Marvel Comics Exec Editor Defends Decision To Spoil Current ‘Exceptional X-Men’ Arc In Solicits: “The Reveal Is Too Strongly Saleable Not To Feature In Some Way On The Cover”
In a move that suggests a lack of confidence in the series’ writing, Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort is standing behind the publisher’s decision to completely spoil the current arc of Exceptional X-Men Vol. 1 in their latest round of solicits, as he believes that a public divulging of the story’s big “reveal” will lead to a boost in the X-book’s sales.
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One of the three ‘core team books’ spinning out of the X-line’s recent ‘From The Ashes’ relaunch, the Eve Ewing-penned, Carmen Carnero-illustrated Exceptional X-Men centers on the Marvel Universe’s resident ‘phaser’, Kitty Pryde, as she attempts to establish a ‘normal life’ for herself, devoid of supervillains and anti-mutant terrorist organizations, following the fall of Krakoa.
Unfortunately, after just a few weeks on her own, Kitty’s plans are thrown for loop when, in typical ‘senior mutant’ tradition, she soon finds herself serving as a mentor to a group of three teenage mutants – Trisha ‘Melee’ Tran, who possesses the ability to turn herself both intangible and invisible, Alejandro ‘Axo’ Luna, his powers prompting those around him to involuntarily lose themselves to their emotions, and Trista ‘Bronze’ Marshall, a young woman capable of transforming her body into a bronze-like, super strength-granting metal – all of whom are struggling to understand their new X-gene activations.
Along for the ride is also the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters headmaster, and Quiet Council member herself, Emma Frost – and though the series’ covers imply she’s a key player in its narrative, she’s really relegated to nothing more than a background character who sometimes shows up to offer some combat training to the trio of new mutants.
Admittedly, Exceptional is by far the weakest of the current X-books, its writing riddled with plot holes and narrative delivering nothing more than a Young Adult-styled retread of the tired ‘mutants are ostracized’ storyline that has served as the de facto X-Men story hook for the last 50 years.
But of course, like with almost any piece of entertainment, these problems have not precluded the series from developing a dedicated fanbase – almost all of whom were likely invested in the book’s newly-introduced core conflict.
As seen in Exceptional Vol. 1 #6, after making it past the initial ‘introductions’ era of their time together, Melee, Axo, and Bronze soon make the acquaintance of one Sheldon Xenos, a completely new character whose new mobile app, Verates, seeks to analyze people’s biometric and mental health data in order to guide them to being their “best” self.
While the apps’ personal data requirements immediately draw the suspicions of Melee and Bronze, its promises pique the interest of Axo, who feels that such a tool can in particular be used to help mutants like him whose powers come with physical transformations – as well as anyone else suffering from genetic issues – to achieve a less stressful and more fulfilling life.
Seeking to learn more about the app, Axo eventually sets up a meeting with Xenos, agreeing to meet-up with the tech CEO in a Chicago-area park – but much to their surprise, shortly after linking up, the pair are jumped by a pair of muggers.
Luckily, thanks to a combination of Axo’s own combat prowess and his powers, the muggers almost immediately give-up their attack, leaving the young mutant to take the entire event as an example of the personal despair Xenos is seeking to alleviate.
However, at the end of the issue, it is ultimately revealed that far from being an actual robbery, the muggers were actually nothing more than paid actors, with their talents having been tapped by Xenos in order to help convince Axo, for as of yet unknown reasons, to come over to his side.
It was here, with Sheldon’s introduction and a vague hint towards his villainy, that the series’ plot came to rest with the conclusion of the January 19th issue.
But rather than being allowed to settle in the minds of readers, Exceptional‘s new plot line would be completely spoiled less than 24 hours after its establishment – and not by leakers, but rather by Marvel Comics themselves.
In revealing their full solicits for May 2025 the next day, the publisher included a completely unredacted cover and preview for the book’s ninth issue, both of which revealed that not only was Sheldon Xenos a completely fake identity, but that the man behind the horns was none other than classic X-villain Mr. Sinister.
“The team figures out the truth about Sheldon Xenos’ true identity,” reads the issue’s official teaser, “and EMMA FROST has to go somewhere she really, really doesn’t want to go – deep inside the mind of one of her worst enemies, SINISTER!”
(Notably, while the covers and solicits for Exceptional X-Men Vol. 1 #7 and Vol. 1 #8 respectively feature Xenos with a ‘Sinister’-esque shadow and the villian himself holding the titular team hostage, neither of these previews explicitly confirmed his identity, their texts instead simply hinting that the two may have some sort of working relationship.)
Confused – like many – as to why Marvel Comics would so blatantly and quickly spoil their own story, one reader reached out to Marvel Comics Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, who regularly answers fan questions as part of his Man With A Hat Substack blog, to inquire about his “policy on spoilers in covers”.
“Like, obviously there’s always gonna be some element of that due to the nature of covers being ‘tell me what’s in this issue but in a page of art,’ but for instance, the next Exceptional X-Men cover fully spoils a very sinister reveal that probably would’ve been a huge and interesting surprise if not for the cover,” they wrote. “Like, what’s the thought process with this kind of thing?”
In turn, Brevoort admitted, “As a general rule, I try not to spoil stories on the covers, Callie. But there are occasions, such as this one, where I feel like the reveal is too strongly saleable not to feature in some way on the cover.”
Seemingly disregarding the entertainment of the book’s readers for the chance to score a few extra books from unwary ‘cover shoppers’ (of which there are fewer and fewer for single issues every day), he further posited, “So that Exceptional X-Men cover doesn’t really spoil anything unless you know the players involved. And if you do know, the fact that you can recognize what’s going on is maybe more likely to compel you to pick the issue up.”
“As I want to sell as many copies as I can, that’s a clear-cut choice for me,” he concluded. “And hopefully, there’s more to that story that simply one reveal.”
For those who wish to see if this mystery still has any element of intrigue after this, Exceptional X-Men Vol. 1 #9 hits shelves on May 21st, 2025.
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