“From the ashes of the past there grow the fires of the future.” So begins 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1, written by Len Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in August. Marvel has been teasing giant-sized plans for more Giant-Sized X-Men, with X-line editor Tom Brevoort announcing in September, “There will be some giant-size X-Men goodness coming your way in 2025 as a part of this anniversary celebration, but not exactly in the way that you’re imagining.”
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Just as the past and the future collided in the X-Men’s “Second Genesis” with the debut of the all-new, all-different X-Men — a team that included newcomers Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Banshee, and Nightcrawler under the leadership of Cyclops — a new Giant-Size X-Men #1 is reshaping over 60 years of mutant history.
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Marvel Comics on Wednesday announced the five-part event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Giant-Size X-Men will literally rewrite the X-Men’s past with a series of one-shots from superstar creators, including co-writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (NYX) and legendary X-artist Adam Kubert (Uncanny X-Men, Ultimate X-Men).
The event will revisit (and rewrite) major moments in the X-Men’s 60-year history, from the Dark Phoenix Saga to Age of Apocalypse and the reality-warping House of M.
Each of the five one-shots will feature a “Revelations” back-up story uncovering hidden moments that will alter the X-Men’s future, beginning with the introduction of “the X-Man who never was” in a story by Al Ewing (X-Men Red) and artist Sara Pichelli (Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant). A prelude to the Giant-Size X-Men anniversary event will be included when Free Comic Book Day 2025: Fantastic Four/Giant-Size X-Men #1 hits stands on May 3.
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Described as “an epic saga that takes fans on a mind-bending journey through the X-Men’s greatest events – revealing mysteries long buried and secrets that will define the future of Marvel’s mutants,” Giant-Size X-Men follows new mutant Kamala Khan as she’s pulled into the distant past by an unhinged villain with deep ties to mutant history.
The synopsis states: “Ms. Marvel will witness the iconic birth of the Uncanny X-Men and their first encounter with Krakoa (in 1975’s original Giant-Size X-Men #1) from an all-new, all-different perspective. But when history begins to change… can either Kamala Khan or the X-Men themselves survive the experience?”
In December, Marvel’s future-revealing one-shot — Timeslide #1, by Steve Foxe and Ivan Fiorelli — introduced Vacuna, a time-consuming chronal tunneler created by the Children of the Vault to erase the mutant species entirely by removing pivotal moments in mutant history from the timeline. When a time-sliding Cable and Bishop traversed the timestream to save mutantkind from being erased from existence, they ended up at the X-Men’s battle with Jean Grey, the Dark Phoenix, in 1980’s classic X-Men #136. Also present: Ms. Marvel, whose X-gene wouldn’t be activated until years after this event.
“No hype: every issue of Giant-Size is here to blow your mind and break your heart,” Kelly and Lanzing said in a statement. “Mutantkind is the grandest, most sprawling canvas in the Marvel canon—moreover, it’s the one the Hivemind has been arguing and geeking out about since we were teenagers at our local comic shop.”
They continued, “Now, alongside the absolute legend Adam Kubert and three more of the best artists in the industry, we’re posed to completely wreck and reassemble the history of the X – with our favorite hero Kamala Khan front and center. It’s an honor, a joy, and a huge responsibility. Free Comic Book Day 2025: Fantastic Four/Giant-Size X-Men #1 is just a taste. What comes next will be marvelous.”
Free Comic Book Day 2025: Fantastic Four/Giant-Size X-Men #1 hits stands on May 3, and Giant-Size X-Men #1 (of five) goes on sale May 28 from Marvel Comics.
