Comic Book / Destiny of X

"We are surrounded by enemies — within and without. Those who hate us for our successes as a mutant nation...
...and those who hate us for where we have failed."

— Professor X, X-Men Red (2022) #11

Destiny Of X is a comic book relaunch in the X-Men franchise by Marvel Comics.

It is the third phase of the Krakoan Age saga and the successor to Reign of X, with the transition to Destiny of X marked by three closely connected limited series (Inferno, X Lives of Wolverine and X Deaths of Wolverine).

Writer Jonathan Hickman, who launched and guided the Krakoan Age, left at the end of Reign of X, and Destiny of X is the first phrase of the Krakoa arc to be steered by other writers.

Earth's superhuman mutants have achieved great things. They've founded their own nation on the living island of Krakoa, combined their powers to unlock Resurrective Immortality and terraformed Mars (which is now renamed Arakko and settled by mutants).

That doesn't mean they're invulnerable. Krakoa was founded with a promise of freedom and amnesty for all mutants, but the nation's leaders didn't always keep those promises. Now they're starting to pay the price.

Of Krakoa's four founders, only Charles Xavier remains on the island. Apocalypse is lost in another dimension. Moira X has fled, betraying the mutants to their enemies in Orchis. Magneto, disillusioned, has left Krakoa, retiring to isolation on Arakko.

In their place, the precognitive mutant Destiny has taken a seat on the ruling Quiet Council, subtly using her gifts to shape the future. Her old enemy Mister Sinister also sits on the council, keeping secrets of his own. Sinister's always been untrustworthy, a viper at the heart of the new nation - and in this new era, with a depleted council, he sees a chance to put his own plans into action...

Destiny of X

Ongoing series

• Immortal X-Men (#1-13) — The Quiet Council rules the Krakoan age, for better... or worse. Now, shaken by Inferno, they strive to hold together — no matter how much they want to tear each other apart. Featuring Professor X, Mystique, Storm, Emma Frost, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Kate Pryde, Sebastian Shaw, Destiny, Exodus, and Mister Sinister. Written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Lukas Werneck.
• Marauders (2022): A relaunch of the previous Marauders series, with a new creative team. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, this new team of Marauders sails the seas to protect those feared and hated. Featuring Kate Pryde, Bishop, Psylocke, Daken, Aurora, Tempo, Somnus, and Cassandra Nova. Written by Steve Orlando and drawn by Eleonora Carlini.
• X-Force (2019) (#22-42) — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Robert Gill.
• Knights of X — A sequel to Excalibur (2019), Captain Britain III (Betsy Braddock) fights to reclaim Otherworld from the mutant-hating forces of Avalon. Also featuring Gambit and Prestige. Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Bob Quinn.
• X-Men (2021) (#13-24) — Continued from Reign of X. The X-Men have reformed, and they're living in New York again! Featuring Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Rogue, Wolverine II (Laura Kinney), Polaris, Synch, and Sunfire. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Pepe Larraz.
• Legion of X — A sequel to Way of X, Nightcrawler and Legion have established the Legionnaires, a force to protect and cultivate "the Spark". Featuring Juggernaut, Pixie, Doctor Nemesis, Blindfold, and Dust. Written by Simon Spurrier and drawn by Jan Balzadua.
• Wolverine (2020) (#20-35) — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Wolverine teams up with Deadpool to stop an existential threat to Krakoa. Written by Benjamin Percy and drawn by Adam Kubert.
• New Mutants (2019) (#25-33) — Continued from the previous Krakoan Age phases. Written by Vita Ayala and drawn by Rod Reis.
• X-Men Red (2022) (#1-13) — Continuing from the events of S.W.O.R.D. (2020), Planet Arakko (formerly known as Mars) needs something more than just a team of heroes to defend it. Who will rise to the challenge? Magneto, Storm and Sunspot form the first line of defence. Written by Al Ewing and drawn by Stefano Caselli.
• Deadpool (#1-9) — Wade's now a member of Krakoa's X-Force team, but that won't stop him getting into even more trouble when they're not about. Such as trying to kill a well-known supervillain as an audition for a league of elite assassins. Written by Alyssa Wong with art by Martin Coccolo.

