Warning! Contains a preview for X-Men '92: House of XCII
The iconic '90s X-Men are coming back to Marvel Comics, with X-Men '92: House of XCII showing an alternate timeline where Xavier's team of mutants establish the nation of Krakoa 30 years earlier than their Earth-616 main continuity counterparts. With the series set to debut in April, the writer Steve Foxe has revealed more of the plot and inspiration behind the new five-issue limited series, which will put a fascinating and assuredly '90s twist on Jonathan Hickman's already beloved House of X/Powers of X era.
The original X-Men '92 comic series, which debuted in 2015 as part of the massive crossover Secret Wars event, depicted a reality featuring the main characters and settings of the much loved '90s X-Men: The Animated Series. While the writer of this series, which later continued for another 10 issues, has stated that X-Men '92 does NOT take place in the same universe as the animated series, it does share a host of similarities, like the characters classic costumes, witty comebacks, and general "Extreme" '90s vibes. Contrasting this '90s energy with Hickman's very modern and progressive take on the X-Men's ideals in the new Krakoan Age will surely be interesting, and Foxe has promised that while House of XCII (92 in Roman numerals) will share some of the basic plot and events of the newest age of X-Men, it will be different enough to be a whole new story.
In an interview with SYFY Wire Steve Foxe had this to say:
"This is the team at, arguably, its most iconic, and we pick up with them just as they’re getting their version of Krakoa off the ground. Much like [House of X and Powers of X] skipped ahead a little to the good stuff, we’re jumping right into the team having a new homeland to defend from mutant-hating threats…although not exactly the same ones you might be familiar with from HoXPoX."
X-Men '92: House of XCII - with art by Salva Espin, color by Israel Silva, and cover art by David Baldeon - will apparently follow the basic plot of House of X/Powers of X all the way up until the end of the recent Inferno event, which is around two years of content in just five issues! That is a lot to cover, but writer Foxe seems plenty confident that he and his time have found a way to effectively tell the story of Krakoa through a '90s lens in a way that seems fresh and interesting. In fact, Foxe makes it clear that House of XCII will feature a '90s era X of Swords and Hellfire Gala, so at the very least folks should be extremely excited for the iconic Gala costumes that Salva Espin has created.
The SYFY Wire article expanded on the premise, with writer Steve Fox saying:
"The goal from the first conversation I had with X-editor extraordinaire Jordan D. White has been to use the in-continuity events as a jumping-off point to tell a fun, unexpected, ’92-in-spirit story worth the cover price. If we just faithfully retold recent comic arcs with a somewhat different cast and classic costumes, I’m not sure that would really be worth it for fans—or particularly exciting to write! So I approached the big beats of the Krakoa era with an eye toward little changes that could pay off in big ways.
"For instance: what does Orchis look like if we assemble it from classic anti-mutant X-foes? How do The Five work if we exclude mutants who were created after the mid-nineties? How would X of Swords unfold if it took place in the most EXTREME decade of all time? Think of it like a butterfly effect: if we change one thing at the beginning of HoX, how does that reverberate through to the end of Inferno? If we did our job right, no one will get to House of XCII #5 and say, 'Wow, this is totally unrecognizable, why did they even call it that!?' But you will have read a bonkers story that could only take place at the intersection of modern Hickman-and-co. ideas and the iconic ‘90s X-Men roster and tone, unburdened by needing to play nice with other books or line-wide continuity."
The way that Foxe is approaching the storytelling for this limited series is incredibly smart, with him making a promise to himself to only use characters, places, and events that occurred in the '90s or earlier. As he says in the above quote, what would that mean for an important group like The Five, who are in charge of mutant resurrection on Krakoa? Since Proteus is the only member who had been introduced in the '90s, it will be exciting to see which mutants Foxe picked to fill these gaps. The preview pages shown above alone should get any fan of the '90s X-Men excited for this new series, with Espin's art and Silva's color gorgeously transforming Orchis' Master Mold station into a '90s masterpiece.
Steve Foxe is clearly excited, and passionate about this wild new mashup of two iconic X-Men eras, describing it as "bonkers" and "unexpected" so the miniseries is sure to surprise while making wonderful use of '90s nostalgia that so many fans crave. House of X was exciting enough as it is, but to see it retold through the bright, hectic lens of the X-Men animated series will be a great twist, especially for fans who are highly anticipating the upcoming reboot of X-Men: The Animated Series on Disney+, X-Men '97. Make sure to check out X-Men '92: House of XCII #1 by Marvel Comics when it debuts on April 6th to see your favorite '90s X-Men take on the Krakoan Age.
Source: SYFY Wire