Destiny of X Guide Part 2: Everything You Need To Know

Adam, Akira, and Josh are here with a Destiny of X guide to help new or lapsed readers jump into Marvel’s upcoming X-Men era.

With a constant onslaught of on-goings, mini-series, and one-shots, it’s not hard to fall behind on the X-Men books. You miss a few months, and all of a sudden, they’re all living on an island with Apocalypse, and it can be daunting to catch up. But as we enter this new “Destiny of X” era, what better time to jump back in? With each new book being a continuation of stories from Dawn/Reign of X, here’s a Destiny of X guide to fill you in on any details you might want to know going into this second round of books. If you’re completely new, the first part of our Destiny of X guide has some background information that’s sure to help.

Wolverine #20

Written by Benjamin Percy

Art by Adam Kubert 

Colours by Frank Martin

Letters by VCs Cory Petit

Covers by Adam Kubert and Frank Martin

Guide by Adam (@krakoa_customs)

The world may have changed, but aside from his new house on the moon with Cyclops and Marvel Girl, Wolverine’s life hasn’t. Krakoa has brought him up against foes old and new, including his old friend from Team X, Maverick, mutant memorabilia collectors the Legacy House, Dracula, and even a giant mutated whale. He’s also started working closely with a C.I.A. agent named Jeff Bannister, even letting him stay on Krakoa to keep him safe from Maverick and the Legacy House.

In X lives of Wolverine, in order to chase Omega Red through time to protect the Xavier family, Logan was forced to reflect on and relive his past as he fought through past events to keep his mentor safe. Joining Wolverine is the Monster King of Staten Island, Deadpool! After recently helping the Juggernaut save all of Krakoa from the Human Adaptoid, he seems to be in Krakoa’s good books for now but I’m sure Wolverine will stab him anyways.

Knights of X #1

Written by Tini Howard

Art by Bob Quinn

Colours by Erick Arciniega

Letters by VCs Ariana Maher

Covers by Yanick Paquette and Alejandro Sanchez

Guide by Akira (@emmafuckinfrost)

In Tini Howard and Marcus To’s Excalibur, Betsy Braddock took on the mantle of Captain Britain after the previous holder, her twin brother Brian, was made the mindless soldier of Morgan Le Fey, a witch of Camelot. In the Marvel universe “Otherworld” has been the realm of Arthurian legend, and the wheel that the multiverse spins on. Johnathan Hickman and Tini Howard greatly expanded this in the franchise-wide event X of Swords, making Camelot, the centre of that old English mythology, just one piece of Otherworld.

In order to save her brother from this subjugation Betsy teams up with the immortal Apocalypse, the happily married swamp couple, Rogue and Gambit, the depressed gay ex X-Force member, Rictor, and the fun-loving Jubilee (and her son who can turn into a dragon!). After defeating the witch, Brian decides that Betsy is better for the title than he is and he takes the name Captain Avalon to defend Otherworld, which their brother Jamie now rules. In the midst of the international crisis that is Krakoa, the United Kingdom isn’t too fond of having a mutant as their flag suit hero. Through Howard and To’s run Excalibur deals with anti-mutant wizard cults, the British government, and the troubles of Otherworld. 

Joining the Knights of X cast is the once Phoenix Force host, Rachel Grey. Betsy and Rachel have had connections in the past and in small amounts during Excalibur. After the events of the final issue, Rachel seems to be taking a bigger role after the end of Leah Williams’s X-Factor. Similarly to Rachel, Bei the Blood Moon had a small role in Excalibur, but looks to be gaining more page space in the sequel series. Bei is an Arakki mutant that was introduced in the X of Swords event, where she and Doug Ramsey (Cypher) were married as part of the machinations of the leader of Otherworld, Omniversal Magistrix Opal Luna Saturnyne.

Will these additions be the key to solving the mystery of Otherworld and finding our missing captain who sealed herself in Otherworld with the multiversal Captain Britain Corps to prevent Merlins invasion of Otherworld from reaching Earth?

New Mutants #25

Written by Vita Ayala

Art by Rod Reis and Jan Duursema

Colours by Rod Reis and Ruth Redmond

Letters by VCs Travis Lanham

Covers by Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho

Guide by Josh Brown (@joshuatbrown)

The group commonly referred to as The New Mutants have actually been around for a long time.  On Krakoa, they decided to try and help the younger mutants that weren’t being given structure or education around their powers. Though they achieved some success, the younger class were also being manipulated by the Shadow King. This resulted in the death of Scout, a clone of Wolverine (Laura Kinney), which brought up the debate of whether clones would be eligible to be resurrected on Krakoa after Madelyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Grey and the ex-wife of Scott Summers and mother of Cable, had been denied by the council.

Her friends helped bring her back and, with the New Mutants help, freed Amahl Farouk from his decades long Shadow King’s possession. Unresolved threads that could be explored in the future include Wolfsbane’s missing (half-Asgardian wolf god) son and Karma’s recent schism with her brother. But the promotion for this title’s return has mainly centred on a struggle for control of a hell-like dimension called Limbo between Magik, who had an abusive upbringing in Limbo and currently has dominion over it, and Madelyne Pryor, who previously unleashed the forces of Limbo on Earth in the Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson led event Inferno and who Magik reached out to at the end of New Mutants 24. 

Legion of X #1

Written by Si Spurrier

Art by Jan Bazaldua

Colours by Federico Blee

Letters by VCs Clayton Cowles

Covers by Dike Ruan and Matthew Wilson

Guide by Adam (@krakoa_customs)

The crucible.  The brutal fight to the death that depowered mutants go through to be put at the start of the resurrection queue.  And upon seeing it Nightcrawler has a revelation.  He’s going to start a mutant religion.  And then he immediately abandoned that idea.  What Nightcrawler ended up forming was more of a philosophy, which he named the Spark.  A way to value life in a world without death.  And with David Haller (Legion) and Megan Gwynn (Pixie) at his side, he used this philosophy to defeat Onslaught, one of the X-men’s greatest foes returned thanks to ORCHIS and the psychic energy of the memories lost between death and resurrection. 

Legion then formed a psychic extension of Krakoa in his brain to allow mutants to experience life in the Astral plane and the togetherness that comes with it.  With Krakoas newest resident, the non-mutant Juggernaut who was finally allowed on the island after saving it from the Human Adaptoid, and Forget-me-not, the mutant with the power to be forgotten when he’s not in view, and the recently returned Blindfold, a precog and girlfriend of Legion, these six mutants are just part of the Nightcrawlers legionnaires dedicated to protecting Krakoa and upholding it’s 3 laws.  

Wolverine #20 releases on 20th April, Knights of X #1 on the 27th April, New Mutants on May 4th and Legion of X #1 on the 25th of May