A new X-Men team steps up to take the mantle from the Avengers in the aftermath of Avengers: Armageddon, and the Avengers themselves will cross paths with Frank Castle in a new story arc. Plus Iron Man will move to a twice-a-month schedule with alternating storylines as the series moves toward issue #700.
All this and more was revealed in Marvel’s “Avengers: Armageddon” panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 23.
Avengers: Armageddon writer Chip Zdarsky sketched out the aftermath of the event at the panel. With the Avengers in disarray, a new X-Men team will take over in Maximum X-Men, by writer Christopher Yost and artist Tony S. Daniel. The new team will be headed by Storm, who recruits a new lineup, including Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice. The first issue of the ongoing series will be released on December 2, 2026, with a cover by Daniel.
“I’ve worked on my fair share of X-Books over the years, but Maximum X-Men is everything I love about comics rolled into one — it’s underdog heroes saving the world from the biggest Avengers-level threats imaginable, it’s mind-breaking action and drama and everything people expect from X-Men, all with a classic Claremont vibe,” Yost said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “Rolling Maximum X-Men out as part of the new world post-Armageddon only lets us spotlight the need for a story like this.”
Zdarsky also dropped a tidbit about the new Avengers series (see “New ‘Avengers’ Ongoing Series Coming in November“), which will follow Avengers: Armageddon. Marvel has not revealed many details about the new series, by Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto, although the teaser showed the title for the second story arc, “The Red Line.” The new lineup will include Spider-Man, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and another character, who might be the Punisher: After a teaser image showing a cracked Punisher skull was displayed, Zdarsky said “All I’ll say is Frank Castle is fun to write.” Avengers #1 will be released on November 4 with a cover by Checchetto.
Iron Man, which is written by Joshua Williamson, will ship twice a month with two alternating story arcs through March 2027, when they will be resolved in Iron Man #700. Starting with Iron Man #12, shipping on December 2, even-numbered issues will have the “Incarcerated Iron Man” plot with art by series artist Carmen Carnero while odd-numbered issues, starting with Iron Man #13 on December 16, will have the “War Machines” plot with art by Gleb Melnikov. Both issues will have main covers by Ryan Stegman and connecting variant covers by Melnikov and Nolan Woodward.
Click Gallery below for covers and teasers!
Source: ICv2
