For the last little while, the consensus on X-Men comics has been a mixed bag—not particularly good, but not particularly bad. Thankfully, there have been many strides made recently, and many more to come, that are gradually hoisting the X-Men back to the heights of popularity that it once effortlessly ascended to in this new era of Marvel Comics.
For instance, it wouldn’t have taken much at all for the X-Men to be freed from the poor reputation they had in Marvel’s lackluster Fox era. Still, with the joint efforts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel TV on Disney+, Marvel video games, and the promise of a thrilling new Marvel Comics publishing line, the X-Men are soon going to be one of Marvel’s hottest ticket items again.
MCU And Marvel/Disney TV Are Pedestaling X-Men
Even if comics have always played a role in the X-Men remaining somewhat popular or successful, it is impossible to deny how paramount the Disney+ TV show X-Men ’97 has been in the revitalization of the X-Men’s reception with general audiences. For example, X-Men ’97 undid 24 years of Fox’s X-Men character assassinations, particularly concerning the perception of Scott Summers’ Cyclops, and leveraged one of Marvel’s most seminal X-Men eras ever.
There’s an argument to be made that this has catalyzed a newfound interest and adoration for X-Men, despite the show itself being inherently rooted in nostalgia, and Season 2, airing this July, is sure to renew that passion, so long as it can meet the same exceptional standard of quality as Season 1. Then, this fall, Marvel is finally committing to bridging the X-Men to live-action MCU cinema.
To be fair, Avengers: Doomsday’s X-Men are the Fox X-Men. That said, based on the one X-Men-centered teaser for Avengers: Doomsday that we’ve received, the MCU already seems to be scrubbing the Fox universe’s stain.
The characters from Fox’s X-Men universe aren’t expected to hang around much longer after Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, and rumors of Sadie Sink playing Jean Grey turning out to be true would confirm that a new batch of X-Men character portrayals is on the way.
Marvel Video Games Are Honoring X-Men
Marvel games have taken an unsurprisingly large interest in adapting X-Men characters lately, and the characters who’ve been selected from an otherwise enormous pool of potential mutants are certainly not arbitrary. Marvel’s Wolverine’s original Insomniac universe features no official X-Men team yet, most likely with the intent of depicting this canon’s X-Men origins in-game, but Wolverine being front and center for now makes all the sense in the world due to how Wolverine is easily one of the most popular X-Men characters (one of the most popular characters in Marvel Comics history, rather).
Likewise, because of how popular he has become, it was only a matter of time before Cyclops would appear in any Marvel game that would have him: Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s DLC update shadow drop debuted Thing and Cyclops last month, with Marvel Rivals Season 8.5 debuting Cyclops on June 12.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a 4v4 tag-team fighting game that is scheduled to be released on August 6, is also embracing the X-Men wholly. In fact, there is already a team dedicated to the X-Men, dubbed the ‘Unbreakable X-Men,’ that features Storm, Danger, Magik, and Wolverine, with Magneto present on the Knights of Doom team composed of villains.
Therefore, additional X-Men characters being introduced to Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ playable roster via post-launch DLC is inevitable, and it will be neat to see how long it takes before Arc System Works caves and joins other Marvel ensemble games in adapting Cyclops. Nonetheless, the X-Men thrive the most in games that boast dynamic gameplay expressed through a handful of unique characters.
Marvel’s Midnight Horror Universe Is Revitalizing X-Men
As for what’s most novel and highly anticipated about X-Men in Marvel Comics nowadays, Marvel’s upcoming horror universe Midnight is having its cake and eating it, too. Essentially Marvel’s answer to DC’s astonishing Absolute universe, Midnight is billed as a publishing line with books that stew in the horror genre, such as Midnight Spider-Man transforming Peter Parker and every one of his colorful, animal-themed villains into revolting, cross-species nightmare fuel.
Midnight X-Men, however, is the leading series in this brand-new universe, which speaks to how much faith and/or confidence Marvel must have in it, and the X-Men as a brand. Releasing its first issue on August 5, and from the creative team of writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Matteo Della Fonte, Midnight X-Men’s fresh mutantkind lore and mythology is marrying fantasy with horror:
AN ALL-NEW, ALL-DISTURBING UNIVERSE BEGINS HERE!
The clock strikes midnight, and it’s the dark dawn of a new era. The shadows of New York City are stalked by vampires and the mutant empyres. The sword of Damocles hangs over the peace between these two species and the factions within them. An outright war is brewing and the unturned will be caught in the crossfire.
Midnight X-Men #1 is scheduled to be released on August 5, 2026.
- Movie(s)
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X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- TV Show(s)
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X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)
- Video Game(s)
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X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
- First Film
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X-Men (2000)
- Character(s)
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Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
- Comic Release Date
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213035,212968
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.