On Saturday, Marvel Comics revealed the long-awaited shake-up of the X-Men line, billed as a fundamental change of eras in the long-running superhero epic.

Before the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con announcement, all fans have known is that every title under the X-Men umbrella is ending this summer, to be replaced by a mere two six-issue miniseries, House of X and Powers of X (pronounced “Powers of Ten”). The intertwined plots of the books — both written by Jonathan Hickman, the architect of the relaunch — will lay out new changes for the X-Men, springing both from Professor X’s new plan for the future of all mutant kind in the present in House of X, and new revelations about mutants in the past, in Powers of X.

“There’s a big story called House of M,” X-Men senior editor Jordan D. White told Polygon in an interview, “after which mutantkind was reduced in number very greatly, and the [books] became less about acceptance by humankind and more about the fact that they were going extinct and that they might disappear as a species. That was the driving force of the X-Men, and while there have been fluctuations in that story over the years, I still think that generally that’s been the thrust of the line for quite a while. I think it was time for a change.”

“One of the things that we talked about,” Hickman told reporters in a press event, “was ‘How do we make X-Men the giant X-Men that it was most of my life?’ So I came up with what I thought was wrong or tired or needed changing — in the same way that Brian [Bendis] repositioned the Avengers during Disassembled; what is that version of the X-stuff? And we came up with this.”

Once House and Powers of X are over, the X-Men line will spring back to life with six new ongoing series, revealed at Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 — and with further waves of books to come.

X-Men

The X-Men’s flagship title will return in October with X-Men #1, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Leinil Francis Yu (Captain America, Secret Invasion).

A new era dawns for the X-Men! The X-Men find themselves in a whole new world of possibility… and things have never been better! Jonathan Hickman (HOUSE OF X, POWERS OF X, SECRET WARS) and superstar artist Leinil Yu (NEW AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA) reveal the saga of Cyclops and his hand-picked squad of mutant powerhouses!

Marauders

Marauders will be written by Gerry Duggan (Infinity War, Savage Avengers) and drawn by Matteo Lolli (Asgardians of the Galaxy, Despicable Deadpool). From Marvel’s press release:

The X-Men sail at dawn! Even in this glorious new dawn, Mutantkind faces hardships and oppression from their human counterparts. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, Marauders Storm, Pyro, Bishop and Iceman sail the seas of the world to protect those hated and feared!

Marauders #1 will hit shelves in October 2019.

White and Hickman both told Polygon that all the books in the first wave are great, but, if they had to pick a personal favorite in the new lineup, Marauders would be it.

“It’s got a great cast of characters that I love,” White said, “It’s got great creators that I think are amazing. And it’s a concept that has never been done [...] as far as I’m aware. People are going to very much be like, Wait, what? And when they actually read it, they’re gonna be blown away. It’s really fun.”

“Marauders is an amazing book,” Hickman said immediately, when asked. “And it gets the world of what we’re doing in a way that is perfect and unique. The other books are cool, they get it, but Gerry had a distinct advantage because he has been in the writers room every time I’ve pitched this, so it’s been in his head a longer period of time. [...] He heard my pitch and said ‘Oh my god, I want to do this book.’”

Excalibur

The legendary X-Men title Excalibur returns in October, with a new series written by Tini Howard (Age of Conan: Belit, Thanos) and drawn by Marcus To (Age of X-Man: NextGen, X-Men Blue). From the press release:

A new day is forged! Mutantkind has always been special…as has their relationship with the world—or WORLDS—around them. As this new era dawns, a new connection forms between mutants and the magic of the world… and that of Otherworld! Can the new Captain Britain forge a new way through the chaos with her companions Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Rictor…and Apocalypse?!?

Betsy Braddock/Psylocke, the sister of original Captain Britain Brian Braddock, will be taking up his mantle for the series.

New Mutants

The New Mutants will return to their eponymous series in November, as co-written by Hickman and Ed Brisson (Dead Man Logan, Uncanny X-Men), and drawn by Rod Reis (Winter Soldier, Secret Empire). From the press release:

The next generation claims the future! The classic New Mutants (Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Mirage, Karma, Magik, and Cypher) get together with a few new friends (Chamber, Mondo) to seek out their missing member and share the good news… a mission that takes them into space alongside the Starjammers!

Fallen Angels

Bryan Edward Hill (Batman and the Outsiders, Killmonger) will take writing duties on Fallen Angels, with art from Szymon Kudranski (The Punisher, Spawn). The series will kick off in November. From the press release:

Not all belong in paradise! Psylocke finds herself in this new world of Mutantkind unsure of her place in it… but when a face from her past returns only to be killed, she seeks help from others who feel similar to get vengeance. Cable and X-23 join Kwannon for a personal mission that could jeopardize all Mutantkind!

X-Force

The mutant black-ops team returns in a new X-Force series written by Benjamin Percy (Green Arrow, Nightwing) and drawn by Joshua Cassara (Star Wars: Tie Fighter, Falcon). The series will hit shelves in November. From the press release: