This article contains spoilers for Marauders #24.
The X-Men have opened their own version of the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars - on Mars. When the mutants invited guests to their Hellfire Gala, visitors to Krakoa's territory expected little more than an introduction to the next generation of X-Men. Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner was particularly cutting, pointing out to Xavier and Magneto that they rule a nation, while he rules the seven seas. Namor refused a formal alliance, insisting the X-Men should come back to him when they had something rather more impressive.
It's perhaps remarkable that Xavier and Magneto didn't laugh in his face, because the Hellfire Gala literally culminated in the X-Men Terraforming the planet Mars, making the fourth planet in the Solar System home to the millions of mutants of Arakko, and installing Storm as Regent of the Solar System. No doubt even a man as proud and arrogant as Namor couldn't help but leave the Hellfire Gala feeling chastened, with the mutants exceeding anything even he has ever dreamed of in terms of ambition. The Terraforming of Mars has transformed the entire X-Men line because now there is a literal mutant world to explore rather than just the nation of Krakoa.
Marauders #24, by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto, is a brilliant issue that sees a handful of X-Men - Emma Frost, Kate Pryde, and Sebastian Shaw - meet a contact on Mars. The issue is a clear love letter to Star Wars, setting up a seedy cantina near one spaceport where visiting aliens mingle with the resident mutants - clearly inspired by the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine. Even better, Kate Pryde even wears white in what feels like a homage to Luke Skywalker's outfit in the first Star Wars movie - surely deliberate, given Kitty has already cosplayed as Darth Vader in the past. In case readers didn't get the homage, the meeting doesn't go well, and the contact - a corrupt former member of the Nova Corps - pulls out what is clearly a thermal detonator straight from Star Wars. He's more than a little shaken when Sebastian Shaw, whose power allows him to absorb energy, eats the explosion.
The world-building in Marauders #24 is tremendous, and the Star Wars homage is entertaining. There's nothing wrong with a comic book drawing upon a classic sci-fi for inspiration; after all, many elements of George Lucas' Star Wars were drawn from the likes of Flash Gordon and Isaac Asimov's Foundation books in the first place. But in this case, there's another delicious sense of irony to the reference, simply because Marvel Comics also publishes the Star Wars books right now. Meanwhile, it's great to see the X-Men comics begin to develop their new planet - something that's much needed.
The X-Men comic is currently undergoing something of a refresh after Jonathan Hickman's departure, with a number of much-loved series coming to an end over the next couple of months. Hopefully, Marauders #24 is setting the foundation in place for a comic based on Mars, one that doesn't just explore Storm's role as Regent of the Solar System, but that instead explores the seedy underworld of Arakko that has swiftly established itself on Mars. That would certainly make for a unique X-Men comic.