X-Men Redefine Their Place in Marvel Continuity with New MIDNIGHT M Symbol

Warning: contains spoilers for Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1!As the X-Men enter a dark new era in 2024’s ‘From the Ashes,’ the writer of Uncanny X-Men has explained a major new symbol which will define their adventures. Recently, Marvel shared a trailer for X-Men’s line-wide ‘From the Ashes’ relaunch. The trailer (included below) sees Jubilee visit a diner where a striped mutant is the server. After Jubilee sends the mutant a covert signal, she unleashes her powers, torching the car of some other diners. Fans can see the full interaction in the recently released Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1.

Now, Gail Simone – who will be writing the new Uncanny X-Men series, drawn by David Marquez – has explained that the symbol is known as the ‘Midnight M.’ On X, Gail Simone explains how to make the symbol and its purpose, describing it as a way for mutants to subtly identify each other and send distress signals. Simone says “It is an ‘are you okay’ signal and ‘are you one of us’ and ‘do you need help’ sign.”

In Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1, Jubilee refers to the symbol as “our version of the Midnight Bark,” offering to get the young mutant – named Uva – to safety through her mutant contacts. Sadly, Uva isn’t willing to leave her mother behind, leading Jubilee to attack some of the clientele harassing Uva in order to draw them away. Coming this August, Uncanny X-Men will join Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-Men and Eve L. Ewing and Carmen Carnero’s Exceptional X-Men as the three series act as the flagship titles of the new era. Other series including X-Force, X-Factor, Storm, Wolverine, Phoenix, and NYX have also been announced.

Homo Superior Are Under Threat and Undercover

Currently, Marvel’s X-Men line is in the final stages of the ‘Fall of X’ era, during which they’re fighting for their lives against the human-supremacist organization known as Orchis. While they’re now being backed by everyone from the Avengers to Doctor Doom, the X-Men are up against their biggest threat ever in the form of the AI god Enigma, as well as the deadly Sentinel known as Nimrod. But however this concluding chapter in the 2019-2024 Krakoan Era ends, it seems that the result will see mutantkind scattered across the world, now more hated and feared than ever before.

Cyclops’ team will operate out of a former Orchis prison, seeking out and protecting their fellow mutants, while Emma Frost’s crew will focus on training the next generation of heroes. However, Rogue has perhaps the biggest challenge – rebuilding the bonds between mutants in a world that is intent on breaking them apart.

In current comics, all the world’s mutants have gathered to form the nation of Krakoa. While disaster has befallen the island, it’s shocking to think that mutant bonds will soon be so strained that Rogue’s team are needed to rebuild them. Only recently, the X-Men offered a total amnesty to all their villains, turning former foes like Apocalypse and the Shadow King into vital allies. However, it seems that the Fall of X will tear those alliances to pieces, leaving many mutants unsure if it’s safe to be associated with their former champions. The Midnight M will be an important tool in a world where former relationships have fallen by the wayside, with Jubilee revealing, “I don’t wear the X anymore. I don’t even know if there’s an X-Men left to quit, really.”

Is the Midnight M a Rejection of Xavier?

Professor X Has Become an Enemy of the X-Men – Are They Replacing Him with Magneto?

It’s interesting to note that an ‘M’ signal is being used to signal mutant solidarity rather than the franchise’s usual focus on the letter ‘X.’ While it potentially just stands for ‘mutant,’ another likely explanation is that mutants are disavowing Charles Xavier. X-Men’s former leader Charles Xavier recently defected to join Orchis, sacrificing his students as part of a larger plan to save mutant lives at any cost. Xavier’s treachery has been breathtaking, with the Krakoan Era serving to deconstruct the ‘savior’ mythology around Professor X, exposing him as a deeply flawed leader whose unyielding loyalty to his own vision has corrupted him to the core.

In contrast, Magneto has gone from antihero to living legend. Having fought all comers for the wellbeing of mutantkind, Magneto died protecting the mutants of Arakko (formerly Mars) from the genocidal Eternal Uranos. He recently returned to life in the pages of Al Ewing and Luciano Vecchio’s Resurrection of Magneto. Having risen from the dead to save mutants while Xavier sacrificed them in their droves, it’s not unfeasible that Magneto will become the rallying figure for Marvel’s mutants. Magneto has used the pseudonym ‘M’ before, most famously when he ruled the world in 2005’s House of M event.

The Midnight M Shows How X-Men Is Embracing a New Status Quo

‘From the Ashes’ is destined to be a controversial era for the X-Men. The Krakoan Era was a fan favorite for some and too much of a deviation from the core franchise for others. Those who loved the bold direction of Krakoa aren’t happy to see the X-Men once more living among humanity, and it certainly seems like it will be a seismic swing – not long ago, the X-Men were bribing world superpowers to recognize their sovereignty with life-saving medicines, and now they need a secret signal just to identify each other in public.

However, the Midnight M shows that ‘From the Ashes’ has a strong sense of identity. The Midnight M evokes similar practices and policies throughout history, used by marginalized groups to identify each other without exposing themselves to potentially dangerous attention. Marvel has often used the X-Men to explore themes of marginalization and discrimination, and it’s clear that Simone has a detailed idea of how Rogue’s team will function to help other mutants in this new world.

Coming August, ‘From the Ashes’ is once again transforming the X-Men franchise, putting them on the back foot after years trying to forge a utopia. However, Rogue’s Uncanny X-Men team have been hated and feared before, and they don’t plan on letting anyone face this new world alone.

Uncanny X-Men #1 is coming from Marvel Comics August 7.

Source: Gail Simone