Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: david marquez, gail simone, jed mackay, tom brevoort

The Future Of The X-Men At Marvel, Spoilers Maybe

Bleeding Cool sifts through the rumour, gossip and teasers for the Future of the X-Men at Marvel. There may be spoilers, you never know.

In his most recent Substack, Marvel Executive Editor, SVP and Group Editor of the upcoming X-Men comic book relaunch, Tom Brevoort answers a question from one Jeff Ryan, "Was there a bean-spillage moment from the past where you told one seemingly trustworthy person a bit of future Marvel plans, and then saw those plans broadcast all over the place?" by saying "Just look at any Bleeding Cool column, Jeff. Leaks like that happen all the time, often not even intentionally, but because somebody was too forthcoming with somebody who was too forthcoming with somebody else, all the way to Rich Johnston's ears."

Well, I would like to assure Tom Brevoort that, regarding his upcoming X-Men plans, I have been all but stumped. The only leakage I have any confidence in came out of a Brazilian comic convention a while back last year: 

First, the codename of the new X-Men relaunch to take over from the Krakoan Age was Blue Moon. I wondered if this referred to the Blue Area on the Moon, Yondu's spaceship and a working title for the Fantastic Four movie, but I may have been overthinking it, and it was just that a chance to do whatever this is for the X-Men only comes along once in a blue moon. Secondly, the new X-Men era won't reboot Krakoa away, so don't expect the death of a remaining Moira MacTaggert clone to reset the timeline. I did suggest that an earlier version of Hank McCoy was being resurrected and that did happen.

Thirdly, Magik, Illyana Rasputin, sister of Colossus, was going to play a big role in whatever comes next. She had a big role in recent X-Men, but there has been no further indication that this is true. But we did unearth some negative feelings regarding Brevoort to Illyana, which, if true, suggested this was Brevoort challenging himself to find a way to reframe a character he hates as one he loves. Or a writer proving to Tom that the character was worth the effort. Which, yes, does sound like Gail.

Fourthly, I am to expect an "understanding" between mutants and Artificial Intelligence going into the post-Krakoan Age. And fifthly, a "back to basics" model for the X-Men, separate teams, the Mansion, etc etc,  but there will be a big new twist to separate the new way of things from the pre-Krakoan X-Men.

But I have heard nothing else from decent enough sources all year. We were first to realise that Gail Simone and David Marquez may be on a main X-Men book, after their announcement as creators in the X-Men Free Comic Book Day title in May. But since that big leak last December, there has been an omerta in place.

There have been some official teases of course. Timeless gave us Prisoner X imprisoned within the Danger Room.

Someone with Magneto's helmet in Professor Xavier's X-Men '97 chair, with silhouettes in the background suggesting X-Men students including Cyclops.

And in Women Of Marvel we learned that Rogue would lead a team with Nightcrawler, Gambit and a yellow costumed-full sleeved Wolverine, also reminiscent of X-Men '97. While Kate Pryde would lead another team if shadows, with Emma Frost stepping out.

Because, I also got passed this list of creator names. Normally these kind of things are just fanfic based on some already leaked or confirmed details mixed in with utter bollocks to pad it out. And they usually get denied pretty quickly. But not this list. No one is saying anything. And that… is unusual. It may just be a thing about not commenting on anything at all. But hey, why not share it anyway, with all of those provisos…

• X-Men by Gail Simone and David Marquez
• Sentinels by Alex Paknadel
• Young X by Eve Ewing
• Cyclops by Jed Mackay and Ryan Stegman
• Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips
• Wolverine by Saladin Ahmed and Greg Capullo
• Mystique by Declan Shalvey

I was also passed this list before Jed MacKay was announced as being on the X-Men panel at SXSW. So what makes me doubt it? Well no mention of an Uncanny X-Men title, the absence of which was a shibboleth for the Krakoan Age of X-Men. Secondly, would Greg Capullo want a writer these days? So, anyway, take this list with the largest amount of salt ever. We will learn more at SXSW. Because right now? I'm stumped.

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