Marvel's X-Men line revamp 'From the Ashes' is getting bigger: here's everything you need to know

What to expect from the upcoming linewide relaunch of X-Men (and when to expect it)

Image credit: Ryan Stegman (Marvel Comics)

Feature by Graeme McMillan Editor

Updated on May 6, 2024

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This summer sees the latest rebirth for comics’ favorite mutants, with the start of X-Men: From the Ashes, a line-wide makeover for Marvel’s X-Men and associated titles. After five years of the Krakoa era, which saw the characters forming a new society on their own island and coming into conflict with humanity as a result, From the Ashes is a return to many elements that made the X-Men popular in the past — but with a twist… not to mention, with a lot more comics featuring the words ‘X-Men’ in the title. (No, really, there will be three ongoing series with variations of that title!)

Wondering what you need to know about the comic book relaunch for Professor Charles Xavier's favorite children of the atom? Keep reading and we'll reveal all.

What is X-Men: From the Ashes?

X-Men: From the Ashes is the name given to the upcoming reboot of Marvel’s X-Men publishing line, after the five-year-long 'Krakoan era' of the comic book franchise, which launched with Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X miniseries in 2019. That cycle of stories comes to a conclusion in June, following the completion of the Fall of the House of X, Rise of the Powers of X, and X-Men: Forever miniseries in May, and the epilogue issue X-Men #35, to be released the following month.

The relaunch is being overseen by former Avengers editor Tom Brevoort, who has described it as “a far cry from building a new relaunch for Avengers or Fantastic Four, it’s relaunching an entire line of titles — creating the infrastructure between them that will make up the new parameters of their world and how they’ll all interact (and to what degree) as well as deciding what characters will end up where, in whose hands. I’ve done a lot of things in my years on this job, but I’ve never had to think so broadly about so many characters and books at one time.”

The title 'From the Ashes' and the July launch date were announced by Marvel in late December 2023.

What comics are in X-Men: From the Ashes?

Fans got their first chance to see the new era in the Blood Hunt/X-Men FCBD 2024 issue released as part of Marvel’s Free Comic Book Day 2024 offerings in May. Created by the Uncanny X-Men team of writer Gail Simone and artist David Marquez, the story showed Xavier's School been taken over by a sinister new villain who is keeping mutants prisoner, and Jubilee explaining what the world is like now for mutants.

That will be followed by stories in X-Men #35 again written by Simone and X-Men wrier Jed MacKay (the artist(s) have yet to be confirmed), before the official launch of the line with no less than three new X-Men titles:

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X-Men by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman. “KRAKOA IS NO MORE…BUT THE X-MEN FIGHT ON!” reads Marvel’s description. “From their new base in Alaska, the X-Men raise a flag of defiance! Join CYCLOPS, BEAST, MAGNETO, PSYLOCKE, KID OMEGA, TEMPER (formerly OYA), MAGIK and JUGGERNAUT as they assemble against new forces, battling for the destiny and philosophy of the mutant species. Mutant business is their business.”
Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone and David Marquez. Per Marvel: “OUTLAW HEROES ONCE AGAIN, THE X-MEN EMBARK ON A NEW MISSION! Making themselves at home in the Big Easy, the X-Men protect a world that hates and fears them! Join ROGUE, GAMBIT, NIGHTCRAWLER, JUBILEE and WOLVERINE on explosive super hero adventures. Uncanny as ever, the X-Men are back to saving the day mutant-style!”
Exceptional X-Men by Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero. “MUTANTKIND’S TWO GREATEST TEACHERS MOLD THE NEXT GENERATION OF X-MEN!” Marvel’s description announces. “KATE PRYDE has returned home to Chicago following the war with ORCHIS. Having stepped away from the world of mutantdom, she is nevertheless called back into action as she crosses paths with a trio of new young mutants, BRONZE, AXO and MELEE, who clearly need training and guidance. Unfortunately for Kate, EMMA FROST thinks so as well!”

The three titles bearing the name ‘X-Men’ will act as flagships for the X-Men line moving forward, but there will additional ‘satellite’ books. Announced are Phoenix, X-Factor, Storm, NYC, X-Force, and Wolverine.

X-Men From the Ashes — Image credit: Marvel

Subsequently, details and creative teams were announced for the following series:

X-Force by Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To. “A NEW PATH FORGED! The world is fractured. Forge uses his powers to devise the only fix: an all-new, all-different X-FORCE! Forge leads a custom-made, handpicked team of mutants in off-the-books missions so dire, so integral to the fate of the Marvel Universe, there’s no time to stop for permission! Plus, as Forge detects increasing threats across the planet, he’ll recruit specialists for each target. It’s a revolving door of Marvel guest stars and first up: that regenerating degenerate, DEADPOOL!”
Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo. “She is Jean Grey. She is Phoenix. She saves the world. She brings death. One woman, alone in space, who not only must do what no one else can: she yearns to. A desperate S.O.S. from Nova brings the Phoenix to the edge of a black hole, where hundreds of lives hang in the balance…and whatever Jean does – or fails to do – will bring darkness to the universe and haunt her in ways she can scarcely imagine…”
NYX by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and Francesco Mortarino. “This is a book about mutants living past the end of their world and into a new beginning. This is Ms. Marvel embracing her mutant life in the neon streets of the Lower East Side. This is Anole trying to keep his head above water. This is Wolverine in the shadows of Bushwick, protecting her own. This is Prodigy writing history as it happens - and Sophie Cuckoo finding her own way. The news reports are bleak. The streets feel dangerous. There’s something lurking underground. Evil coming from every direction. But they’re determined to make it. This is mutant community. This is mutant pride. THIS IS NYX!”

Who are the X-Men: From the Ashes writers?

The core X-Men writers for the new relaunch are Gail Simone, Jed MacKay, and Eve Ewing.

Gail Simone’s involvement with the From the Ashes relaunch has been an open secret for some time; as pointed out above, she was announced back in September 2023 as being the writer of the X-Men story in the upcoming Free Comic Book Day 2024 release in May. Then came the announcement in early March of X-Men #35, which is somehow inexplicably “the milestone 700th issue of Uncanny X-Men” — yes, despite X-Men and Uncanny X-Men having previously been entirely separate titles since 1991; don’t ask — and features Simone again providing what is described as “a glimpse of things to come in the new X-Men titles launching this summer.”

Simone has had limited experience with the X-Men franchise in the past; most notably, she’s written issues of Deadpool and its follow-on title Agent X in the early 2000s, and more recently, the Domino series from 2018.

Jed MacKay, meanwhile, is a Marvel mainstay of recent years, and is currently the writer of Avengers, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, and upcoming Marvel event series Blood Hunt, amongst other projects. Should he become one of the core X-Men writers, it’ll be the first time in almost 30 years that the same writer has written primary X-Men and Avengers titles at the same time. (The last time would be in 1996, when Mark Waid did both for a very, very brief period.)

Eve L. Ewing has an extensive comic book writing background, having written Ironheart, Champions, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau: Photon for Marvel; she’s also the current writer of the Black Panther series. Perhaps more interestingly for those who like to think about the societal implications of the X-Men metaphor, Ewing is also an Associate Professor Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity in the University of Chicago's Division of the Social Sciences. (Not for nothing, her X-Men series is set in Chicago.)

Additionally, Geoffrey Thorne, Stephanie Phillips, and the duo of Collin Kelly & Jackston Lanzing have been added to the initial writing team on the satellite titles officially announced.