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X-Men writer Jed MacKay has promised that Marvel's premiere mutant team won't be the same once the upcoming DNX crossover with Fantastic Four is finished, and it'll all come down to the battle between Cyclops and the evil mad scientist version of his old friend Beast.

"DNX is seeing Cyclops and the Chairman going head to head, pitting their differing philosophies for the future of mutantkind against one another, and that’s going to take a heavy toll on each of them," MacKay tells AiPT. "And as for the larger team, we’re going to be seeing some big changes in the team moving forward post-DNX."

DNX is scheduled to run through the end of 2026.

For those not in the know, there are actually two Hanks McCoy running around - one who is a clone of Beast at the height of his heroic career, and one who is technically the original who has become an out-and-out villain running genetic mutant experiments as the Chairman of the group 3K.

Related: Even Marvel’s X-Men editor says the mutant line is a "weird fit" for him

DNX all comes back to the so-called X-Virus which turns baseline humans into mutants. The story spins out of last year's Age of Revelation event, which showcased an alt-future ruled by Doug Ramsey in his villainous guise as Revelation. The Chairman - the evil Hank McCoy - brought knowledge of the X-Virus back to the present in order to weaponize it. The X-Men will be joined by the Fantastic Four whose experience as scientists will be crucial to stopping the X-Virus.

MacKay previously stated when DNX was first announced that the crossover would be the "next big milestone" in his run, picking up on threads that have been weaving their way through the titles since it kicked off back in 2024, setting big stakes for the impending story. 

"Age of Revelation showed the future, and DNX shows that future’s impact on the present! The X-Men and 3K are on a collision course that has been set since issue one - and only one will survive," he said at the time. "And with the Fantastic Four joining the fray, this is going to be an event that will transform the X-Men dramatically."

MacKay will write the five issue DNX limited series, drawn by Federico Vicentini. DNX #1 is due out September 2, with subsequent issues of the ongoing X-Men and Fantastic Four.

To me, my X-Men fans. Want more about Marvel's mutants? You don't need Cerebro to find what you should read next... we made a list!

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• How to watch the X-Men movies in order