In honor of the 60th anniversary of the X-Men, the upcoming Original X-Men will pit a young version of the original five X-Men against their most deeply personal threat ever – an older version of themselves from an alternate reality, who have conquered their world, and are ready to turn their attention to adjacent timelines. The story promises to be rich with X-Men lore, and will have an impact on the franchise moving forward.
In a recent X-Men Monday interview at AIPT, writer Christos Gage announced that he and illustrator Greg Land are behind the one-shot Original X-Men #1 coming in December.
Gage provided some details on the book, which will celebrate X-Men’s 60th anniversary with a multiverse-spanning epic, one that could have lasting consequences for Marvel’s premiere mutant team in the years to come.
Original X-Men Is A Sequel, Reboot, And Anniversary Special All In One
Christos Gage explained the premise of Original X-Men to AIPT:
Essentially, the original X-Men are plucked from their era by an older Jean Grey, a.k.a. Phoenix, from a different timeline. This is a middle-aged Jean Grey who wasn’t replaced by the Phoenix Force; instead, she found a way to coexist peacefully with it. But now she’s become aware of a deadly danger on another Earth in the multiverse… a problem even the Phoenix can’t solve. Only the original X-Men can. Why? Because the problem IS them.
The one-shot will act as a reprise of 2012’s All New X-Men, which saw the original five X-Men – Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman – displaced from their own time and brought forward to the present-day Marvel Universe, alongside their older selves. This proves to be key to their latest adventure, as they have what Gage calls, “some experience with this sort of thing,” as an alternate universe Phoenix plucks them from their place on the timeline once more and puts them into conflict with their most dangerous enemies ever – dark, villainous future versions of themselves.
The Original X-Men Could Be A Major Multiversal Threat
The details of the corrupted X-Men team will likely be explained in Original X-Men #1. Writer Christos Gage teases a reality where, “the original X-Men grew up and took over the world, amassing tremendous power… so much that they’ll soon be turning their attention to other realities.” Of the many cosmic and multiversal threats facing the Marvel Universe right now, a version of the original five X-Men, having concentrated their abilities on conquest, could be one of the most dangerous – certainly the most unexpected. Whether the threat of these villainous X-Men extends beyond Original X-Men #1 depends on if their younger counterparts can stand up to them.
“It’s up to them to find a way to either convince their older selves that they’re making a horrible mistake or somehow defeat these far more powerful versions of them,” Gage explained to AIPT. He summarized the series like this: “Basically, it’s about your younger, idealistic self coming into conflict with your older, jaded self who’s made compromises and given up dreams in order to survive.” How this conflict plays out in Original X-Men #1 – whether idealism will prevail, or the older X-Men will dispatch their younger selves and carry on their mission of conquest – may be the clearest signal yet as to what the next era of X-Men stories will hold.
Original X-Men #1 will be available in December, 2023 from Marvel Comics.
