Comic book crossovers are a common thing, and they happen at least once a year in Marvel and DC. There are some events that only affect groups like the Avengers or the Justice League. In this case, there’s X-Men: Age of Revelation. It involves everyone throughout the universe, but the titles mainly involve Marvel's mutants.
During X-Men: Age of Revelation, Doug Ramsey (now Revelation) releases a virus in the U.S. that turns regular humans into mutants (who sometimes end up deformed or in pain), upgrades a mutant's powers, or kills the person infected. After that, he spent the next ten years ruling like a tyrant and trying to turn himself into a version of Ego, the Living Planet. Thankfully, the X-Men of that timeline were there to save the day…right?
X-Men: Age of Revelation Finale creative team
- Writer: Jed Mackay
- Penciller: Ryan Stegman
- Inker: JP Mayer
- Colorist: Marte Gracia
Apocalypse and his Arakkii army, Charles Xavier, the X-Men, and Wolverine were all prepared for the final battle. Charles was killed by Quentin Quire and his Omega Kids, but was later decapitated by Psylocke (Kwannon). Soon after that, Apocalypse throws Logan at Revelation for a fastball special. After being forced to kill people for ten years, Wolverine was more than happy to get revenge. Before the final blow could be struck, Apocalypse stopped Logan. This ends up being a crucial mistake.
After realizing that his plan to unite the world by making everyone mutants had failed, Doug figured becoming the planet itself was the next best thing. To do that, Doug needed a certain number of mutants linked to the X-Virus in one place. That’s why Revelation let his wife send her message at the beginning of this crossover and allowed Apocalypse’s spy to infiltrate his inner circle. He knew it would bring enough mutants together to trigger a chain reaction to allow him to take over. Now, there isn’t an Earth. It’s Revelation, the Living Planet.
Before Revelation gets his upgrade to a living planet, Cyclops and Beast’s minds were sent back to their bodies in the past with the knowledge of everything they knew. However, this entire time, it wasn’t the Hank McCoy from the past. It was the leader of the chairman of the villain group, 3K, who said, "Oh my stars and garters." This leaves this writer to believe this is Hank McCoy from the Age of Krakoa. After all, we never saw a body at the end of Wolverine: The Beast Agenda.
What's next for the X-Men?
In 2026, the X-Men will enter a new era called Shadows of Tomorrow. On top of new beginnings and series, Marvel says, “In its aftermath, the X-Men are now armed with knowledge to prevent one of the darkest futures in Marvel Comics history. It’s time to embrace bold action, strengthen alliances, and empower the next generation! United, the X-Men will alter mutant kind’s fate and ensure their dream isn’t darkened by the SHADOWS OF TOMORROW!”
All of this means that, on top of 3K getting information from the future about the X-Virus, mutants will have it harder than ever. Fortunately, there's good news.
Comic book fans can expect the elder mutants like Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, and Cyclops to focus more on getting the younger generation prepared for the worst. Some of them will be the newer mutants like the Outliers (in Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men) and the ones from Exceptional X-Men. But, before that happens, we’ll have to wait and see how Cyclops reacts to Doug after everything he experienced in the future (X-Men No. 23 by Jed MacKay).
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