With the X-Men franchise’s imminent relaunch, Marvel is teasing a new team of mutants who might be more than the heroes can handle. Coming off the tumultuous ending to the Krakoan Era, the “From the Ashes” relaunch offers an exciting roster of new titles – including the latest volume of Uncanny X-Men, which early on will seek to distinguish itself by introducing a brand-new group of mutants.

Uncanny X-Men (2024) #2 – written by Gail Simone, with art by David Marquez – will introduce the Outliers, a new boisterous group of mutants who will provide a sharp contrast to the regular X-team readers will follow in the series.

Series writer Gail Simone has teased a fresh set of characters will be joining the recognizable mutant faces in the series, and based on the scarce details regarding the Uncanny X-Men relaunch so far, it looks like the Outliers are at least some of those promised new creations.

The Latest Volume Of Uncanny X-Men Will Introduce THE OUTLIERS

Uncanny X-Men #2 – Written By Gail Simone; Art By David Marquez

Mutants are, by their nature, designed to be characters who exist outside the “norms” of society; the X-Men franchise has pushed that even further at times throughout its history, by developing a social stratosphere within mutantkind itself. From the aristocratic evildoers of the Hellfire Club to the denizens of NYC’s Mutant Town, the X-Men are only one group among a far more disparate and diverse culture. As Marvel has revealed, Gail Simone’s upcoming Uncanny X-Men #2 will introduce the latest group to exist on the fringes of mutant society, the center of which X-Men’s core characters are generally placed at.

As Marvel’s solicit for the issue reveals:

Meet the Outliers, four uncontrollable and wild mutants, this September in Gail Simone and David Marquez’s UNCANNY X-MEN #2!

UNCANNY X-MEN #2

Written by GAIL SIMONE

Art and Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ

On Sale 9/11

Marvel’s quote, along with Uncanny #2’s cover, suggests almost an opposite to the Morlocks, mutants who’re so ostentatious and extroverted that the X-Men are tame by comparison. The Morlocks were arguably most famous ‘outlier’ team in X-franchise history; a grouping of dispossessed and usually visually-’inhuman’ mutants who originally lived in the tunnels under New York City. The genius of the Morlocks was how they challenged the X-Men’s operating philosophies, highlighting mutants with little chance of acceptance who had chosen to shun any type of integration.

The Outliers Will Have An Impact On The X-Franchise’s New Era

Exploring Mutant Society Post-Krakoa

Only time will tell if the Outliers will be recklessly heroic, actively antagonistic, or most interestingly, completely unconcerned with using their powers for superheroic or villainous motives. Perhaps it will turn out that they are all of the above; with the group, Marvel promises “four” new mutant characters. It is easy to forecast the possibility of one or more members of the Outliers joining the X-Men, with the others making their own ways in the Marvel Universe once their introductory story is done.

This new group of mutants being introduced in Uncanny X-Men is all the more interesting given that they are being introduced in the aftermath of the X-Men’s recent Krakoan era, which explored the idea of a mostly unified mutant culture. With the X-Men, and mutantdom at large, once again disparate, each X-Men title will feature its characters forging their own identities moving forward. The philosophy of a group like the Outliers may challenge, or reinforce, what the X-Men are doing in New Orleans.