NYCC delivered a wealth of news for X-Men fans, most notably the official reveal of their post-Age of Revelation era: The Shadows of Tomorrow. For months, X-Men group editor Tom Brevoort and top writers Jed MacKay and Gail Simone have stressed that the events of the Age of Revelation are not merely a bleak, avoidable future, but rather genuine premonitions. As Saladin Ahmed, the writer of Wolverine, recently noted, while the full horror of the Age of Revelation might be averted, what happens when parts of it start to manifest?
Shadows of Tomorrow fully embraces this concept. Some X-Men are aware of their dark destiny, and even if they prevent its full terror, pieces of it could still unfold in their stories, gradually building toward a truer future. The solicitations for X-Men #23 and #24, penciled by long-time DC artist Tony Daniel, specifically tease the full fallout from the Age of Revelation.
The new era’s promotional image by Stefano Caselli showcases a large cast of X-Men, led by Emma Frost, Wolverine, and Rogue, with a few notable absences: Phoenix, Cannonball, and Sunspot. The editorial team present was quick to clarify that this image does not represent the full roster of characters in the new era. The visual is a clear homage to Avengers: The Initiative, which the panel cited as an inspiration for the new direction.
The taglines, “The Dream Lives On” and “Survival Demands Unity,” suggest a new level of cooperation among the X-Men teams based in Alaska, New Orleans, and Chicago. Given that Avengers: The Initiative focused on young heroes being trained by the Avengers, a major theme of this era might revolve around the various new mutants introduced recently banding together to form a new team. This team could be guided by Emma Frost, who has become the X-Men’s chief educator and trainer now that Charles Xavier’s image is tarnished and he is effectively exiled in space.
But enough speculation. Here are the new X-Men books announced as part of the opening salvo of Shadows of Tomorrow.
Rogue by Erica Schultz and Luigi Zagari
Releasing in January, Uncanny X-Men leader Rogue is getting her own mini-series, brought to us by Erica Schultz (previously writer of Laura Kinney: Wolverine and currently writing Laura Kinney: Sabretooth). It’s an interesting step to give Rogue her own solo, but given the success of her cheesecake-forward flashback mini, Rogue: The Savage Land in 2024, the numbers must have worked out for the popular heroine to receive her own short story.
The premise teases conflict regarding Rogue’s past, and her parents, Mystique and Destiny. Tom Brevoort even teased some marital discord between her and Gambit. It’ll be interesting to see how this book informs the Rogue Gail Simone writes in her own book, unless the idea is that Rogue will be absent from the Uncanny X-Men team for the first 5 months of 2025? That’s quite a few issues to miss, but here’s hoping something fruitful results from this.
Cyclops by Alex Paknadel and Roge Antonio
Releasing in February, the other X-Men leader also gets his own solo title, fresh off the Age of Revelation and the chaotic events of X-Men #23 and #24 in January. This is the first Cyclops solo book since Greg Rucka and Russell Dauterman’s series in 2014, and it will be a mini-series of 5 issues. The premise paints a smaller-scale story of survival, with Cyclops surviving a plane crash and needing to protect himself and a young mutant from Reavers. The prominence of Cyclops’s beard on the cover and one flashing eye are hints that the aftermath of the Age of Revelation has not gone well for the X-Men leader. Conceptually, this book ties into Scott’s past and feels quite grounded.
Magik & Colossus by Ashley Allen and German Peralta
Also releasing in February, and the final of the three mini-series announced, Magik & Colossus picks up on Ashley Allen’s work with Magik, and includes her older brother Colossus now. Colossus is a character who has struggled over the last 15 years to maintain relevance and consistency. Here’s hoping exploring the bond between the siblings will provide some direction for the character. Allen and Peralta helmed the Magik series that recently ended together, and should maintain cohesion in characterization between those two books.
Wade Wilson: Deadpool by Ben Percy and Geoff Shaw
Deadpool is really only an X-Men character in loose terms. Though he’s closer to the team than he is to the Avengers or even Spider-Man, Deadpool stories rarely play a role in the broader X-Men line. Ben Percy, who has written 50 issues each of Wolverine and X-Force, and recently finished 10 issues of Wolverine/Deadpool this year, will be well-suited to the character.
Generation X-23 by Jody Houser and Jacopo Camagni
A sequel to Laura Kinney: Wolverine, Generation X-23 will continue Laura’s story with his younger sister Gabby now as the co-lead, against a new Weapon X program. This book promises a slew of new characters and possibly will tease some of the shocking events that we see in Laura Kinney: Sabretooth, which features a major change in Laura’s status quo. As a book concept, it’s solid enough, and Houser will be an interesting new addition to the X-Men office.
Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant by Murewa Ayodele and Federica Mancin
Murewa Ayodele continues the story of Storm here, joined by Federica Mancin of Exceptional X-Men. RB Silva’s covers promise to be delightful, but as story content goes, I haven’t been a fan of how Murewa Ayodele has gone about writing the Storm solo book. While also a visual treat, the book itself lacks any sense of grounded feeling or real stakes, with the stories being so over the top and so focused on power and strength that all the humanity is sucked out of it. Here’s hoping that this relaunch allows Ayodele to tell stories with Storm that focus on her as a character, rather than her power.
