Marvel Comics Reportedly Recruited Jim Lee to Take Over the X-Men

Jim Lee was reportedly close to rejoining the X-Men franchise for their post-Krakoa era. The days of the X-Men living on their own sovereign island nation of Krakoa are nearing an end. After the traumatic events at the last Hellfire Gala, the X-Men are scattered and on the run from the anti-mutant organization Orchis. This week saw the release of Fall of the House of X #1, and together with Rise of the Powers of X, Marvel is winding down to a relaunch of the X-Men line later this year. If prolific creator Rob Liefeld is to be believed, Marvel turned to current DC Publisher and CCO Jim Lee for an X-Men return.

The latest episode of the Robservations With Rob Liefeld podcast, Liefeld dedicated the episode to talking about Jim Lee and the X-Men. According to Liefeld, Marvel approached Jim Lee about leaving DC in spring 2023 to come back and draw the X-Men and help guide the franchise moving forward. If this is true, then Lee decided to decline the offer from Marvel and stay at DC, which affords him more time to spend with his family compared to the grind of illustrating a monthly comic book. This is certainly understandable, especially when you consider how Marvel sometimes likes to publish books twice a month. 

Marvel teases the X-Men's post-Krakoa story on Free Comic Book Day

May 4th sees the release of Marvel's Free Comic Book Day titles, with a total of five books finding their way to comic book shops. The stories will feature looks into the futures of the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Blood Hunt crossover event, the Ultimate Universe, Marvel's Voices, and Star Wars. After announcing a reboot of the X-Men franchise following Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X, fans can pick up one of the FCBD titles to see where the X-Men's story will head next.

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1 will feature a story by writer Gail Simone and artist David Marquez, that sends Jubilee "on a journey to where it all began and is packed with jaw-dropping hints at the X-Men's post-Krakoa landscape." If we can put our detective cap on, the place where it all began could possibly be the Xavier School for Higher Learning, where Professor Charles Xavier and the teachers at the school trained the next generation of mutants. After spending time on the sovereign island nation of Krakoa, the X-Men may be going back to their roots of running a school to prepare mutants to live in a world that fears and hates them. Could we also see Simone and Marquez as the creators on a new volume of X-Men?