X-Men: Marvel Reveals Shadowcat's New Name
Shadowcat. Sprite. Ariel. Captain Kate Pryde. Red Queen of the Hellfire Club. The X-Man Kate "Kitty" Pryde has been known as many an alias, and in the X-Men event Fall of X, the phasing-powered mutant will adopt a new name: Shadowkat. Marvel Comics announced the codename spelling change during MegaCon Orlando's Fall of X panel, where the publisher previewed the new X-Men era launching with July's X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 one-shot. When Fall of X begins, the X-Men might end: the 13-title crossover event tying in with Wolverine, Invincible Iron Man, Uncanny Spider-Man, and Uncanny Avengers threatens to shatter everything mutantkind has accomplished on the living island of Krakoa.
As the X-Men find their way through their darkest hour, Kitty Pryde undergoes a radical transformation during Fall of X. Donning a costume designed by visionary artist Peach Momoko (Demon Days, Marauders) harkening back to Kitty's ninja training, Shadowkat emerges on the cover of August's X-Men #25 from longtime X-Men writer Gerry Duggan and artist Stefano Caselli. Below, see Momoko's Shadowkat design and the cover reveal of X-Men #25, on stands August 2nd.
"Fall of X is going to be the next stage of our Krakoan X-Men story. As the name implies, it's going to be a rough one for mutants," Senior Editor Jordan D. White said during the X-Men: 60 Uncanny Years live virtual event. "It's not like everything has been perfect since the founding of Krakoa, but things have been relatively good for mutantkind. There's been a bunch of things they've had to put up with, but they still have their own nation. Things are going well. Are those things going to continue in Fall of X?"
White continued, warning that Fall of X is "going to be dark" for the X-Men and all of mutantkind. "They're going to go through some troubles. It's going to be a status quo that affects the entire X-Men line. Any book that has mutants in it is going to be affected by this, for sure."
The road to Fall of X begins in Free Comic Book Day 2023: Avengers/X-Men #1 in May and continues in four Before the Fall one-shots: Sons of X #1, Heralds of Apocalypse #1, Mutant First Strike #1, and Sinister Four. The event officially kicks off in July's giant-sized X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 one-shot, continuing through a lineup of new and existing titles, including Immortal X-Men, X-Force, Realm of X, and Wolverine.