Marvel's X-Men Teases a Major Apocalypse Glow-Up

Marvel's X-Men relaunch "Dawn of X" is just kicking off, but the solicits for upcoming issues in the various X-Men books have teased some pretty exciting developments soon to come. This week, Marvel re-issued some earlier solicitations for its December X-Men books, and Jonathan Hickman's plans for X-Men #4 are very intriguing indeed. As you can read in the synopsis below, X-Men #4 will see the leaders of Krakoa's Quiet Council (Charles Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse) attending an important meeting of world leaders. In order to do that, the X-Men must look their best, which means a major glow-up for Apocalypse's typical look.

Check out the cover art for X-Men #4 (by Leinil Francis Yu) along with the synopsis:

X-Men #4

• Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
• Art by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
• Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
• MUTANTS ARE THE FUTURE!
• The Krakoan leaders attend an economic forum to show the humans what real power looks like.

This was a different reveal than the earlier one, which focused on both X-Men #3 and #4, teasing that "the X-Men rise to protect the world against any threat. From a new foe in the Savage Land to an old nemesis' surprising return...". That "old nemesis" could certainly show up at an economic forum, which makes us think it could be any of the anti-mutant human leaders to villains from specific locales that are now opposed to the mutant nation (Madripoor).

But let's talk about the real headline here: Apocalypse looking sharp in a business suit! Hickman made the unexpected move of positioning Apocalypse as a major recurring figure in his House of X / Powers of X event series, which re-defined the X-Men lore in major ways. Not only that, Hickman opened up new dimensions of Apocalypse's character, going so far as reveal that the villain was a hero who (along with his original horsemen) saved the world from the demon realm Limbo, back in ancient times. In one future life of Moira Mactaggert, she allied with Apocalypse and they formed their own team of X-Men, to fight Nimrod and his Man-Machine Supremacy. Finally, present day Apocalypse came to Krakoa to help lead the mutant nation, embracing the fact that mutantkind is finally accepting its role as a dominant species in the world.

With these character turns, Hickman has created new intrigue around Apocalypse - something few X-Men fans still thought possible. Just seeing Apocalypse try to get through conversation at an economic summit with major world leaders is enough to keep us reading intently. It's truly a bold new world of X-Men stories - and we're enjoying it, how about you?

X-Men #4 will be out in December. Issue #1 is currently on sale.