The 2023 iteration of the X-Men —including newly elected members Juggernaut, Frenzy and Jubilee — was eradicated as quickly as it was introduced, but it seems as though Marvel already has plans for the team’s return. 2023 is undoubtedly the most tumultuous year for mutantkind in recent memory. The mutant supremacist organization Orchis has set the mutant race back by decades after turning the public on mutants and committing mutant genocide, beginning at the Hellfire Gala. Among the mutants lost in the fire were the newest X-Men team.
The current Fall of X arc has been rumored and speculated to mark the end of the Krakoa era of the X-Men series, but it doesn’t look like it’ll mark the end of the X-Men team as introduced at the Gala. AIPT Comics took a moment to speak with X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White about the future of the series following Fall of X. Without giving away any story elements, White does confirm that the 2023 X-Men roster will return.
“It would only be fair,” White said. “Now, what would make you think that we wouldn’t do something with them? Like, don’t we always do something? Don’t we always have some sort of plan?”
The Fall of X is Not the Fall of the New X-Men
At the Hellfire Gala, the newly elected members of the X-Men were revealed as Juggernaut, Dazzler, Talon, Synch, Frenzy, Jubilee, and Prodigy. Within seconds of the team’s announcement, the Gala was attacked by Orchis, leaving countless mutants dead, including more than two-thirds of the new team. This version of the team seemed as good as finished. However, White suggests the contrary. “There actually is a very specific plan for where those folks are going to appear next. And it is not a small appearance. It’s a pretty big and relevant appearance. It just hasn’t been announced yet, so I can’t tell you too much. But plans are underway. Things are being drawn with those characters in them as we speak.”
Considering how much controversy it inspired from fans who felt enthused to see such a diverse line-up upon first glance on-panel, before the destruction unfolded, the news of their return should be reassuring to readers. With that said, the news comes with just as much excitement as it does curiosity out of speculation. Again, most of the members who joined the X-Men on the day of the Mutant Massacre are dead. Not just M.I.A, displaced in time, or hidden off-panel elsewhere, these mutants were seen brutally murdered by Nimrod. As it stands right now, Krakoa’s much-vaunted Resurrection Protocols, which allow dead mutants to return to life, is no longer an option. This fact was acknowledged by White in the interview: “But, they’re dead! How can they possibly do anything? And resurrection isn’t working. What are you guys going to do?”
In fact, if Krakoa will indeed be going extinct as an island and as an era following the Fall of X as has been rumored, resurrection may not be an option at all moving forward, even when the dust settles. Maybe their return will tie directly into the themes of rebirth that White hinted at previously. It will be interesting to see how Marvel brings the X-Men back from the dead, but even more interesting to see how the returning members will recover once they’re among the living again. In a world where the X-Men as a series focuses on this iteration of the roster, it’s hard to imagine storylines not touching on how they try to move on after experiencing such an intense, traumatic event.
Time will tell, but as Jordan D. White told readers, they can expect the X-Men’s 2023 roster to return sooner rather than later.
