DNX is Marvel’s next big crossover, and it could potentially redefine what makes a mutant. At the center of the event is a five-issue miniseries by writer Jed MacKay and artist Federico Vicentini, set to kick off in September. Leading with the tagline, “Evolution is contagious,” the event features an evil Beast from the future, calling himself The Chairman and threatening to unleash a virus that will turn all humans into mutants.
The Beast’s nefarious plan has been slowly building since the start of MacKay’s X-Men run in 2024. In DNX, a post-Age of Revelations Cyclops is reaching out to other Marvel heroes to prevent Hank’s plan from going off. The Fantastic Four are set to play a major role, but the implications of the event could include pretty much the whole Marvel Universe, including the Avengers.
According to X-Men lore, mutants are an evolved race of super-powered individuals who are “hated and feared” by the general populace. Though their superpowers may not seem so different from other Marvel heroes like Spider-Man or Daredevil, the fact that they are born with powers and often struggle to control them is what sets the mutants apart. Heroes like the Avengers tend to stumble across their powers by scientific or magical means, while mutants (Homo superior) are a different subspecies of Homo sapiens entirely. That genetic difference is caused by the mysterious and ill-defined X-Gene.
So, what does it mean if, all of a sudden, everyone is a mutant? After all, it doesn’t exactly make sense that a virus would be able to completely rewrite a person’s genetic identity from the ground up, does it? Putting aside Hank’s confusing scientific conclusions, this X-Virus also potentially erases the line between mutants and any other hero. Does that mean mutants would gain universal approval, the likes of which The Fantastic Four enjoy? Or does it mean that heroes like the Avengers will now be subject to greater distrust from the public, limiting their ability to operate freely? If everyone is a mutant, do all Marvel stories become X-Men stories?
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We’ve still got more questions than answers as to how this is all going to go down, to say the least. As for why Hank McCoy would think unleashing a virus was a good idea, it can likely be chalked up to the fact that he constantly exercises extremely poor judgment. Ostensibly desiring to erase bigotry in one fell swoop by eliminating genetic differences, it’s much more likely that this will cause extreme backlash from people who have been forced to become mutants against their will.
This plan is weirdly reminiscent of the Inhumans’ Terrigen Bomb. This device was built by Black Bolt’s brother Maximus the Mad and detonated by Black Bolt himself during the Infinity crossover and continued in the Inhumanity storyline. When it went off, thousands of people with vague Inhuman lineage underwent instant Terrigenesis, a transformation process that Inhumans undergo that often entails immense physical change. This occurred when Marvel was trying desperately to make the Inhumans happen, a ploy that was abandoned not long after. You’d think Hank would learn, but, then again, he never does.
DNX #1 is currently up for preorder online or at your local comic shop, and features several impressive variant covers to choose from. There is also the option of DNX True Believers Blind Bags, which will include variant covers not otherwise available. An extended preview is set to appear on Comics Giveaway Day via Armageddon/X-Men #1 CGD, which will drop on May 2. DNX #1 drops Sept. 2.
