X-Men #7 Lets Magneto Give Cyclops The Pep Talk He's Been Needing [Exclusive Preview]

As always, things are going from bad to worse for the X-Men. Thanks to the Orchis terrorist group (and likely Marvel Comics editorial pressure), the mutant homeland of Krakoa is no more and mutants are displaced people scattered across the globe. One faction, led by Cyclops and Magneto, has set up a refugee colony in Alaska; residents include Beast, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Magik, Temper, and Quentin Quire. Together, these mutants make up the cast of "X-Men" by Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman (co-creator of "Venom 3" villain, and possible new Marvel big bad, Knull).

While Stegman's art carries on from '90s X-Men superstar artist Jim Lee, MacKay is pulling from Grant Morrison's "New X-Men." The driving arc of "X-Men," so far, is Cyclops and co. discovering several newly "activated" mutants who are getting powers into adulthood, well past when they should — because their X-Genes are unnatural. Meaning, someone is turning humans into mutants.

This calls back to Morrison's villains the U-Men, or "flatscan" humans that tried to become mutants via organ theft and gene-splicing. "X-Men" #5 also revealed that Cassandra Nova (the "Deadpool & Wolverine" big bad first created by Morrison) is involved somehow.

Marvel has shared a preview of "X-Men" #7 with /Film, featuring the comic's first pages (drawn by guest artist Nentho Diaz). See Stegman's cover for the issue below:

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The X-Men's base in Alaska is no ordinary building; it's a former Sentinel factory. What was meant to destroy mutants now gives them shelter. Looming over the town is a frozen Sentinel, a reminder of how precarious mutants' lives can be.

The synopsis of the issue teases we'll finally get some context about how the X-Men set up their base here: "The Iron Night! What does the town of Merle, Alaska owe the X-Men? Where did the defunct Sentinel looming over the town come from? And more importantly, what was it after?"

This, plus the preview pages, suggest that this issue will be mostly a flashback. The first interior page is a recap for those who haven't kept up with the first six issues.

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Even more context: Professor X is currently out of the picture. He's imprisoned in the anti-mutant Graymalkin Prison (the converted shell of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters) after his actions in the Krakoa-era finale "Fall of the House of X"/"Rise of the Powers of X." That's why Cyclops is filling the void, but apparently it took some brooding for him to get there.

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Magneto working with the X-Men is nothing new (it feels especially synergistic now with the animated "X-Men '97"), but he's going a step further this time. He's ditched his old costume for one modeled on Professor X, hover chair and all (albeit still with his usual helmet). The next page of "X-Men" #7 depicts Magneto in his classic costume, so this one will apparently explain his new look.

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Diaz draws Magneto hovering like a villain in that reveal page, but he's there for some tough love. In "X-Men" #1, Magneto said the X-Men are as much his students as Xavier's; he gave them the mettle to adapt and survive. That's especially true for Cyclops, who has often walked a path between Magneto and Charles'.

Cyclops cites Wolverine to defend his brooding, noting that Logan is always the more popular one (Fox's "X-Men" movies certainly thought so). Magneto counters that Wolverine gets the luxury of pouting because he's immortal with time to spare. (Though over in sister title "Uncanny X-Men," new villain the Hag put Wolverine's indestructibility to the test.)

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Al Ewing and Luciano Vecchio's masterful mini-series "Resurrection of Magneto" featured the Master of Magnetism pulling himself out of self-imposed Hell. Magneto knows a bit about making the most of your fleeting life; he only came back because he realized his scales of good and evil aren't as titled to the latter as he let himself believe. Revived and rejuvenated, Max Eisenhardt chose once more to be Magneto, the hero mutantkind needs, and so he is pushing Cyclops to make the same choice.

"X-Men" #7 is available for print and digital purchase on November 6, 2024.