Writer Si Spurrier Previews the New X-Men Series, 'Way of X'

Si Spurrier. Bob Quinn. Kurt Wagner. The Way of X. 

Announced today, the writer, artist, and the amazing Nightcrawler are teaming up for a brand-new X-Men series on its way this April. 

Mutantkind has built a new Eden...but there are serpents in this garden. Some mutants struggle to fit in. Some mutants turn to violence and death. And the children whisper of the Patchwork Man, singing in their hearts... Only one mutant senses the looming shadows. Snared by questions of death, law and love, only Nightcrawler can fight for the soul of Krakoa. Only he—and the curious crew he assembles (including fan-favorites Dr. Nemesis, Pixie, and Blink)—can help mutants defeat their inner-darkness and find a new way to live. This is the WAY OF X.

The acclaimed writer spoke with Marvel.com about the story to come... 

"I should probably just tell a lie for the sake of a neat elevator pitch and say that WAY OF X is a story about the creation of a new mutant religion. But it’s not—not really.

"That’s kinda where it starts, for sure. Nightcrawler realises something’s wrong with the hearts and minds of mutantkind and sets out to fix it. But as he quickly discovers, this isn’t a job for priests and prayers.

"To use the obvious idiom: there’s a serpent in Eden. Someone with incomparable power and deep ties to Professor X himself is pulling secret strings. In the mutant paradise of Krakoa a sickness of the spirit is taking hold, urging mutants towards despair and violence. As Nightcrawler and his eccentric crew react to its influence, they realise what they’re really up against is nothing less than the self-destructive darkness in the hearts of mutantkind itself.

"The question is, what do they have to become in order to fight it? Preachers? Cops? Executioners? Or something entirely new?

"WAY OF X is a smart, psychedelic tale about faith, science, culture, love, and law. And Bamfing. Bamfing just for the joy of it."

Now that you've heard the full elevator pitch, here's what Spurrier had to say about the state of the X-Men, DAWN OF X, Jonathan Hickman, and more.

"So, listen: the importance of Hickman’s X-Men work can’t be overstated. For the first time in a long time someone’s doing something genuinely and ambitiously different with the Super Hero concept. To me the whole DAWN OF X canon drips with the lysergic experimentation of the best Big Idea sci-fi: Last and First Men... Barefoot in the Head… Foundation and Empire. It’s not just "what if…?", it’s "what if everything…?" It’s nothing less than the creation of an entire epochal civilisation. That Jon and the rest of the X-team are telling stories in that framework of such humanity and heart is nothing short of magical. I want in on that.

"And there’s something else. For decades the mutants of the Marvel Universe have allowed storytellers to speak to the ugly outcomes of Othering: of race, of class, of gender, of sexuality. I used it myself to explore mental illness, in X-MEN LEGACY. It seemed to go down pretty well, to my great surprise, and I still feel like that's some of the most valuable work I've ever done. I’ve been itching to return to my favourite characters and to change the wavelength of the metaphor...

"That’s WAY OF X. It’s a story about how mutants live. Not just as people, but as a People. It’s mischievous and sarcastic and a looong way from being holy. It’s a book about ethics and culture and growing fungus out of your own brain. It’s a book about rituals and thrills, sexy times and casual death. Above all it’s about Shared Ideas, in all their terrible beauty, and what they can do to the minds, hearts, and souls of the communities adrift on their tides.

"In a way I guess—I hope—it’s the next obvious step in the grand reworking of the X-Men franchise. A brave new Empire has been built in the light: all hail Krakoa! But it exists on a knife-edge between an endless summer of peace and prosperity... and cataclysmic self-immolation. The Way of X is simply the path the Mutant Nation must walk if it has any hope of escaping its own long and hungry shadow.”

Read the full WAY OF X announcement right here, and prepare for WAY OF X #1 to hit your local comic shop this April!