X-Men’s New Era Will Officially Elevate 1 Villain to “Thanos Level,” Marvel Confirms

As Marvel approaches a new era for the X-Men, it’s been officially confirmed that they’re getting their own answer to Thanos at the height of his power, complete with the Infinity Gauntlet. Here’s everything we know right now.

Over the years, the X-Men have collected a huge roster of villains, from the evolutionary extremist Apocalypse to mutant supremacist Magneto to twisted eugenicist Mister Sinister. However, compared to the Avengers, they’re relatively sparse on villains who are de facto extinction-level threats like Thanos.

While Onslaught, Bastion and the Dark Phoenix fit the bill, Marvel has specified that X-Men‘s Thanos won’t be an existing big bad, but a character who is being “elevated” to the role of mega-hitter.

The X-Men Are Replacing the Avengers as Marvel’s Biggest Heroes

Marvel recently announced new series Maximum X-Men, coming from Christopher Yost and Tony S. Daniel. This title will be part of the fallout from the ongoing Avengers: Armageddon event, which is expected to leave heavy-hitters such as Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch and more either dead or banished outside reality.

Following Armageddon, Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto will launch a new volume of Avengers, following a relatively street-level roster of heroes including Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Wolverine. While these heroes will be official Avengers, they will no longer be powerful enough to protect the world from Thanos-tier threats… enter the X-Men.

Maximum X-Men will follow a strike team led by Storm, with mutant heroes replacing the Avengers until they’re back on their feet. The first issue’s summary reads:

In the wake of the events of AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are no more! So who will stand in defense of the Earth? The X-Men will! Storm gathers an elite team for just that task, including Wolverine, Colossus, Bishop, Iceman, Psylocke, Firestar, and Justice! Mutants by birth, heroes by choice! And their first challenge is a full-on invasion from the Negative Zone! Is this Annihilus again – or something far, far worse?

Now, Maximum X-Men writer Yost has revealed some of the foes the X-Men will face as Avengers stand-ins.

X-Men Is Getting Its Own Thanos

In a recent interview with AIPT, Yost gives some clues about where Maximum X-Men is heading. Yost confirms that the X-Men’s first enemy will be Annihilus – a classic Fantastic Four villain who is already arguably on Thanos’ level, commanding a gigantic alien armada and wielding the Cosmic Control Rod, which grants him control over high-level energy.

Yost also confirms a new villain codenamed ‘Retribution’ about who nothing else is known, and a mysterious third foe who will be Maximum X-Men‘s answer to Thanos. Yost states:

And after that… I’m not allowed to say. But we’re elevating someone to a THANOS/Infinity Gauntlet level threat.

With the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos was capable of rewriting reality itself on a whim, so the villain in question is going to be a true titan. However, it’s likely they won’t be drawn from pre-existing X-Men lore…

Which Villain Is Likely to Be the New Thanos?

The point of Maximum X-Men is that the X-Men are stepping into the Avengers’ shoes, and so far it seems like that will involve taking on a diverse range of villains from outside their own franchise. That makes sense, given ongoing titles like X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Men United and Inglorious X-Force offer opportunities to revisit franchise favorites.

It’s therefore unlikely that Apocalypse or Magneto will be the new Thanos-level threat. But who will be? It seems safe to rule out Annihilus, given he’ll have starred so recently. Yost mentions being inspired by the X-Men taking on Galactus in the original Secret Wars, but Galactus wouldn’t need “elevating” to become this level of threat.

One potential answer is Korvac. One of the Avengers’ most underrated villains, Korvac is a cosmic being who often seeks out incredible power, but doesn’t tend to keep ahold of it for very long. Avengers foes Count Nefaria and Graviton are a similar figures – powerful enough to take on an X-Men roster, but still needing a boost to be considered Thanos-tier.

It’s a bold new era for the X-Men, as they take on the role of the Avengers in the Marvel Universe – complete with their own mysterious Thanos whose identity will be revealed in the months to come.

Maximum X-Men #1 is coming December 2, 2026.

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