Marvel Reveals New X-Men Characters in X of Swords: Creation Variant Cover

Marvel's X-Men are about to enter a big new crossover event called "X of Swords" which will finally pull together plot threads that have been woven throughout the X-Men's new era, since the "House of X" reboot event last fall. Marvel Comics has now released a variant cover for X-Men, X of Swords: Creation #1 (watch the trailer HERE) and it seems like it could be revealing some new information about some of the big mystery characters in this X-Men event, who we first met in the X-Men Free Comic Book Day 2020 release. Check out the X-Men, X of Swords: Creation #1 variant cover below:

In FCBD 2020 X-Men #1 the figures that you see above were depicted as part of the tease about the events that lead to X of Swords. The seem to be in the service of Opal Luna Saturnyne, Omniversal Majestrix of Otherworld's Starlight Citadel. In fact, as we saw in X-Men FCBD 2020, this group of Quaddeus Quo, Ryl, and the two guards "Sinner Rose" and "Temple" have power on a mystical/cosmic scale. The group arrives in the dimension of "Some forgotten place, some forsaken time," in order to retrieve some mysterious power from that universe's sun. The object looks like a giant symbiote-style substance like living wood, and it is brought to Saturnyne as a means of 'gaining her favor.'

The X of Swords teaser doesn't explicitly state whether or not these characters pictured above are friends or foes - but then again, it's been hard to identify where any characters involved in X of Swords stand - be they new ones like those above, or characters we've known all along (Apocalypse). It curious that while Ryl, Quaddeus Quo, Sinner Rose, and Temple seem to be running errands for the forces of Otherworld, their Egyptian-style design puts them more in line with X of Swords' other big new characters, the Swordbearers of Arakko - including Apocalypse's First Horsemen.

The key figure of mystery in all this is the female figure who leads the Swordbearers of Arakko, and wears a Golden Kraken mask.

Here's the synopsis for X-Men, X of Swords: Creation, as well as the larger "X of Swords" crossover event:

"Ten swords. Ten challengers. The victors take the world. X OF SWORDS, Jonathan Hickman's X-Men crossover of the year, begins this September with X OF SWORDS: CREATION #1!

X OF SWORDS, the next great X-Men crossover, kicks off this September and rages on in October with Chapters 3-11. Over the last few days, the covers for the October chapters were unveiled, and fans got their first look at the X-Men's newest foes in Pepe Larraz's cover of X OF SWORDS: STASIS #1. This mysterious group of swordbearers come from the land of Arakko, and the X-Men will have to draw swords of their own to defend the new mutant nation of Krakoa. Arakko and its visitors are shrouded in mystery, and none more so than the group's leader. While her identity remains classified, her story is sure to shock X-Men fans everywhere.

Spinning directly out of Jonathan Hickman's X-MEN and Tini Howard's EXCALIBUR, X OF SWORDS will be a massive mutant milestone that each X-Book will take part in. Every current X-Men writer— Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, Gerry Duggan, Benjamin Percy, Ed Brisson, Zeb Wells, Leah Williams, and Vita Ayala— have come together to craft a modern epic that will go down in X-Men history! Joined by incredible artists like Carmen Carnero, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, Viktor Bogdanovic, Matteo Lolli, Mahmud Asrar, Phil Noto, and Rod Reis, the dramatic battles in store for the X-Men will be unforgettable."

X-Men: Sword of X begins in September.