Summary
- Marvel generated a lot of excitement when it announced a new volume of
New X-Men
– only to cause confusion among fans when it later disappeared from the publication schedule. - The series originally entitled
New X-Men
was renamed
Weapon X-Men
, a more apropos title for a miniseries featuring a team of Wolverine variants hopping through the Multiverse. - The name change from
New X-Men
to
Weapon X-Men
was necessary to avoid confusion with previous
New X-Men
runs, as the final title for the series gave fans a clearer idea of what to expect.
Marvel sent a wave of excitement through the X-Men fandom last year by announcing an upcoming “New X-Men” title, only to drop the series from their publication schedule; now, outgoing X-Men editor Jordan D White has settled the debate around the series, though the explanation was not what readers expected.
Speaking with AIPT for X-Men Monday, White revealed that the mysterious ‘New X-Men’ title, which was dropped after its first teaser, actually became the miniseries Weapon X-Men, featuring a Multiverse-hopping all-Wolverine team. Marvel announced New X-Men at San Diego ComicCon 2023 with a logo teaser which promised to reveal more that November.
Fan speculation over the series highlighted its use of a 1990s X-Men logo treatment, as well as possible connections to previous books called New X-Men. However, as it turns out, the series was eventually given a more appropriate title.
Marvel Editor Settles What Happened To NEW X-MEN: It Became WEAPON X-MEN
Weapon X-Men – Written By Christos Gage; Art By Yildiray Cinar; Color By Nolan Woodard; Lettering By VC’s Clayton Cowles
Until White’s explanation, the radio silence from Marvel about the project only served to fuel conspiracy theories among the fandom…It’s valuable then that White has come and clarified the situation, even months after the fact, and even if some questions linger.
When Marvel tentatively revealed that one of its upcoming X-series would be entitled New X-Men, it led to immediate hype among the fandom. The subsequent “cancelation” of the book, in turn, left wondering what became of the title. According to Editor Jordan D White, the truth of the matter was straightforward. As he revealed in an exchange with AIPT:
AIPT: This next one’s a question that doesn’t go away — X-Fan KingdomX wanted to know if you had any final teases for what the pitch for “New X-Men” was?
Jordan: I’ll just tell you. It was Weapon X-Men. It was Weapon X-Men and the name was changed.
This answer puts to rest fan speculation about what the new series might have been – but it also stokes further questions about why Marvel would assign such a vaunted title to the miniseries that became Weapon X-Men in the first place.
Until White’s explanation, the radio silence from Marvel about the project only served to fuel conspiracy theories among the fandom. For some, this was only more proof that X-writers were blindsided by the end of the Krakoan era, and that New X-Men was some massive book that had been canceled in that shift. For others, it confirmed their biases that Marvel was somehow in disarray. It’s valuable then that White has come and clarified the situation, even months after the fact, and even if some questions linger.
Weapon X-Men
, as it’s now known, is a miniseries focusing on
a multiversal group of Wolverines
. A sequel to writer Christos Gage’s preceding
Original X-Men
#1 one-shot, the book doesn’t take place on Earth-616, and has little to do with Krakoan Era. Instead, it’s a classic dimension-hopping title in the vein of
Exiles
and other similar
X
-books. The only tie
Weapon X-Men
has to mainstream Marvel continuity is that the alternate Jean Grey who recruits the disparate Wolverines also recruited the original five X-Men of Earth-616 in
Original X-Men #1
to face a different threat.
“New X-Men” Wasn’t The Right Fit For “Weapon X-Men” Anyway
An “Odd” Decision That Marvel Walked Back
Neither [previous
New X-Men]
run has anything to do with what became
Weapon X-Men
, though both have dedicated fans who got their hopes up thanks to the odd name choice.
The name change from New X-Men makes a lot of sense from a marketing perspective. For a start, the title New X-Men is most associated with two prior series of that name. The first is writer Grant Morrison’s bold and beloved run from 2001. The other is the subsequent New X-Men (Vol. 2), which served as a relaunch of New Mutants in 2004, introducing readers to a new generation of younger mutant heroes. Neither run has anything to do with what became Weapon X-Men, though both have dedicated fans who got their hopes up thanks to the odd name choice.
Even besides the specifics, Weapon X-Men isn’t a huge book like both New X-Men runs. That readers were so confused about its potential cancelation, even before they knew what it was, just shows how the name was potentially misleading. It makes perfect sense that its name was eventually changed to something more associated with Wolverine to let fans know what they were getting into, hence putting Weapon X in the title. If nothing else, at least the mysterious X-Men book that fans imagined did come out, even if fans didn’t know it at the time.
X-Men
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.
