The Most Anticipated X-Men Titles for Marvel Comics’ Dawn of X
When Marvel decides to roll back embargos, man they don’t play!
Before the ResurrXion relaunch in 2017 that saw the X-Men once again switch places with the Inhumans and begin to undo the damage done by their publisher, the X-Men were relegated to a mere handful of books.
Now, look at them. Several color-coded titles, a franchise crossover (Age of X-Man), and two reboots later, the X-Men will have at least 10 books on the stands by February of 2020!
Related: An X-Men Renaissance is Coming, But Does Marvel Comics Deserve It?
There’s a lot to digest here, especially following what happened this past summer. To help spotlight some of these offerings, here’s my list for the most anticipated of the bunch.
10. Marauders (Available Now)
By the writing of this article, two or three books on this list will have debuted. Gerry Duggan’s Marauders is one of those.
Marauders will revolve around the X-Men cast of Storm, Pyro, Iceman, and Bishop with Kitty Pryde as the lead. Emma Frost and Sebastion Shaw will be utilized in the story as well.
The first issue presents us with several hurdles for these X-Men to clear. For starters, Kitty is unable to use the Krakoan gateway system for unknown reasons, but it does bring into question her genetic heritage.
Kitty’s has also been offered and accepted the position of Red Queen of the Hellfire Club, and captain of a ship they will use to ferry mutants to Krakoa who don’t have access to a gateway as well as a means of transporting goods (off the books).
Bishop will also be getting some focus as he’s actively investigating the supposed disappearance of a human woman’s husband who can allegedly come into contact with a gateway.
Related: Does Kitty Pryde of the X-Men Really Need More Story?
The first issue was ok. It certainly set up quite a bit and shows promise, but I’m personally more interested in Bishop’s investigation or Pyro’s oddly jovial behavior than I am the book’s lead.
9. X-Corps (February 2020)
X-Corps is due to arrive in the new year, but has less information available about it than the two books that are slated to debut after it.
So far, all we know is the origin of the name and who’ll be taking on illustration duties- that being the very talented, Carmen Carnero.
As for where the name came from, X-Corps was originally a militant group created by Banshee. Later Professor-X rolled the team into his X-Corporation effort. Both iterations acted as international branches of the X-Men. With Krakoa being a nation all its own it’s probably safe to assume the book will be something similar.
8. Giant-Size X-Men (February 2020)
If the X-Men have an abundance of anything, it’s drama. This February Jonathan Hickman will be helming the return of Giant-Size X-Men starring Jean Grey and Emma Frost.
Two ladies that have yet to speak to one another properly since Jean died shortly after discovering that her husband Cyclops was involved in an affair with Frost. They’ve had a word or a dozen since, most notably when Jean forcibly probed Frost’s mind and discovered she had real feelings for Scott.
Related: 10 Most Promiscuous X-Men in Franchise History
While their mission to rescue Storm will be their focus, there will more than enough time for the two to trade barbs and put some of the beef to bed. Maybe.
7. X-Force (November 6, 2019)
With Krakoa becoming a nation, the need for additional security was necessary. While X-Corps might be Krakoa’s version of INTERPOL, X-Force is definitely being advertised as the country’s “CIA.”
Written by Benjamin Percy, the roster consists of Wolverine, Beast, Jean Grey, Black Tom, Quintin Quire, Sage, Colossus, and Domino.
Related: The 10 Best X-Men Covers Showcasing Individual Characters
I’m personally not familiar with any of Percy’s work, but this is one heck of a cast and premise. His writing credits include a plethora of critically acclaimed suspense novels and DC’s Nightwing.
A book with a cloak and dagger approach like X-Force may be a great fit.
6. New Mutants (November 6, 2019)
This book has a couple of things going for it. Heck, if that pesky New Mutants movie had made it to any kind of screen by now, it’d have three feathers in its hat.
New Mutants sports a hodgepodge of classic “next-gen” X-Men plucked from both New Mutants and Generation-X. The eclectic roster includes; Magik, Mondo, Moonstar, Cypher, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Karma, and Chamber.
