With the latest X-Men event, Second Coming, beginning to wind down to a close, Marvel has released a series of new teasers, promising us “A New Generation of Hope”.
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Of course, these have caught the eye of many intrepid X-Men fans for one simple reason: the font used in the promos is the same as the logo of the Generation X ongoing series from the mid-to-late 90s which introduced popular X-Men characters such as Jono and M.
With most of the team primarily debuting during the Phalanx Covenant crossover, Generation X was a team mentored by Banshee and Emma Frost (shortly after she had shed her evil persona)at the Xavier Institute’s newly established Massachusetts campus. The book, which debuted in 1994, served as a vehicle to creators Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo, who stayed with the title until 1997. It was eventually cancelled in 2001 though a mini-series, Generation M, was released in 2005, focusing on the team’s members in the wake of M-Day and the House of M crossover. Several members of the team were de-powered on M Day, and recently served as unpowered vigilantes in New Warriors.
Of course, this leads to many speculations as to what the new generation of hope is. Obviously, the assumption is that the Messiah Child, Hope, will be involved. The release of a third picture brings about more questions, as the man pictured resembles Landslide, a member of an X-Men team created by a rogue Cerebro during Professor X’s incarceration.
There’s still plenty of time, but considering that Marvel’s been re-releasing revamped versions of X-Force and New Mutants, it fits their current trend to release an updated Generation X, especially with former team member Jubilee figuring prominently into the upcoming Mutants vs. Vampires arc launching in X-Men #1 after Second Coming wraps up. This time, however, we can hope they skip out on the awful TV movie.
