy who can make the hard choices, the right choices. He made the right call with Idie, maybe not for her and her fragile psyche, but for the all the innocent civilians she saved by taking down the Hellfire terrorists.

@PhoenixoftheTides: Agreed, the whole things stinks to high heaven with hypocrisy. The ONLY reason I would consider picking up Aaron's "Wolverine and the X-Men" is Chris Bachalo's art (well, that and Kitty Pryde/Lockheed).

  I also don't understand the Cyclops Hate. He's done nothing wrong, and is credited with saving his species. 

Something tells me that the major split will occur in Schism after Cyke makes the call for Kade Kilgore and his kiddie Hellfire Club to be taken down. Wolverine will be all "they're just kids" and Cyke will retort "no, they're psychopathic terrorists who want to wipe us out" then they beat the hell from each other and go their separate ways. All of this, of course, ignoring the fact that Wolverine wanted everyone to just "get over" Fantomex shooting kid Apocalypse between the eyes because it saved the world (what Cyclops is trying to do).

Something tells me that the major split will occur in Schism after Cyke makes the call for Kade Kilgore and his kiddie Hellfire Club to be taken down. Wolverine will be all "they're just kids" and Cyke will retort "no, they're psychopathic terrorists who want to wipe us out" then they beat the hell from each other and go their separate ways. All of this, of course, ignoring the fact that Wolverine wanted everyone to just "get over" Fantomex shooting kid Apocalypse between the eyes because it saved the world (what Cyclops is trying to do).

@FadeToBlackBolt: At first (with the first issue of Schism) it seemed like Aaron's dialogue between the two reinforced their mutual respect for one another. Now it just seems like rather than taking the time to really construct a proper wedge between them and their beliefs, he's just throwing a bunch of crazy bull-s**t at us and expecting everyone to just buy Wolverine as a "on his high horse" kind of guy (he isn't, and never should be).

@Joeybagad0nutz said:

                    Isn't it ironic that Cyclops is turning into Magneto even though he was taught by Prof X? Gotta love the irony is all of this.

                   

               

He's not turning into Magneto. He's the pragmatic balance between the two. His isolationist policies may seem to be in conflict with Xavier's integrationist ideals, but Scott is merely asserting that safety is the primary concern, after which integration can be achieved. Magneto sought domination, completely different to what Cyclops is doing.   As for the article, Schism is just a fan's ejaculation and attempt to over-justify a title, in this case, Wolverine and the X-Men. There was no need to have Schism at all. Logan could have simply approached Scott and asked if he could take the discontented residents of Utopia back to the US or whatever. Scott then says ok, but tells him to be careful. One issue of Uncanny, maybe an annual. Done. But Marvel were worried that having a book called "Wolverine and the X-Men" would alienate some fans, so they're using Schism as a means to have Logan leave the X-Men as a righteous liberator, and Cyclops a dictator; rather than them both having legitimate views. There's a reason Schism isn't being written by a competent third party like Paul Jenkins, but is being written by a renowned Wolverine fan and the author of WatXM; Wolverine is the good guy of the story.   Once someone with a brain is back in charge at Marvel, this splitting crap will be gone. 
           

I think this might all be just a setup as the split doesn't seem to make sense.  I have a feeling Cyclops and Wolverine see a potential threat from one of the villains that's hanging out with them like Magneto and this whole split is staged so that there is a team ready should say Magneto take over Utopia.  They see the threat as imminent but don't want to pick a fight in case they are wrong, but stage their fight and split to make it believable to the potential villain.  I would think if that where the case then only a small circle of X-Men know the truth and Psylocke could be on both teams as a way of relaying information between those in the know on both sides.  Since only some X-Men know the truth they are going through all of this to have the reader see it from the other X-Men's point of view.

Is this a bit premature or has everyone else already been shipped all of the issues of Schism and the first Regenesis books.
I ask this because I noticed more than one topics about it here that provide detailed plot analysis's of books I otherwise believed 
weren't even released at this point in time, and I'm wondering if I need to give my LCS a call?

hmm I never considered that, why is Jubilee with Cyke rather than Wolverine? Jubilee was like Wolverine's favorite sidekick.

This storyline is making Wolverine look really stupid.

Am i the only one who thinks that schism has been a blow out thus far? Nowhere near as deep as Civil War politically (Why would Wolverine have qualms about killing when he was in charge of Cyclops' X-Force!). Cable may be the one to reunite mutant-kind upon his return; he possesses equal measures of wolverine's cynicism/realism and Cyclops' Idealism. Hell, i always thought the mutants should be based on Providence rather than utopia anyway.

Maybe Charles Xavier can fix everything.

The only way I'll get into this is if Cyclops eventually becomes a villain after being an upright a-hole for the past few years.

Isn't it ironic that Cyclops is turning into Magneto even though he was taught by Prof X? Gotta love the irony is all of this.

Meh, nothing ever sticks with these so called events, something will happen that will bring them all back together. I'm just hoping they actually keep the individuality with each team instead of having most of the books blur together with the same people in them, like Wolverine being everywhere at once in all the books, not possible.