Xavier's Daughter Is Taking Over a Mighty Marvel Empire

As the Dawn of X continues to rise over the Marvel Universe, the new status quo continues to stretch across the cosmos as Professor Xavier's new dream for the X-Men affects everyone and everything. And it looks like his revolution is stretching to the cosmos, as the mutants allies of the Shi'ar Empire are having an upheaval of their own. And everything comes back to a newly revealed character that could have major implications for Xavier and the legacy he will leave across the universe.

In the second issue of New Mutants by Jonathan Hickman and Rod Reis, the titular team travels to Shi'ar space after a legal mixup. While they were facing certain prosecution and imprisonment, they are saved by their old ally Sam Guthrie AKA Cannonball. And despite him being Roberto da Costa's best friend, his duties to the Shi'ar Empire take precedent.

Cannonball and Sunspot, in case you don't remember, played major roles in Hickman's previous run on Avengers and New Avengers, with the mutants taking prominent parts in the team after Iron Man and Captain America began bickering as the world collapsed around them. But in their tenure with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Cannonball became romantically linked with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard member Smasher, an Earth woman who inherited her predecessor's abilities after the events of Grant Morrison's New X-Men. Smasher and Cannonball eventually have a child together, and the two decide to live and raise the baby near the She'ar throneworld of Chandilar.

But right when the New Mutants are sprung from jail by their old allies, their told to go retrieve an old enemy of the Empire who will now be used to train a new generation — Deathbird, the sister of former Shi'ar Majestrix Lilandra Neramani. But why are they retrieving her for the Empire?

Well, it's because Professor Xavier's daughter is being recruited as the new Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, as Gladiator decides to hand over the reigns to the rightful heir to Xandra. This character, if you're unfamiliar, was recently revealed in the Mr. and Mrs. X series that released last year, showcasing Gambit and Rogue's honeymoon after their surprising marriage in place of Colossus and Kitty Pryde's cancelled nuptials.

Xandra is the daughter of Xavier and Lilandra and has been living a life of education as she prepares for her birthright as Majestrix. But Gladiator, sensing an important crisis, decides now is the time for her to take the throne and lead the Shi'ar Empire — even if it means bringing her evil aunt Deathbird out of exile to help her become a leader.

We'll see how it all turns out — and how this decision affects the Earth-based X-Men — as New Mutants continues next month.