Astonishing X-Men #5 Preview

Astonishing X-Men #5

Writer: Charles Soule

Cover & Art by: Ramon Rosanas

Character Variant Cover by: Greg Land

The Story: The Life of X Continues! The Shadow King and Charles Xavier continue their twisted game in the Astral Plane, competing for the very lives of Gambit, Rogue, Old Man Logan, Fantomex and Mystique. And back in the real world, this game is leaving lasting repercussions as Psylocke, Bishop and Angel attempt to defend London from Shadow King’s psychic attacks. With two of their allies fallen, can Xavier rally his X-Men for one final push against their foe?

In Stores: November 1, 2017

X-Solicits for January 2018

	Astonishing X-Men #7 Charles Soule (W) • Phil Noto (A) Cover by: Mike Deodato Jr. Variant Cover by: Phil Noto Variant Cover by: Chris Stevens Avengers Variant Cover by: Marco Checchetto LH Variant Cover by: John Cassaday Legacy Headshot Variant Cover by: Mike Mckone Trading Card Variant Cover by: John Tyler Christopher A Man Called X Part 1 • Charles Xavier has a plan. He’s going to save the world...whether you want it or not. • Act II of the Astonishing X-Men saga begins here, as a long-lost mutant returns to the world of the X-Men, Fantomex offers a kiss and Bishop discovers the Mindkiller.
	Phoenix Resurrection #2-5 Matthew Rosenberg (W) Carlos Pacheco, Joe Bennett, Ramon Rosanas & Khoi Pham (A) Covers by: Leinil Francis Yu Connecting Variant Covers by: Victor Hugo • A light in the darkness is not always welcome. • Kitty Pryde, Old Man Logan and Cyclops are leading teams of X-Men all across the globe, chasing events connected to the Phoenix. But with teammates disappearing and familiar enemies returning, the X-Men are fighting a losing battle. Beast doesn’t know how or what shape it will take, but he knows they are running out of time before the Phoenix makes its true presence known. • Meanwhile, a young woman named Jean is starting to go insane in her peaceful, suburban life. Nightmares and daydreams are spilling over into the world and revealing cracks in her reality. Jean’s life and everything in it may just be a facade, but made by who? And why? • Jean needs to escape. The X-Men need to stop the cycle of death the Phoenix brings. Their worlds will violently collide as Jean searches for an opening and the X-Men fight for closure. But when they are brought together, will the X-Men be reunited with their long-lost teammate – or something darker?
	Jean Grey #11 Dennis Hopeless (W) • Victor Ibanez & Alberto Alburquerque (A) Cover by: David Yardin Connecting Variant Cover (1 of 5) by: Victor Hugo Variant Cover by: Elizabeth Torque Psych War Part 4 • It was all leading up to this…young Jean Grey vs. the Phoenix! But after all her training, this might be a battle that she wasn’t prepared for at all. • Now, trapped in a prison with former Phoenix hosts, Jean must use everything she’s learned to bust out! All this, plus what was up with that ghost Jean Grey?! • Guest-starring Rachel Summers, Emma Frost, Quentin Quire, the Cuckoos and Hope!
	X-Men Gold Annual #1 Marc Guggenheim & Leah Williams (W) • Alitha E. Martinez (A) Cover by: Alan Davis Twentieth Anniversary Excalibur Reunion! • A brand-new Braddock bundle of joy! • The return of a D’Bari hero!           • Kitty’s Shadowcat costume! • ’Nuff said!
	X-Men Gold #19 Marc Guggenheim (W) • Ken Lashley (A/C) The Negative Zone War Part 4 • The X-Men fight a god. (No, really.) • Can the X-Men defeat a god with the fate of an entire world hanging in the balance? • What are the X-Men willing to sacrifice to save a planet?
	X-Men Gold #20 Marc Guggenheim (W) • Lan Medina (A) Cover by: Ken Lashley The Negative Zone War Part 5 • The X-Men’s victory against the might of Scythian has come at a cost…which might kill them all! • How can the X-Men survive on a barren planet? • You DO NOT want to miss the status quo-altering final page!
	X-Men Blue Annual #1 Cullen Bunn (W) • Edgar Salazar (A) Cover by: Nick Bradshaw Variant Cover by: Pasqual Ferry Venomized Variant Cover by: TBA Poison X Variant Cover by: TBA The Crossover Between Venom And X-Men Blue Starts Here! • Spinning out of the events of Venomverse, the Children of the Atom and the Lethal Protector team up to take down an extradimensional threat! • This is it, folks, the team-up you’ve been asking for: X-Men Blue and Venom must band together in the cold reaches of space to protect our universe from a threat more diabolical than you can imagine. • But will Eddie Brock, his faithful Symbiote, Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast and Angel be enough to save this universe? I really, really hope so.
	X-Men Blue #19 Cullen Bunn (W) • R.B. Silva (A) Cover by: Arthur Adams Cross-Time Capers Part 3 • The timestream is in ruins... And it is the fault of The X-Men! • Can the X-Men fix everything that has gone wrong...even if it means battling against themselves? • At long last, the original X-Men are reunited with Professor X!
	X-Men Blue #20 Cullen Bunn (W) • R.B. Silva (A) Cover by: Arthur Adams Cross-Time Capers Part 4 • The X-Men have traveled back in time to encounter...themselves! • But why are the X-Men of the past acting like such jerks? • The X-Men have allied with Magneto in the present, but what happens when they team up with the villainous Master of Magnetism?

