Marvel's New X-Men Get The Most Horrifying Team Debut Since Deadpool 2
Contains MAJOR spoilers for "X-Men: Hellfire Gala" #1
Marvel promised the X-Men's 2023 Hellfire Gala would be an action-packed affair, promising the annual celebration would cause major shockwaves for the Marvel Universe's mutant population. However, in a moment few saw coming, the high-fashion event was bloodier than anyone could have imagined, and the carnage kicked off with the introduction and immediate murder of the new X-Men team. In fact, their demise is very reminiscent of "Deadpool 2's" deadly X-Force mission, where 'Pool's newly formed team quickly meets their end — though the Hellfire Gala team's massacre is even more violent and far, far less humorous.
Over the last couple of years, Marvel has used the Hellfire Gala, a celebration of mutantdom, to show the X-Men welcoming heroes, villains, celebrities, and other non-mutants to their typically off-limits paradise, Krakoa, with guests going above and beyond to wear stunning and unusual outfits in a nod to the real world's Met Gala. While the first two Hellfire Galas introduced new X-Men teams while featuring other important moments, such as the death of the Scarlet Witch, Hellfire Gala 2023 has seriously upped the ante. In "X-Men: Hellfire Gala" #1, not only does a group of heroes form as the new X-Men, they're instantly killed in a swift and violent fashion, much like "Deadpool 2" slaughtered its anticipated and heavily-hyped X-Force team.
The X-Men meet their end
Marvel Comics
"X-Men: The Hellfire Gala" #1 opens with the resurrection of Ms. Marvel on Krakoa. After being brought back as a mutant-Inhuman hybrid with mutant powers that are yet to be revealed, the X-Men help prepare her for the Hellfire Gala and open the doors to their mutant paradise.
Several key faces arrive, including the Avengers, Rasputin IV, and even the Kingpin. However, the Avengers are called into action and forced to leave early. Despite Earth's Mightiest Heroes' departure, Jean Grey continues the celebration, gathering together for a vote on the annual new X-Men team. She reveals an all-new roster featuring familiar faces such as Talon, Sync, Jubilee, Prodigy, and Dazzler, with Cannonball, Juggernaut, and Frenzy joining them. But just as they are about to celebrate the reveal, mayhem breaks loose.
Marvel Comics
The advanced robot Nimrod, the greatest weapon of the anti-mutant Orchis organization, descends from the sky and immediately kills the new X-Men, with the sole exception of Juggernaut. This attack would have been much deadlier had Jean not blunted the shockwave with her telekinetic powers, preventing Nimrod's impact from instantly murdering even more people. The X-Men scramble as Orchis soldiers and Stark Sentinels devastate Gala attendees, human and mutant alike. When all is said and done, Charles Xavier is forced to submit — but the attack only gets worse, with Moira X, M.O.D.O.K., and Mr. Sinister joining the massacre. A few mutants manage to escape, but by the end of the ambush, the mutant population has been decimated, with the entire new X-Men team apparently killed in the massacre.
The Fall of X begins
The Hellfire Gala's new X-Men has one of the shortest lifespans of any superteam ever. Jean Grey doesn't even finish introducing them before Nimrod tears them to pieces. Their deaths are extremely violent, with the robot brutalizing them before they even get a chance to fight back. But whereas Wade Wilson's X-Force jokingly died almost from the jump in "Deadpool 2" in a variety of bloody, violent, and ultimately hilarious ways, there's no punchline for the new X-Men's sudden demise. They're overpowered and viciously murdered while Krakoa is obliterated and "Fall of X" officially begins.
It's unclear whether the surviving mutants will be able to resurrect everyone lost in Orchis' attack. Considering Krakoa has been totally annihilated and key members of the mutant race were killed, for the first time in years, the X-Men are once again apparently fighting extinction. Unfortunately, the new X-Men team found out the hard way, with their quick deaths serving as a stark reminder of the hateful and powerful forces eager to control and eliminate them. Where the X-Men go from here is unknown. Ms. Marvel, Iceman, and Jean Grey (the latter two of whom were killed in the attack) will all star in solo books as part of the "Fall of X," so Marvel obviously isn't about to allow its mutant population to remain completely devastated. But, with a "New X-Men" title being teased, the superteam rising from Krakoa's literal ashes could look very different when the Hellfire Gala massacre's dust finally settles.
Marvel Comics' "X-Men: Hellfire Gala" #1, by Gerry Duggan, Adam Kubert, Luciano Vecchio, Matteo Lolli, Russell Dauterman, Javier Pina, R.B. Silva, Joshua Cassara, Kris Anka, Pepe Larraz, Rain Beredo, Ceci De La Cruz, Matthew Wilson, Erick Arciniego, Marte Gracia, and Virtual Calligraphy, is on sale now.