Uncanny X-Men: Bendis and Marvel NOW! Revives the X-Traitor

In a variation on a long-running theme that dominated much of the ’90s X-Men comics, Brian Michael Bendis’s Uncanny X-Men will include a mysterious traitor in the team’s midst, according to a newly-released teaser poster that features Cyclops, Magneto and their band of merry revolutionary Marvel mutants.The “X-traitor classic” was a storyline kicked off by the arrival of Bishop, who claimed to come from a decimated future where one of the X-Men betrayed Charles Xavier.It also tied into Days of Future Past, a dystopian reality where mutants were hunted by the government. That story, of course, is the premise for an upcoming film directed by X-Men helmer Bryan Singer.There were a number of false starts and stops to that story from the time it began until it was finally kinda-sorta-resolved-but-mostly-abandoned. A number of ’90s X-Men elements are being incorporated into the Marvel NOW! X-titles, which makes sense in a way because that’s the last time the X-Men family of titles were the unquestioned industry leaders in terms of sales and hype.In this case, of course, Xavier is already dead, having been murdered by Cyclops during Avengers vs. X-Men while under the influence of the Phoenix Force. What the particular agenda of the traitor on Uncanny X-Men will be is unknown, although it’s likely that it won’t be Magneto, who will be the immediate go-to suspect of the other characters, setting up some interesting character drama.Uncanny X-Men by Bendis and artist Chris Bachalo launches next month from Marvel NOW!.