Psylocke To Cameo in 'Rogue & Gambit'

Other than Kitty Pryde, which other X-Men can we expect a cameo from in 'Rogue & Gambit'?

Kelly Thompson: In the first issue, we get small cameos from Storm, Psylocke, Armor, and Pixie. That will probably be the bulk of it for X-Men cameos for this story though since it’s an “away mission.”

I love all those characters. This is my first (only? I hope not!) shot at writing a few X-Men characters, so I jammed in a couple favorites.

Captain Britain Has a Baby When Excalibur Returns in 2018

Fan-favorite mutant team Excalibur will make its Marvel Legacy debut in 2018, courtesy of Marc Guggenheim, Leah Williams and Alitha E. Martinez.

Rachel Summers, Captain Britain, Meggan, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler and possibly even Widget will reunite in the pages of X-Men Gold Annual #1, along with a new member of the team. It appears as though Brian Braddick and Meggan have a new baby! 

“Since the launch of ResurrXtion, fans have been wondering when the classic Excalibur team would come together again,” editor Chris Robinson said in a statement. “With this Annual, Marc, Leah, and Alitha have painstakingly put together a love letter to them and the classic series we’re all still talking about!”

The England-based Excalibur debuted in 1987, starring in a deluxe edition one-shot before the team landed its own ongoing series in 1988. The annual’s cover art, illustrated by Excalibur co-creator Alan Davis, homages the first issue of the team’s original series from co-creators Chris Claremont and Davis.

The Story: This January, get ready for an X-Men story so big, Marvel enlisted two superstar writers to bring it to life. Written by Marc Guggenheim (X-Men Gold) and Leah Williams (Secret Empire: Brave New World) with art by Alitha E. Martinez (Black Panther: World of Wakanda), the original Excalibur team will reunite for an exciting adventure that both long-time fans and new fans can enjoy. But getting the gang back together proves to have its own challenges…and who is the new Braddock bundle of joy?

Phoenix Resurrection Goes Weekly

Phoenix Resurrection: This January, fan-favorite mutant Jean Grey returns to the X-Men and the Marvel Universe…and she’s not alone. Do Jean and Phoenix bring the world life? Or is the destruction of the universe imminent? The mystery unfolds in this five-part epic from blockbuster writer Matthew Rosenberg, featuring five different superstar artists, including startling 3D motion covers with art by Leinil Yu, Carlos Pacheco, Joe Bennett, Ramon Rosanas and Khoi Pham! 

And what about young Jean Grey, currently time displaced in the Marvel Universe and battling her own Phoenix visions? It all culminates in Jean Grey #11, the critical Phoenix Resurrection tie-in which will see young Jean fighting her biggest psych war yet – against the Phoenix!  – written by Dennis Hopeless featuring art by Victor Ibanez and Alberto Albuquerque.

NYCC 2017: Marvel Legacy X-Men Panel

NYCC: Hot on the heels of news of new Rogue & Gambit and Legion titles, Marvel's X-Men creators come to New York Comic Con for a Friday afternoon panel. Editor-In-Chief (and former X-Men line editor) Axel Alonso is scheduled to be joined by writers Matthew Rosenberg, Ed Brison, and Charles Soule to talk all things X.

