This summer’s Hellfire Gala event promises major, sweeping changes for the X-Men line of books and may finally see mutantkind embrace its destiny among the stars by colonizing Mars. Since the X-Men were redefined in 2019 with Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X series, the power and influence of the mutant species has been rapidly expanding within the Marvel Universe. And they may have the resources required to claim a new homeworld away from Earth.
June’s double-sized Planet-Sized X one-shot from creative team Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz follows the Hellfire Gala, which will comprise 12 issues and see the debut of a new X-Men team. The one-shot has been described as a “can’t-miss” book and “one of the most pivotal chapters in Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men era.” The cover features four omega-level mutants—Jean Grey, Magneto, Iceman, and Storm—standing on barren rocks before a distinctly red background littered with stars.
Perhaps the greatest hints toward mutantkind’s colonization of Mars comes in the very first issue of House of X from summer 2019. During a sequence in which the X-Men are gathering and planting Krakoa seeds across the world, young X-Man Armor is seen digging a hole on the surface of Mars while surrounded by plant life. This small, silent panel has yet to have been addressed or referenced within the X-Men line since. Another hint to the X-Men's eventual settlement in space came in the pages of Powers of X #1. In an alternate future for mutantkind, it is revealed that mutant leadership endorsed/approved the creation of the Sinister breeding pits of Mars. This shows that some time within one of the futures outlined within Powers of X, mutants laid claim to the red planet. Although, later information suggests they lost control of the planet and most mutants relocated to Shi’ar space.
Considering the power set of X-Men featured on the cover of Planet-Sized X, these four mutants play be key in terraforming Mars and converting the atmosphere into a livable habitat. Jean Grey is possibly the most powerful telekinetic on Earth. Magneto has, in the past, been able to change the polarity of planets under the right circumstances. Storm and Iceman are both mutants who share close to total control of natural elements. On their own, none of these mutants may be able to transform the living conditions of a barren planet, yet on Krakoa, the X-Men have been seen experimenting with “mutant science,” and discovering new, effective ways to combine powers in ways never seen before.
The X-Men have also been strengthening and reestablishing their connections out in the Marvel cosmos. They recently helped quell a rebel uprising on the Shi’ar throneworld and named one of their own as the King of the Brood. On top of everything, mutants currently make up most of the staff on the S.W.O.R.D. space station headed up by Abigail Brand. How the planets within Marvel cosmos, particularly the recently-unified Kree-Skrull Empire, would react to a new, mutant planet may cause a few problems.
If mutantkind is finally able to live free of human oppression for good, settling on an independent planet far away from Homo sapien jurisdiction may be worth the risk. Given how humans were able to operate an outer space sentinel Master Mold facility close to the sun during House of X/Powers of X, hopping over to the next neighboring planet of Mars may not be enough for the X-Men to escape their doomed fate.