Limited series

• Sabretooth (2022) — Sabretooth was Krakoa's first criminal and its first prisoner, condemned to the Pit beneath the island. He's not alone down there any more, though. And he doesn't plan to stay there forever. Written by Victor LaValle and drawn by Leonard Kirk.
• Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain
• X-Terminators (2022) — After a bad break-up, Dazzler goes out drinking with Boom-Boom and Jubilee. However, when they run into some vampires (and Wolverine) it all gets... messy.
• Sabretooth & the Exiles — Sabretooth's escaped from the Pit, but has immediately fallen into the clutches of Orchis. Unknown to all of them, Krakoa's other released prisoners are also on his trail. Written by Victor LaValle and drawn by Leonard Kirk.
• X-Men '92: House of XCII — an Alternate Continuity take on the Krakoan Age storyline, taking the 1992 X-Men animated series as its starting point.
• Bishop: War College
• Rogue & Gambit (2023)
• New Mutants: Lethal Legion

One-shots

• Secret X-Men — Written by Tini Howard and drawn by Francesco Mobili.
• Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird — Written by Nyla Rose & Steve Orlando and drawn by David Cutler.
• Hellfire Gala 2022
• X-Men: Before the Fall — A quartet of one-shots serving as prelude to Fall of X. The one-shots will tie up Krakoan-era loose ends going as far back as X of Swords while chronicling the lead-up to the third Hellfire Gala.
  • Heralds Of Apocalypse
  • Mutant First Strike
  • Sinister Four
  • Sons Of X

Events

• A.X.E.: Judgment Day — a Crisis Crossover starring the X-Men, the Eternals and the Avengers. The Eternals now know about Krakoa's Resurrective Immortality, and their new leader - the manipulative Druig - thinks it makes a convenient pretext for a war that will strengthen his hold on power. Earth's oldest immortals are about to attack the newest, and the Avengers are caught in the middle. The X-Men are key characters in the main series, which also crosses over into most of the Destiny of X ongoing titles.
• Dark Web — A Bat Family Crossover bringing the X-Men and the Spider-Man books together. Ben Reilly is a clone of Peter Parker, Spider-Man. Madelyne Pryor is a clone of the X-Men's founding member Jean Grey. Both of them have been manipulated and abandoned. Both have lost some of their memories. Now, working together, they think it's time to settle the score. The X-Men are mostly involved via a crossover miniseries.
• Revenge of the Brood — Captain Marvel and the X-Men work together against a new threat from a common enemy: the alien Brood. A crossover between Captain Marvel and X-Men, not a comic of its own.
• Sins of Sinister — A Bat Family Crossover between Immortal X-Men, X-Men Red and Legion of X. Mister Sinister's genetic database bought him a seat on Krakoa's Quiet Council, but nobody's ever trusted him. In Sins of Sinister, he finally makes his move against Krakoa's other leaders... and it immediately goes wrong. For everyone, including him. A thousand years of Bad Future awaits.

Tropes

In General

Destiny of X

• Ascended Extra: Destiny joins the Quiet Council and takes up a far more prominent role, after merely being a Posthumous Character for most of Dawn of X and only returning (over 30 years after her death in Uncanny X-Men) for Inferno (2021).
• Back from the Dead: The blanket rule on not resurrecting clones and precogs seems to have been lifted.
  • Blindfold has finally been resurrected since her suicide in Uncanny X-Men (2018), although she's chosen to limit her precognition by abandoning her physical body.
  • The time limits on resurrection have also been removed, allowing Thunderbird, Petra and Sway to return.
• Break the Haughty: Magneto has responded to the events of The Trial of Magneto and Inferno (2021) by quitting the Quiet Council and relocating to Arakko to wallow in his humiliation. Actual humility is proving somewhat harder to acquire, with Erik having to make a conscious effort not to be his accustomed haughty self.
  • Averted for Charles, who seems to be carrying on exactly as he was before all this.
• Snap Back: After notably wearing an all-white outfit for most of Dawn Of X, Magneto is now wearing his classic red and purple uniform again.
• Soft Reboot: For the X-Men line following the end of Jonathan Hickman’s run. Downplayed in that, while it's a friendly jumping-on point, many of the existing creative teams are just picking up where they left off from their Dawn of X and Reign of X narratives.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Mister Sinister is shown with three possible futures in one promo. One as a traditional superhero, another as a king, and another with him winning a Nobel Prize.

One-Shots Tropes

Secret X-Men

• The Bus Came Back: Delphos, a lesser known member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, returns after a twenty year old absence.
• False Crucible: The whole mission is a training exercise arranged by Xandra and Deathbird to build alliances with the X-Men. And then Things Get Real when the Sidri change sides and betray Xandra.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Xandra edits the X-Men's memories so that they forget that they failed to save Deathbird from the Sidri.
• Superhero Speciation: Roberto and Sam make a pretty respectable team, but realize they forgot to include a telepath when psychic powers are required to open a gate. Xandra subtly helps them out.
• Things Get Real: It's secretly a training exercise set up by Xandra and Deathbird. Right up to the point when the Sidri betray them and a wounded Deathbird's kidnapped.

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