In Marvel's latest release, Ultimate X-Men, a fresh and youthful team has been introduced, with only Armor and Maystorm confirmed as heroes thus far. Maystorm's attire features Easter egg buttons that allude to other Marvel characters, but it's important not to read too much into it as a plot hint. The small number of characters in the Ultimate X-Men lineup may heighten the feeling of seclusion and solitude for Armor and Maystorm as they navigate their mutant identities. Check out the image below to see the new team in action!
Marvel has unveiled a sneak peek at the main characters of their upcoming Ultimate X-Men series, featuring a stunning variant cover showcasing both heroines. This new iteration the Ultimate Universe introduces a fresh team of X-Men, offering readers a unique and different storytelling experience Set in a younger universe, this team consists of characters that may not be familiar to accustomed to the traditional lineup.
The variant cover for Ultimate X-Men #1, created Mark Brooks, provides an exciting glimpse into the heroes of Peach Momoko's highly anticipated series The featured characters include Armor (Hisako Ichiki), a beloved classic X-Men character, and Maystorm, a new creation by Momoko herself that previously introduced as Storm's young sidekick in Marvel's "New Champions" initiative.
These two young heroes are currently the only ones announced for the so far, signaling an intriguing start for one of Marvel's most prominent factions within this. In an exclusive interview with creator Peach Momoko, she delves into topics such as's role in the series and explores themes like body horror and adolescence. Additionally, it revealed that one of these new Ultimate X-Men has an unexpected real-world origin.
Overall Marvel enthusiasts can expect fresh perspectives and compelling narratives in this upcoming release from the Ultimate X-Men.Under Brooks' pen, Maystorm's clothing features buttons that reference various Marvel heroes and teams. This design element was also seen in Momoko's original New Champions painting, which debuted as a variant cover to X-Men (2019) #27. However, since none of the characters referenced on the buttons have appeared in this universe yet, and Momoko's Maystorm design sheet for the upcoming series doesn't include these button logos, it's likely that Brooks is just drawing inspiration from Momoko's original piece. It's a fun Easter egg, but shouldn't be taken too literally as a hint towards the story.
Momoko's run is a result of the events in Ultimate Invasion and Ultimate Universe #1, both of which are written by Jonathan Hickman and lettered by Joe Caramagna. Ultimate Invasion is also penciled by Bryan Hitch, inked by Andrew Currie, and colored by Alex Sinclair, while Ultimate Universe #1 is penciled by Stefano Caselli and colored by David Curiel. In these stories, the evil alternate Reed Richards known as the Maker secretly takes over the newly introduced Earth-6160, preventing the emergence of this Ultimate Universe's superheroes. Readers get their first hints of the Ultimate X-Men in Ultimate Invasion #1 when a news report mentions the survival of a girl involved in a car accident in Hi No Kuni, also known as Japan. This is most likely Armor's powers catalyzing, which is supported by seeing the moment from her perspective in Marvel's trailer for Ultimate X-Men.
It's worth noting that the X-Men team introduced so far is surprisingly small.Momoko's lineup for Ultimate X-Men seems to be steering away from the traditional mainstays of the X-Men, based on preview art. While Momoko has designed a new version of Storm for Ultimate Black Panther, by Bryan Edward Hill and Stefano Caselli, it appears that most classic X-Men are absent from this new world. This suggests that the Maker may have dealt with classic Xacters similarly to how he has handled other superheroes.
However, it is worth noting thatoko's roster currently only consists of two heroes, leaving plenty of room for other characters to potentially join the team in the future. The limited roster might have an intriguing impact on the. If Armor and Maystorm feel like they are alone as mutants, it could height their sense of isolation. Being young mutants, their feelings of loneliness could be exacerbated by their abilities. This dynamic is relatively unexplored in previous incarnations of the X-MenUnlike larger and more established ensembles of younger mutants in previous stories, UltimateX-Men a scenario where hatred and fear towards mutants become even more potent due to their scarcity.
The first issue of Ultimate X-Men will be on March 6th by Marvel Comics. is written and illustrated by Peach Mom with colorist Peach Momoko also serving as the cover artist. Mark Brooks contributes as a variant cover artist.