Star Wars and Marvel's Heroes Are (Officially) Meeting for the First Time

There have been times in history when Marvel published, "Star Wars," comics, but there was never any crossover with the Marvel Universe. Decades ago, they did so before Dark Horse acquired the license for a good long while. Eventually, Disney absorbed Marvel and Lucasfilm, and it made sense to put Star Wars stuff under the Marvel label again, even if the comics remained fully removed from any Marvel superheroics. However, in January 2027 we will see the first ever official crossover between the Star Wars and Marvel Universes, with Kevin Smith writing, "Star Wars/Marvel: Hope Assembles," over a five-issue mini-series. David Marquez will be on art duties.

Apparently, this will be taking place in the main 616 continuity of Marvel (the, "Offiical," canon) and will not be some kind of, "What If?"-themed mini-series. Never mind that, "Star Wars," technically takes place in the distant past and galaxies (far, far) away because a, "Reality shattering," spell is going to bring a bunch of Star Wars characters right into the Marvel heroes' orbit. This sounds a bit fun, but I swear, if this is all an excuse to make the Scarlet Witch some kind of villainous Deus Ex Machina again thanks to her vaguely-unexplainable powers (like, "House of M," and, "Decimation,") I'll be perturbed. Seriously though, this could be a hoot, and I was just saying the other day we need more quirky crossovers. Kevin Smith can be extremely hit-or-miss in his film work as well as his comics, but the dude (generally) knows how to tell a good story, and David Marquez is a stellar artist. Just give a zany scene where Darth Vader and Doctor Doom argue about who is more villainous-yet-tragic with their backstory, and I'll be content. It's going to be an interesting start to 2027 in comic-books, that's for sure.

Marvel Has the X-Men Event, "DNX," Coming This Fall, and Maybe Too Many Events Occurring, Honestly

Comic-book companies (particularly Marvel and DC) love a big event every now and then. Some take up a bunch of the comic line, and others are a bit more focused. The X-Men have a new horror-styled event called, "DNX," just announced for this Fall. Featuring the tagline, "Evolution is contagious," it makes me wonder if Marvel is aiming for some kind of boost in the number of mutants as was happening pre, "House of M," before the number of mutants was drastically reduced and slowly started growing again to a level where they again work as, "hated and feared minority," without being outright, "Endangered," as they were for a bit.

At the moment, Marvel has a number of smaller events all planned or popping off at once for better and worse. As Bleedingcool discussed, "So that's DNX for the X-Men, Armageddon for Avengers, Death Spiral for Spider-Man and Venom, and Queen In Black for Venom and Thor… any more for any more?" They're being snarky, but have a point about, "Eventitis," as it is sometimes called. Marvel seems to be stuck either doing a single massive event or a bunch of small ones at a near-constant rate. DC, meanwhile, has been steadily gaining more of the comic market through a slow-and-steady growth of their massively popular, "Absolute," line and an event here and there, such as the recently concluded and generally inoffensively fun, "DC K.O." I'm not the head of either company so I am wholly unqualified to argue who is doing, "Better." I would say a lot more people are excited for DC comics these days than a lot of Marvel's output, however.

The last big X-Men event I gave much attention to was, "House of X/Powers of X," which led into an era of the X-Men and many mutants spending a lot of time living on the island of Krakoa before that all wound down with little of consequence to show for an epic start and whimper of a conclusion. That said, a lot of these events are about the journey, not the destination ("Flashpoint," was a ton of fun years ago and led into the ho-hum New 52). Will the, "Adventure," we have with DNX or any other Marvel event strike enough of a nerve that people will really dig them? We shall see, and in the end, the comics at Marvel almost seem like an afterthought with how much is undoubtedly riding on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and if, "Avengers Doomsday," and, "Secret Wars," will undo the general feeling of disinterest many folks have had towards the MCU since, "Endgame." It is going to be a pivotal 2026 for Marvel, that's for sure.

