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Marvel's X-Men have an even darker future, the Spider-Man replacement syndrome, and Captain America vs. Doctor Doom redux: The future of Marvel Comics

What the future of the Marvel universe looks like for Doctor Doom, the X-Men, and Spider-Man - or should that be Spider-Men?

Marvel Comics fans are about to get a rare chance to see the future of the Marvel Universe for themselves as the X-Men line jumps 10 years ahead with the upcoming Age of Revelation — but how much of that timeline will stay intact when we return to the present day? Given what might be about to happen as Doctor Doom’s reign comes to an end in One World Under Doom, the answer is very much up in the air.

Marvel’s Age of Revelation will take the X-Men 10 years into the future

For the final three months of the year, Marvel Comics’ entire X-Men line is leaving 2025 behind and headed ten years into the future for the Age of Revelation event. Running October through December, Age of Revelation takes place across 16 separate three-part miniseries (and two bookend issues, titled Age of Revelation: Overture #1 and Age of Revelation: Finale #1, respectively), all set a decade into the actual future of the regular Marvel Universe. That’s the good news — the bad news is that said future is a dystopian world where something called the X-Virus has infected humanity, and left mutantkind as the dominant force, which is unfortunate for… well, most people in the MU, really.

Promoting the event, X-Men executive editor Tom Brevoort has taken pains to explain that this storyline isn’t an alternate future setting that can and will be forgotten about almost immediately; it’s the actual future of the timeline the X-Men comics regularly take place in — unless that future gets changed intentionally, of course. That’s a possibility, as Age of Revelation will feature two X-Men characters from 'today' transported into the future before being restored to their rightful place, fully aware of what lies in store for everyone, for better or worse.

It’s going to be worse, isn’t it? That’s the entire point of Chekhov’s gun, even if that gun is mutant-shaped.

Captain America leads a global response to the aftermath of Doctor Doom’s global domination

November sees the final issue of Marvel’s 2025 event series One World Under Doom — in which Doctor Doom has succeeded in taking over the world, much to the shock of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Of course, that status quo could never have lasted, but we’re already getting glimpses about what will happen next, and it’s beginning to feel like Doctor Doom was working on a long game that somehow extended past ruling the world.

December sees the release of both Captain America #6 — the issue that introduces the United Nations Security Council’s team of Captains — and The Will of Doom #1, both of which explore the political ramifications of Doom’s reign and the fallout of what has happened to Doom’s country of Latveria as a result of his global takeover efforts. Instead of the end of something, writer Chip Zdarsky (who is writing both comics) is suggesting this is just the beginning of whatever comes next. “Between The Will of Doom and Captain America, we’re charting a new course for the Marvel Universe with one simple statement: Doom always has a plan,” he said in a press release from Marvel. But… what’s the plan?

Multiple Marvel heroes compete to be the next Sorcerer Supreme

As Doom falls, he’ll apparently surrender the title of Sorcerer Supreme, the most powerful magic-user of the Marvel Universe — a title he’s held since 2024’s Blood Hunt event. So, who’ll pick it up in his wake? Marvel’s not only not saying, they’re teasing the question as a big one for 2026, with a teaser graphic reading “Love live the Sorcerer Supreme” featuring characters from across the Marvel Universe — including Storm, Gambit, Magik, and the Goblin Queen from the X-Men line, as well as Valeria Richards of the Fantastic Four, Nico Minoru from the Runaways, Agatha Harkness, the Scarlet Witch and a couple of surprise Avengers: Shang-Chi and Captain Marvel.

Where’s Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme prior to Doom? Well, he’s recently been in Asgard, and he’s getting a new series in December that deals with the fact that he’s currently unable to get back to Earth for reasons relating to Marvel’s new Mortal Thor series (this is the Mighty Marvel Era of interconnectivity, after all), so he’s seemingly out of the running. But who’ll take on the mantle? This story will apparently begin in December, in a location yet to be announced.

What if Marvel had no less than three Spider-Men?

Speaking of mysterious locations, Spider-Man is everywhere right now. Or, rather, Spider-Men are. As a result of recent events in The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker is lost in space and trying to get home… but even as he’s doing that, no-one on Earth is any the wiser, because not one but two people have taken his place: errant clone Ben Reilly has taken over the Peter Parker part of his life (destroying a lot of Peter’s close relationships in the process), while none other than Norman Osborn is running around trying to be a temporary Spider-Man. So much for the ‘friendly’ part of “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” I guess. This drama is currently unfolding in the ongoing Amazing Spider-Man series, but don’t be surprised if it starts to spill over into other comic books before too long, too.

Where does the future of the Marvel Universe start?

Wondering where to pick up and keep track of everything that’s coming up in the Marvel Universe? Start with these three comics:

  • The Amazing Spider-Man #11 (September 3)
  • X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1 (October 1)
  • The Will of Doom #1 (December 24)

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.  

 

Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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