Educated X-Men fans will notice that Mondo has been dead for years (well the clone we knew in Gen-X, anyway) while Magik, Chamber, and Wolfsbane all tragically died earlier this year in Uncanny X-Men.
Obviously, the Krakoa Resurrection Protocols will come into play to help this roster along. Writers Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brisson will have both their DNA on this book as the team’s first mission put them in space.
Related: 10 X-Men Deaths that Can Now be Undone in Marvel Comics
With Hickman’s affinity for space stories and Brisson’s ability to grasp characterizations, New Mutants will more than likely be one of the better X-Men books among the new crop.
5. X-Men (Available Now)
The second of the already available books on this list is Hickman’s X-Men. I’m not sure if I’m more intrigued by the premise, or lack thereof, or what the first issue not so subtly suggested.
X-Men’s story will be putting the Summers family front and center utilizing a revolving cast of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Cable, Rachel Grey, Havok, Vulcan, and Wolverine. Corsair, the family’s patriarch and captain of the Starjammer, was present in the first issue, and may also be featured in a recurring role.
Muddy artwork and weird behavior aside, what stood out most about this book came at the end with a diagram of the Krakoan lunar-base they are calling ‘Summer House.’ The living situation is interesting, to say the least. Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine’s rooms are connected.
Related: X-Men #1: Are Wolverine and Cyclops Involved in a Ménage à Trois with Jean Grey?
It caused quite a stir amongst fans and may be the biggest selling point for issue #2. Of the 10 planned X-Men books, this may be the most character-driven of the lot as this trouple-situation is worked out.
4. Fallen Angels (November 13, 2019)
I’ve been keeping an eye on writer Bryan Hill for a little while now. When I heard he was going to be writing an X-Men title for Dawn of X, I knew I was going to be on board. He has a real knack for writing gritty, street-level characters as he’s done with DC and other Marvel properties like Killmonger.
The relaunched Fallen Angels title will follow Psylocke (Kwannon) as she attempts to rediscover her place in the world. This will be a challenge for her as she just regained her original body and life, but returned to an unfamiliar world. Two characters joining her that should be able to relate are Cable and X-23.
3. Wolverine (January 2020)
The newly announced Wolverine title makes it this high not because of some world-shattering premise, but because of a single name that Marvel was able to bring back into the fold. Adam Kubert. The legendary artist will be taking on illustration duties for this book.
For me, that’s a huge selling point with the amount of lack-luster art the X-Men franchise has had to endure. X-Force writer Benjamin Percy will also be crafting Logan’s solo story.
2. Excalibur (October 30, 2019)
The story in Excalibur will be the most ambitious of the new wave as it’ll heavily deal with mysticism, namely, Otherworld.
Like it was in the past, Excalibur will revolve around Captain Britain. Betsy Braddock has taken up her brother’s mantle and will be leading a team of Rictor, Jubilee, Gambit, Rogue and… Apocalypse? En Saba Nur has only been among the X-Men for a few weeks, but he won’t be wandering around Krakoa playing ambassador.
Series writer Tini Howard describes Apocalypse’s role as being a priest and source of support for the new nation. The idea of creating a viable threat big enough that Apocalypse couldn’t handle it solo is what gets my attention. That and the inclusion of my favorites Gambit and Rogue.
1. X-Men/ Fantastic Four (February 2020)
Nothing intrigues me more than character interaction. I honestly don’t understand what else anyone is looking forward to in an ensemble-style cast. I love seeing how the X-Men react to situations and how they deal with one another.
What I’m looking forward to more than seeing the X-Men react to each other in the Dawn of X, is seeing how the other heroes will respond to the new status quo. X-Men/ Fantastic Four will explore what it means to be a mutant in the world that Xavier and company have built.
Franklin Richards is the god-like, omega-level mutant son of Reed and Sue Richards, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, respectively. From how they received Cyclops in House of X in just a handful of panels, I’m salivating to see what comes in this new mini-series.
There you have it, my least to most anticipated X-Men titles of Dawn of X. What title are you most looking forward to? Let us know, below.
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