Marvel Sure Loves Doing X-Men Comics Set in Dark and Depressing Timelines

You know what Marvel seems to love? Doing events where we look at a horrible future for the X-Men. Every few years, we have some kind of mini-series/crossover/whatever where we peek into the future for the X-Men, and it is bad. This can be fun, with, "Days of Future Past," or, "Age of Apocalypse," being a good time set in a grim timescape. I mean, even the time-travel shenanigans of, "Messiah Complex," served a purpose. Did we need the current, "Age of Revelation," however? I've skimmed it and found what I read fine, but I lack much more of an opinion. Apparently, it is leading into more, "Depressing future," stories with, "Shadows of Tomorrow," on the way too, where the X-Men continue to be hated! 

We've got that whole, "Sins of Sinister," "Battle of the Atom," and Cable is himself from an awful future, too. X-Men alternative timelines tend to always be awful for mutants. They aren't all hunted per se in the, "Old Man Logan," timeline, but it is a World where the villains wiped out any superheroes and didn't care much about mutants as they quit appearing and were more of a blip in evolution than the next step. If the X-Men visit a future or even an alternate present, it usually is horrific for them, which is maybe why a rare exception to this theme is a storyline I quite dug. Yes, "House of M," although it was set more in an alternate, "Present," and didn't end well for mutants, either.

"House of M," happened when the Scarlet Witch used her immense powers to create a World where the birth/development of mutants accelerated significantly in the past and as a result, by the 2000s, almost 90% of the World's population is made up of mutants, with humans a minority who either get put up with or treated with outright scorn as being outdated. It was a clever event full of tie-ins that flipped the idea of the X-Men and mutants on its head. Then, when it ends, the Scarlet Witch puts reality back, but says, "No More Mutants." As a result, almost all the mutants in the regular reality lose their powers/die/etc. We get a brief view of a reality that is actually kinda happy for mutants, but in the end, makes them even more of a minority/rare demographic. 

Known as, "M Day," it eventually was reversed with more and more mutants reappearing on the scene, but it goes to show how when you even dare to imagine a happy present or future for mutants, the end result can only be further hating on those with an X-gene. I guess if you're in the X-Men or even simply just a mutant, you have got to take things day-by-day and not plan too far ahead for the future, seeing as you have zero clue which of the many futures it might be and how awful things could go.

Flashback Friday: Remember That Zany Occasion Where Beast and Dark Beast Teamed Up?

"X-Men: Endangered Species," could have been a mostly forgettable series of backup strips that explained a chunk of plot holes before a big X-Men event, but it managed to be pretty darn cool. It kicked off with a one-shot before being a series of strips in the back of X-titles. The comic followed Beast of the X-Men as he tried to explore any avenue he could to undo how Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch) had turned most mutants into humans at the end of, "House of M." 

This all led to what was called, "M-Day," and various comics that spun out of the event. "Endangered Species," essentially set up, the "Messiah Complex," event which slowly began reintroducing mutants to the Marvel Universe and a thankless task of answering why the X-Men hadn't undone Wanda's spell. The series followed Beast stopping by various old hangouts of mutants only to find nobody could help him with science, magic, or anything else. Old mutant blood samples had turned human, even most dead mutants had reverted to human, and so forth. Then, right as Beast is about to give up he discovers how someone else has been working trying to figure everything out--him, sorta.

Dark Beast was an evil version of Henry McCoy from the, "Apocalypse," Universe. He ended up in the main Marvel Universe and was in some series off and on but hadn't been heard from for a bit, until, "Endangered Species," which midway through turns into a twisted and dark buddy-comedy with the two beasts trying various avenues to figure out what can be done. Eventually, the evil McCoy's more extreme methods result in them going their separate ways and we reach a conclusion-of-sorts where Beast sees he's out of options (right before, "Messiah Complex," begins and changes the so-called, "Rules," of everything). Still, for the period of time Beast and Dark Beast are together it is a hoot witnessing the little metaphorical devil on Beast's shoulder (who is literally a twisted version of him) suggesting how extreme they could be to save mutants.

