After 62 years,X-Menfans just lost a founding hero of the franchise - but their loss isAvengersfans' gain. A formerX-Menhero is enteringNew Avengerslore in a totally new way. While this mutant character is one of Marvel’s most well-known heroes, the Avengers are about to face them as a terrifying, warped villain.
The iconic hero’s powers are being unleashed alongside a spiky, threatening new costume.
X-Men’s Professor X Gets Revamped as a New Avengers Villain
Meet the Evil Charles Xavier
DespiteXavier having recently left theX-Menfranchise, Marvel fans still won’t be without Professor X. However, while he’s long been a heroic figure among the X-Men, he’ll now become an enemy to the New Avengers, with the character’s new design shared in Ivan Tao’s variant cover forNew Avengers #3.
In the upcomingNew Avengersseries, Marvel is introducing a new group known as the ‘Killuminati.’ These villains are evil copies of the Illuminati - a team of influential heroes including Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Strange and Professor X.Each of the Killuminati is a corrupted clone of one of these well-known heroes, with Xavier being reborn as the evil Professor X-Tinction- a hulking telepath who wears a spiked version of Xavier’s power-enhancing helmet, familiar from the recent Krakoan Era.
Professor X-Tinction is shown alongside Black Panther’s clone, Luke Charles. ‘Luke Charles’ is an identity T’Challa used in the ’70s to try and establish a secret identity and normal life in America.
Cover Artist:
STEPHEN SEGOVIA
THE WINTER SOLDIER. BLACK WIDOW. CARNAGE. THE HULK. NAMOR. CLEA. WOLVERINE. It’s a group of the most dangerous loners and antiheroes in the Marvel Universe, and yet they’ll come together as the NEW AVENGERS!
In classic Avengers fashion, they’ll assemble to take on a threat too big for any one hero to combat - corrupt clones of the Illuminati! And in the spirit of Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch decade-defining NEW AVENGERS (2004) run, this radical lineup will usher in a revolutionary new era of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
How Professor X Went from X-Men Hero to Avengers Villain
Marvel Is Shaking Up Mutant Lore
In the recentX-Manhunt Omega #1(from Gail Simone, Murewa Ayodele, Enid Balám, Gleb Melnikov, Federica Mancin, Brian Reber and Travis Lanham), Marvel officially retired Xavier, who declared he was saying goodbye to his former students for"the last time"and left Earth withhis alien wife Lilandra. Xavier debuted as the X-Men’s leader in 1963’sX-Men #1, andsince then has been the philosophical backbone of the franchise.While Xavier has undertaken some dark deeds in the last few years, Marvel sent him off with the revelation of a recently excised brain tumor that explains his more aggressive behavior, seemingly reasserting his heroic nature.
Xavier’s spiky new look has some clear similarities to X-Men mega-villain Stryfe, himself an evil clone of Cyclops' son Cable. One possibility is that just as Professor X raised Cyclops as his star pupil, so Professor X-Tinction may act as a mentor for the time-traveling Stryfe.
Fans have speculated that Xavier will find a new home in Marvel’s cosmic landscape, especially asImperialrewrites the power structuresof various alien civilizations while placing A-list heroes like Black Panther and the Hulk in new positions of political power. With Lilandra being the leader of the sprawling Shi’ar Empire, it made sense that Xavier would be by her side, no longer part of theX-Menfranchise but still a significant figure in the galaxy.
However, it turns out that before Xavier returns inImperial(if indeed that’s planned),New Avengershas more use for the X-Men leader via his evil clone.From Professor X-Tinction’s design, it appears that the evil Xavier will be both a physical and telepathic threat, wielding Omega-level mutant powers with no moral restraint. Fans will only see exactly whatNew Avengers' Professor X-Tinction can do when the Winter Soldier’s new team goes up against him, with the iconicX-Mencharacter being reborn as a villain only months after Marvel retired him from its mutant-focused franchise.
The New Avengers #1is coming June 11 from Marvel Comics, followed by #3 on August 20.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
