Marvel's new X-Force team is more than just a strike team--they're the mutant equivalent of the CIA. Back in 1991, writer Rob Liefeld created X-Force, envisioned as a more brutal mutant team who had no qualms about killing those they deemed a threat to the mutant race. Since then, there have been several different incarnations of X-Force, but the team is generally viewed as the ultimate mutant black ops team.
Now that a new status quo has been set for X-Men as a result of Marvel's relaunch, the time has come for a new, re-imagined version. Charles Xavier has created the mutant nation of Krakoa, coercing the United Nations into approving the project with the offer of life-changing drugs... and a psychic nudge or two courtesy of Emma Frost. All this is setting the scene for the "Dawn of X," and as part of that new launch, writer Benjamin Percy and artist Joshua Cassara are helming a new X-Force series. But what will the modern incarnation of X-Force look like?
Percy is also the writer chosen to lead the next Wolverine comic series, but explained to Marvel just how his new version of X-Force will reflect the dawning of a new mutant age:
"If you think about this black ops unit and you think about the paradigm shift that’s occurred in the X-universe, this is an iteration of the team you’ve never seen before. They are a mutant nation, which means this is the mutant CIA."
According to Percy, this latest iteration of X-Force is run by Beast. He's divided X-Force into two divisions, an analytics team and a group of field operatives who specialize in wetwork. That explains why the cover of X-Force #1 is split in two. The analytics team presumably consists of Beast himself, Sage, Black Tom Cassidy, and Jean Grey--meanwhile Colossus, Wolverine, Quentin Quire and Domino will be active in the field. Percy hints that this is just the central team, and that Beast has quite a few other mutants recruited into his X-Force.
The thing about this team is that’s a big roster. Not everybody is gonna be in every issue. Sometimes we’ll have an issue that just follows Domino. Sometimes we’ll have an issue that’s more about two characters in particular. Sometimes we’ll have one that’s more investigative work. Sometimes we’ll have one that’s more wet work. The only thing that you can expect is the unexpected.
According to Percy, the first issue ends with a dramatic moment that "will ripple across all the X-titles and leave you in pain and wonder." Given he suggests his X-Force book is a procedural, this is likely to be a major event that requires Beast to invest all his resources into dealing with the threat - perhaps a murder, or perhaps the emergence of a new enemy. Percy promises that the mutant race have dangerous foes working in the shadows, who feel threatened by the emergence of the nation of Krakoa. The only question is whether or not Beast's team are up to the task of taking them on
Source: Marvel