Generation Hope was a series spun off from X-Men that run from January 2011 to May 2012 with 17 issues. It finished as Avengers vs. X-Men began.
It was based around Hope Summers, the adopted daughter of Cable and reputed "Mutant Messiah". Upon her return to the present after being raised in the future, a group of mutants manifested. As Hope met and touched each mutant their powers stabilized and Hope gained a low level of telepathic influence over them. The story of the series itself dealt with Hope making the "Lights" into a team to stabilize each new mutant manifestation, taking a Lighter and Softer approach than previous X-Men teen series while also dealing with the insidious effect of Hope's influence.
The team consisted of Hope, Velocidad, Oya, Transonic, Primal, and Zero, with Oya leaving post-Schism, being replaced by Pixie and No-Girl.
Not to be confused with a certain Dhar Mann knockoff
Generation Hope provides examples of the following tropes:
- Empowered Badass Normal: Hope was a badass long before her powers manifested. With only the power to borrow other mutant powers (and sometimes manifesting the Phoenix Force).
- Face–Heel Turn: Kenji was never truly engaged with Hope's "Messiah" schtick, and opposed her.
- Foreshadowing: Hope's connection to the Phoenix is hinted throughout the series:
- In issue #3, a downed Hope Summers is woken up by the Phoenix Force inside the White Hot Room, and the bird tells her "our children need you".
- In issue #5, Hope walks out of Emma Frost's Ethics class with the Lights following her. Emma admonishes Hope for this, and the girl replies to Emma not to cross her, lest she burns the telepath into "a cinder".
- Also in issue #5, Hope confronts Scott Summers about how she runs her own team. The scene is set at sunset, and a bird-like glow is reflected in her irises.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: After Kenji joins the team, it's a 3:3 ratio: Hope, Oya, Transonic (female), and Kenji, Velocidad and Primal (male).
- Genius Bruiser: Primal was a software programmer before his mutation activated, which gave him feral instincts. He's still capable of being quite intelligent but it's entirely dependent on whether his instincts deem it worthwhile, such as arguing a legal case.
- Immediate Sequel: The first arc (issues #1-3) occurs immediately after Uncanny X-Men #529.
- Lovecraftian Superpower: Kenji's powers are basically a Voluntary Shapeshifting version of Tetsuo's Superpower Meltdown.
- Multinational Team: Hope is Alaskan but raised in a variety of futures, Velocidad is Mexican, Kenji is Japanese, Transonic is Canadian, Teon is Ukrainian and Idie is Nigerian. Pixie who joins later is Welsh.
- Psychic Powers: Both Hope and Kenji... kinda. Kenji's needs contact. As for Hope, being the "Mutant Messiah", she can somehow exert her control over the other Lights.
- Spin-Off: The title spun off from "The Five Lights" arc in Uncanny X-Men #526-529.
- Slut-Shaming: In issue #14, Hope brings to Utopia Sebastian Shaw, whom Emma abandoned amnesiac in China in Uncanny X-Men. Cyclops objects to Hope's decision to have him stay on the island, while Hope mockingly says that if they refuse to bring home any man Emma (Cyclops's lover at the time) has slept with, "there wouldn't be a man left on Earth for them to save." Naturally, an offended Emma backhands Hope for this affront.
- Taunting the Transformed: British mutant Zeeshan's power liquefies his face and flesh when it first manifests. One of his friends immediately uploads a video of "Sheffield Liquid-Face Boy!", joking that his photo will end up up the "Portraits of Freaks: 500 Mutants You Must See Before They Die" book, which Zee had seen before realising he was a mutant himself. Zee is Driven to Suicide, believing his life is ruined. It's suggested that his liquefied state might have been a temporary situation until he learned to control his new powers.
- Token Evil Teammate: Kenji. He is the object of team's first mission (issues #1-3), and the last antagonist of the title before its cancellation (issues #16-17).