Inglorious X-Force by Tim Seeley and Michael Sta. Maria
This is an interesting one. Tom Brevoort, the group editor of the X-Men line and Conductor of X, has spoken before on the Homo Superior Podcast about not wanting a “kill squad” X-Force team. The first iteration of X-Force during the From the Ashes launch by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To admirably took a different tack to X-Force as a unit, but failed to come together compellingly. Inglorious X-Force feels like a course correction, with a more traditional X-Force team featuring stalwarts like Cable and Boom-Boom, and Archangel, who featured prominently in arguably one of the most highly regarded X-Force titles ever.
It’s a more traditional line-up, but with a slightly altered and more unique premise, featuring Cable being blown back in time and needing to assemble an X-Force team to solve a mystery inscribed on his steel arm. This one is the only truly new ongoing title announced in the Shadows of Tomorrow line-up, not being a successor to a pre-existing ongoing like Storm or Laura Kinney: Wolverine.
Psylocke: Ninja by Tim Seeley and Diogenes Neves
The most baffling title to be announced so far. Psylocke: Ninja is a flashback mini, rather than an ongoing continuation of the story of Psylocke, Alyssa Wong, and Vicenzo Carratu had put together. And what’s more, it’s rather oddly a flashback mini about Betsy Braddock rather than Kwannon, covering Betsy’s time as an assassin while in Kwannon’s body. Betsy Braddock and Kwannon have an already confused, muddled character history as it is. This book would only serve to confuse even more people. And the optics of a story featuring a white character in an Asian character’s body feels like a strange choice by Marvel in 2025. As newly announced titles go, this one is easily the clearest skip.
Continuing Titles: X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine
Jed MacKay begins a 3-issue epilogue of the Age of Revelation, starting with X-Men #23 and continuing until X-Men #25. What’s most interesting beyond the fascinating solicitations is the presence of Tony S. Daniel, most notable for his work on various Batman comics at DC. Daniel will be drawing the three-issue arc and will also be drawing the covers. Is Ryan Stegman leaving the X-Men title? When discussing his work on X-Men in 2024 with David Harper on the Off Panel podcast, Stegman mentioned wanting to stay on X-Men for as long as he could. Almost a year and a half later, could he already be gone, having done less than half the total issues released so far?
Uncanny X-Men #22 by Gail Simone & David Marquez brings back Mutina, continuing with the story threads Gail has been working with over the past five months. Mutina is not a character I enjoyed or thought was particularly interesting in execution, but it remains an interesting enough idea in concept. Here’s hoping Simone can develop the character in a better-paced manner.
Finally, Wolverine #14 features the debut of Silver Sable as Wolverine’s newest love interest, along with new cover artist Dan Panosian. Saladin Ahmed has done an interesting run so far, with evident reverence for the past runs of Larry Hama and Greg Rucka. Having done well with romance stories in the past, here’s hoping Ahmed can write a love story here that feels appropriate for the character and helps show more sides of Wolverine.
What’s Missing?
While Exceptional X-Men writer Eve Ewing was present at the NYCC panel, there was no announcement of the title that she will be writing, only a tease for a book featuring young mutants, Emma Frost, and an homage of sorts to the Avengers: The Initiative comic. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect her to write a newly branded X-Men title featuring her Exceptional X-Men cast and some young mutants from other X-Men titles.
Phoenix likewise did not have any news, with Tom Brevoort and Nick Lowe (editor of the Spider-Man line of comics) being tight-lipped and recommending that readers follow Binary, which may contain some answers. Given that most of the announced titles so far are mini-series, it would be fair to assume that Phoenix will receive an announcement in December, for a March release, along with a host of other X-Men books. 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Phoenix as a character, first appearing in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #101. 2026 should be a key year for the character as a result.
Characters such as the New Mutants, Rachel Grey, Polaris, Havok, Bishop, and Forge were also left out of the announcements. Given that only one new team book was announced, it feels likely there is at least one or two more that will be announced with time, possibly in December.
Shadows of Tomorrow: Hyped or More of the Same?
It’s a mixed bag overall. What struck me as I read through the announcements was how similar everything felt. From the Ashes has been polarizing in the online fan community. If the Age of Revelation and Shadows of Tomorrow were a chance to recalibrate and win sceptical fans over, it was not taken. Inglorious X-Force is the only title that is truly new to the line-up, with nearly everything else being a continuation of an already existing From the Ashes title.
The Rogue and Cyclops mini-series may win over some new fans, but the contained nature of those stories means things won’t be truly different for long. Otherwise, despite the promise of a bold new direction, Shadows of Tomorrow does feel like more of the same overall. Which is not necessarily a bad thing; it would be equally poor practice to abandon everything and totally change direction to satisfy a few disgruntled fans. Story consistency is always helpful in comics, and for better or worse, the X-Office is sticking to its guns.