	Astonishing X-Men: Charles Soule said he wanted Astonishing X-Men to be a story that feels like it is grounded in the real world - even though parts of it take place in the Astral Plane. He remarked that not everyone might make it back from the Astral Plane. According to Soule, the whole point of the book is to bring Charles Xavier back as a living character in the Marvel universe. Don’t expect him to just stay as an astral figure as we have seen in recent issues. The reason he comes back is different than anything we have seen before. It is meant to happens first in Astonishing X-Men #6 and #7. In January, Astonishing X-Men #7 will start a story called "A Man Called X." The story is very much about Charles Xavier, and presenting him in a different way. Axel Alonso also confirmed that Professor X will definitively return - probably in Astonishing X-Men.
	Phoenix Resurrection/Jean Grey: Matthew Rosenberg said that Jean Grey is the heart of the X-Men. "Whenever Jean is there, there's hope." He explained that the story is about Jean's relationship with the Phoenix Force. Rosenberg said that the Phoenix Force we've seen in every story is the same Phoenix - even though the hosts may change. Editor Darren Shan spoke about Jean Grey #8, in which starts the story in which young Jean must enter the mind of Emma Frost to find the key to the Phoenix Force.  The story will revisit themes from Grant Morrison's New X-Men. In Legacy, Young Jean will finally encounter the Phoenix Force. Jean Grey #11 will feature new clues to the nature of the Phoenix Force. Axel Alonso told a fan who asked about what would happen with the young X-Men now that some of the older versions were returning. "That's exactly the story," he explained. "All bets are off."
	Rogue & Gambit: The series will be written by Kelly Thompson (Hawkeye) and drawn by Pere Perez (Deadpool vs. The Punisher), with Kris Anka providing cover art. The series will run for five issues beginning in January 2018. Alonso teased it could go beyond the five planned issues. Shan said that Gambit & Rogue are Kelly Thompson's favorite characters. She re-read every Rogue and Gambit story in preparation for the series. "The goal here is to tell a Rogue and Gambit story that has never been told before," said Shan. "It's a fun action/adventure comic." Shan was coy about whether Gambit and Rogue would get back together as a couple - an idea the audience seemed to like.
	Legion: Written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Wilfredo Torres. Marvel confirmed it'll also be a five-issue miniseries rather than an ongoing book. The series will debut in February 2018. In the upcoming Legion series, one of his many personalities is consuming the others, leading him to visit a psychotherapist, who he brings into his head to help solve the problem. Legion's many personalities will team up to fight the dark personality.
	X-Men Gold: The original X-Men return in X-Men Gold Annual #1 by Leah Williams and Marc Guggenheim in January, with an Alan Davis cover. Meggan is holding a baby on the cover, prompting rumors that it may be her and Brian's son/daughter and Psylocke's nephew/niece.
	X-Men Blue: Poison X. A huge crossover between Venom and X-Men: Blue, the original time-displaced young X-Men. It will begin in the X-Men: Blue Annual. And the whole of the rest of the crossover will ship in February as the X-Men kidnap Venom.
Rumors
Astonishing X-Men — it may be a maxi-series destined to end with issue 12, dealing with its own storyline regarding the Shadow King and a possible return of Professor Xavier, but this is now rumored to be the title that sees Wolverine return.
Uncanny X-Men will return as a series after Phoenix Resurrection finishes, also in 2018. This may be the rumor most in flux. It might mark the moment that ResurrXion moves on.
New Mutants will return in April or May. The X-Men: New Mutants movie makes this a bit of a no-brainer.
2018 Event — The next big X-Men event will be focused on Legion. David Haller will provide the focus for whatever big X-event is to come in 2018.

Astonishing X-Men #4 Art

Astonishing X-Men #4 Spoilers

London: Once Old Man Logan is possessed by the Shadow King and wakes up in the physical world, it’s up to Bishop to try and stop him. Professor Xavier contacts Psylocke mentally and tells her she’s the only one who can fight Logan. Betsy is suspicious of Xavier’s true identity, but he helps her maintain the psi-link to keep the others on the Astral Plane. Old Man Logan easily overcomes Bishop, kicking him out of the building. Bishop absorbs the kinetic energy of his fall, landing on the street unharmed. Psylocke takes matter in her own hands and fights Wolverine, pushing him out of the building telekinetically. Logan falls all the way down to the street and is soon gunned down by the British military aboard a helicopter. Wolverine goes berserk and Angel takes him down, dragging him to a department store across the street. The Shadow King then uses Logan to mind control the civilians nearby.

Astral Plane: Mystique and Fantomex are aware the Shadow King is playing tricks with them, but they chose to indulge themselves in luxury and enjoy the moment. They both have sex, and Raven reminds him this time she’s not pretending to be Psylocke. Meanwhile, Rogue and Gambit are caught in a similar situation. While Gambit intends to enjoy his time with her, Rogue is more focused on the mission, telling him their relationship doesn’t work anymore. Nevertheless, both decide to be with each other before resuming the mission. Suddenly, Xavier summons Mystique, Fantomex and Rogue and tells them he’s the real Xavier. Rogue asks where Gambit is, to which Xavier apologizes, saying he couldn’t save him. Gambit, much like Wolverine, wakes up in the physical world possessed by the Shadow King.