After, "Messiah Complex," Beast kept getting increasingly questionable in his actions. During the whole, "Krakoan," era of X-Men we essentially saw Henry become enough of a villain that towards the end of the arc a bunch of messy plot trickery was done to erase how much of a baddie he'd become (clones were involved) As for Dark Beast, he died, came back, and died again, with Mister Sinister preserving his head because that's how that zany character rolls. 

The most recent years have been pretty rough for fans of any version of Beast with him being so dishonorable in any reality, but at least back in 2007 the, "Main," Beast wasn't yet too morally corrupt and it was fun to see him struggle with right-and-wrong alongside a more mischievous form. I also am glad the, "Endangered Species," one-shot and back-up strips were all collected as well so that the other handful of fans of this comic can read it without having to track down various assorted comics.

The X-Men Are Entering a New Era...and It's a Lot Like the Old Era

The X-Men have spent the last 5 or so years on Krakoa with their own nation-state. Various plots from the past came together to take the X-Men to one logical conclusion they'd form their own country and tell the rest of Earth to put up with it because they're sick of being hated by a humankind they wanted to protect. Magneto tried it on a small scale with Genosha, but Krakoa was a massive undertaking and resulted in some cool comics thanks to a major change in the usual X-Men status quo. It was never going to be permanent.

This coming Summer the X-Men will be back to living amongst regular humans in various cities where they'll hide out in military bases or such. It feels like a major step backward into the 1990s--something others have observed. The brand has had so much growth the past two decades and now we're reverting to the old ways? Perhaps I'm just bitter as I didn't really, "Get into," the X-Men until the early 2000's when Grant Morrison delivered what I feel is the best run on the series ever (no shade at Claremont). Their run on, "New X-Men," was amazing and changed so much that Marvel then sprung, "House of M," on everyone and made mutants incredibly endangered. Eventually, mutants started gaining bigger numbers and were then put on the editorial backburner whilst Marvel tried in vain against all logic to make the Inhumans popular and a replacement for the X-Men. That was until Jonathan Hickman ushered us into the Krakoan age in 2019 with, "House of X," and, "Powers of X." That resulted in some stellar comics, but it is coming to an end...and we're going back to how the X-Men were in the 1990s when I had minimal interest in the brand as a wee lad and preferred to read about Spider-Man (he's been through some changes for sure too, but that is a whole different article).

I'm not surprised with the vaguely retro revert (say that three times fast) the X-Men are getting. After all, that, "X-Men '97," show is coming to Disney+ and enough time has passed from the 1990s that folks are now nostalgic for it. Still, I didn't really like the X-Men then and besides Wolverine (he was always cool) could have cared less about all the other characters. The creative teams on the three big books are great and the other series could be good, but I just can't muster any excitement to go back to the old ways. 

I got into the X-Men during a period of huge change and always enjoyed the X-titles the most when things besides the usual, "Mutants protecting humans who hate and fear them," motif was used. I adored the aforementioned, "New X-Men run." I had a ton of fun when for a good year or so a team of X-Men was in space, I had a great time with, "House of M," and enjoyed the fallout of that event. The Krakoan age was insanely creative even if way too many comics were released relating to it (there was a ton of stuff to read if you wanted to keep up to date). When the X-Men are simply hiding out in a mansion or in old military bases in between going on missions to save humans who curse them out for being, "Dirty Muties!" I just don't care. It was done from about 1963 to 2000 and done especially spectacularly for years by Chris Claremont in one of the longest uninterrupted runs in comics ever (1975-1991). Old fans who miss the 90s are probably excited and younger comic fans might be intrigued who didn't live through the past stories. As for me? I said the creative teams look great (Jed MacKay and Gail Simone are both amazing writers and Ryan Stegman is a stellar artist, to name some folks), but I may just skim the new main books and secondary titles unless one manages to really grab my attention. Time will tell.

Some Discussion of a Brief Thought I Had While Reading, "House of X," #1

Jonathan Hickman's big return to writing Marvel comics has begun with, "House of X," #1 which will be coming out every two weeks--"Powers of X," will be released in the alternating-weeks until the two intertwined mini-series finish and a bunch of new X-Men books re-launch in October ("Dawn of X,") using Hickman's groundwork as a foundation. Only a single issue has come out so far of Hickman's grand plan, so I am hesitant to offer any sort of review. I will say one brief thought however that occurred to me whilst reading, "Powers of X." It is as such: "This is the biggest re-imagining of the X-Men I've seen since Grant Morrison did his incredible run with, 'New X-Men,' and that makes me excited." Being able to say something, anything, involving the X-men excites me is a big deal.

The last huge X-Men story/run I can I definitively loved would be when Joss Whedon did, "Astonishing X-Men," which itself drew from Morrison's tenure. I liked, "House of M," as its own weird event, but that was more of a big thing that involved all of the Marvel Universe as opposed to being an X-Men-focused event. In other words, it has been awhile since I read an X-Men comic that I loved, and even longer since I was legitimately excited to see what the X-Men have in store for them. Jonathan Hickman is doing his usual weird thing of big ideas, complex graphs, and people with mysterious motives, and I'm down for it. Considering how dull the X-Men have been for years why not let Hickman just draw from a bunch of assorted stories while ignoring the plots or character deaths he chooses to make a new one about the X-men saying, "Screw it, we're making our own country and culture and going to offer humans incredible resources to leave us the Hell alone on an island," at this point when nothing else has been done with the characters of note for some time? The fact I'm excited about an X-Men comic means something to me, namely that Marvel and Hickman must be doing something right.

Side Note: I would feel bad if I did not mention Kireon Gillen was doing some interesting stuff a few years ago with, "Uncanny X-Men," but that petered-out before I could really get pumped for it.

Marvel to Destroy its History, But We All Know it Won't Actually Do That

Hey you, do you like when it is revealed how, "Everything you think you knew is wrong?" and thanks to a big ol' retcon the past, present, and future is forever changed--at least until they retcon the recton? Well then, I suppose you're interested in Marvel's upcoming event that will reveal how the Fantastic Four really got their powers, who found Captain America before the Avengers, and other surprise reveals that will leave you so shocked you'll be grabbing your junk on the floor screaming in joyful agony from the kick it is going to take...I guess? Look, I haven't bothered with these big events for years at Marvel or DC. I just struggle to get into an overpriced mini-series with tons of tie-ins that could end up sucking. The last one I thought was kind of cool was Hickman's big, "Secret Wars," because I love alternate-reality stories and even as someone who liked it I'll tell you it was way too overstuffed. Therefore, I struggle to get that excited at Marvel supposedly destroying its history as I struggle with event-itits and I know they aren't really tearing-down anything.

Why isn't Marvel actually destroying its history? Because that is its biggest selling-point to comic-readers. Talking about how they have a rich and complex mythology full of decades of stories is a huge element for Marvel (and DC). Fans often discuss what stories in-continuity and will at times brush-off the ones that, "Don't count." Telling readers, "Nothing we've ever done counts, we are obliterating our history!" just sounds like a silly exaggeration bordering on a slap in the face of the die-hard fans who care a lot about continuity. Hence, perhaps there will be some changes here and there, but it probably won't be too drastic, and anything that is really over-the-top will most likely get undone at some point in the future (like when almost all the mutants lost their powers at the end of, "House of M,", but then didn't, or when Spider-Man revealed his identity during, "Civil War," but had that undone, and so forth). Perhaps the event will be well-written and cool, but we know too little to get especially excited or wary. I just am amused that Marvel is trying to act like doing some most likely minor retcons is this Earth-shattering big deal.