Marvel Shares First Look At New Storm Design For X-Men's Big Reboot
Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows.
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The X-Men's Storm is the first mutant to be revealed in Marvel's new universe, with a big power upgrade that might make her a major antagonist. The X-Men roster changes drastically across leadership changes, eras, and timelines. However, a few mutant heroes are almost always present. Iconic X-Men figures such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine appear in almost every Marvel Comics universe and almost every adaptation of the X-Men's comic book lore.
The X-Men's introduction in Marvel's newest timelines proves which mutants are most important. Jean Grey and Wolverine are at the center of Insomniac's Wolverine video game, while Jean, Cyclops, Beast, Rogue, Storm, Emma Frost, Angel, and Charles Xavier are the main characters of the MCU's upcoming X-Men reboot. Before Jake Schreier's movie arrives, Magneto, Gambit, and Mystique are also key X-Men characters in Avengers: Doomsday. And in the comics, Wolverine, Storm, Psylocke, and Armor are featured prominently in Marvel's second Ultimate Universe, Earth-6160.
While the Ultimate Universe takes a break following the defeat of the Maker, Marvel launches a completely new timeline where the X-Men's ranks are shaken to the core.
Storm Is The First X-Men Hero Revealed In Marvel's Midnight Universe
Midnight X-Men #1; Written By Jonathan Hickman; Art By Matteo Della Fonte
Released alongside Midnight Spider-Man #1 and Midnight Fantastic Four #1, Jonathan Hickman and Matteo della Fonte's Midnight X-Men #1 presents the most mysterious first pages in Marvel's blooming Midnight Universe. An unknown narrator seemingly describes the days of humans and mutants' conflict with nostalgia, depicting the present day as a much bigger nightmare. Meanwhile, a vampiric Ororo Munroe shows off her fangs and attacks Jean Grey, who can't do anything to defend herself from Storm despite wearing her Phoenix costume.
Marvel's two-page preview for Midnight X-Men raises more questions than it provides answers. Why Storm has become a vampire, and why she seems to be the only mutant thirsting for blood in the comics' variant covers and promotional material, will only be revealed once Midnight X-Men officially releases. The identity of the narrator is also yet to be confirmed. Though, considering they're talking about the good old days of mutantkind to someone they call "my dearest and oldest friend," there's a high chance this mystery narrator is either Magneto or Charles Xavier.
Storm's Vampiric Past Only Makes Midnight X-Men More Exciting
Ororo Munroe Has Already Been A Vampire Before
Previously, Storm's vampire transformation dates back to her encounter with Dracula, when the vampire lord attempted to turn the weather goddess into his undead bride. While Earth-616 Storm resisted the dark blood curse, her alternate counterpart Bloodstorm from Earth-1298 succumbed and gained bloodlust and immortality. Bloodstorm forged a tragic alliance with Forge, who offered his own blood voluntarily to quench her hunger, and she eventually co-led "The Six" alongside Alex Summers, where she fought against apocalyptic threats like the Goblyn Queen and the Beyonder.
Midnight X-Men's focus on vampiric mutant lore coincides with Marvel's broader revival of supernatural horror. The Earth-616 crossover event Blood Hunt demonstrated the immense creative power of bloodsuckers when vampire armies blotted out the sun to launch a global assault on Earth's heroes. More recently, Blade reclaimed his place in the spotlight in Jed MacKay's Marc Spector: Moon Knight, where the Daywalker rejoined the Midnight Sons alongside Clea and Ghost Rider; and in X-Men United, where he joins forces with the X-Men to find his lost daughter.
What do you expect to see in Marvel's Midnight X-Men?
Midnight X-Men #1 is available October 7 from Marvel Comics
- Movie(s)
- X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- TV Show(s)
- X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024)
- Video Game(s)
- X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
- First Film
- X-Men (2000)
- Character(s)
- Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
- Comic Release Date
- 213035,212968
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