Marvel Confirms X-Men’s New Leader For First Time, Replacing Cyclops

For months, Marvel has been teasing that Cyclops will be replaced as leader of its main X-Men roster. Now, it’s pretty clear who exactly will be taking Scott Summers’ place on the mutant team.

Marvel is currently wrapping up its DNX event, in which Cyclops has battled his old ally Hank McCoy, aka the Chairman, for the fate of humanity. In the aftermath of this cataclysmic battle – and with an iconic X-Men hero seemingly marked for death – Cyclops will step down as team leader.

On a team with heavyweights such as Magneto and Jean Grey, there are several candidates for who will take his place, but Marvel seemingly just spoiled who will be the X-Men’s new leader…

Jean Grey Is Clearly The X-Men’s New Leader

Marvel previously revealed that in X-Men #43, the team will vote on their new leader, with characters such as Magik, Quentin Quire, Juggernaut and Psylocke choosing the new face of the X-Men, The vote coincides with Jean Grey returning from space, making her a likely candidate for the vote.

Now, Marvel has seemingly confirmed that Jean Grey will take over from Cyclops as leader of the X-Men. In solicit art for X-Men #44, Jean is shown meeting with Doug Ramsey’s Revelation, clearly acting as a representative for the team. Likewise, she’s the only potential leader seen on the cover for X-Men #45, with fellow candidate Magneto nowhere to be seen.

X-Men #44
Release Date:	January 13, 2027
Writer:	Jed MacKay
Artists:	Netho Diaz
Cover Artist:	Netho Diaz, J. P. Mayer and Arthur Hesli
In the aftermath of DNX, Doug Ramsey, A.K.A. REVELATION, has arrived in DISTRICT X! While he hopes that helping those embattled mutants will stave off the destiny he knows is possible, can he count on the X-Men to help him avoid the future of the Age of Revelation? And while he struggles, not everyone in District X is so open to his aid…

The choice of Jean Grey as leader is all but guaranteed, especially because she’ll soon be simultaneously starring in her own solo series from Jed MacKay and Rogê Antônio, with a story set in Alaska (the X-Men’s current base of operations.)

With Jean appearing on the covers of the issues directly after the vote and the writer of X-Men penning her solo series and keeping her close to the team’s base, it’s incredibly unlikely anyone else will take Scott Summers’ place, even though fans don’t yet know why Cyclops is stepping down.

A Major New Villain Will Also Debut

The X-Men aren’t only getting a new leader, they’re getting a major new enemy. X-Men #45 has promised to introduce a new foe named Grievance, as the team work alongside Revelation to protect the mutants of District X.

It’s likely that Grievance will emerge from DNX, with the Chairman’s X-Virus killing hundreds if not thousands of humans while creating a handful of new mutants. Indeed, an image of his attack on Pennsylvania shows a clawed hand emerging from the chemical mix – potentially Grievance’s first appearance in X-Men comics.

With so many dead for the sake of creating new mutants, it makes sense that Grievance would have a grudge against the X-Men, whose former member carried out the attack, acting on a mutant supremacist ideology. If Jean Grey IS the X-Men’s new leader, her first fight will be reckoning with the fallout of a battle between two of her fellow founders.

How Will X-Men Handle Jean Grey’s Power?

X-Men’s 2019-2024 Krakoan Era ended with Jean Grey bonding more closely with the Phoenix Force than ever before, explicitly becoming the most powerful person in the galaxy. In her prior solo series, she fought with dark gods and Thanos, not just even resurrecting her sister Sarah Grey but turning her into a cosmic god.

So far, it’s unclear how X-Men will handle giving the team a leader who can rewrite the laws of reality. Will Jean’s powers be lessened, will she be given a reason to hold back, or will enemies like Grievance simply be so powerful that it’s a fair fight? Fans will learn the answers once the X-Men elect Jean Grey as their new leader.

X-Men #44 is coming January 13 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