Marvel's X-Men panel was full of reveals today. First up: Mutants are back! ...kind of. In the aftermath of "Second Coming," five new lights appeared on Cerebro. There are new mutants to be found out there, and Kieron Gillen is the man tasked with chronicling that story. In November 2010, Gillen is launching "Generation Hope," an ongoing series that features an all-new X-Men team and the introductory saga of the first new mutants in years.
Back in the '90s, well-loved team series "Generation X," featuring such fan-favorites as Chamber and Jubilee, spun out of the Phalanx Covenant and turned a brand new generation of mutants into the latest iteration of the X-Men. This new series will tap that vibe once again, with five brand new mutants who have some as-yet unexplained connection to Hope, the young lady who kicked off "Second Coming." The series is about "five people, who before yesterday, were completely normal" before having their entire lives upended, said "Uncanny X-Men" writer Matt Fraction.
Gillen described the rise of these new mutants as "not an easy thing." Fraction and Gillen are going to very slowly rebuild the mutant population, but it will be a long process - and one not done just because people want to create new characters. The first issue of the "Five Lights" arc in "Uncanny X-Men" hits this Wednesday, and after that wraps, we'll see "Generation Hope" on the stands.


Marvel's X-Men panel also revealed that Wolverine is the new Deadpool! (who was the new Wolverine! - I guess Wolverine is the new, old Wolverine?). The publisher has four new Wolverine-related ongoing series coming this fall. Charlie Huston and Juan Rose Ryp are introducing some brand new enemies into Wolverine's life in "Wolverine: The Best There Is." This series pits Wolverine against an enemy that isn't just a guy with claws, and promises to be horrifically violent and something fresh.
The other three series are about Wolverine, his female clone, and his villainous son. Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes are writing "Wolverine," a brand new number one that sees Wolvie running around in hell... and while he's there, something from hell is going to be running around in his body.

Marjorie Liu is shepherding Wolverine's daughter, X-23, into the limelight in an eponymous series. Daniel Way is taking care of the darker side of the Wolverine family in "Daken: Dark Wolverine" with Giuseppe Camuncoli.
And in tangentially related Wolverine news... Rick Rememnder and Jerome Opeña are launching "Uncanny X-Force" in October, where Wolverine and a few of his killingest friends are going to keep the black ops side of the X-Men going strong. Look for Archangel, Psylocke, Fantomex (in an all-new costume), and an obscure character called Deadpool to be the core of the team.
In January 2011, the next arc of the ongoing "X-Men" series will introduce a brand new status quo for the X-Men. Rather than being the creepy mutants on the side, the X-Men will be taking a larger bite out of the Marvel universe. They're going to be doing some good old fashioned traditional superheroing, teaming up or fighting against people like Spider-Man and the Hulk, and doing their best to serve as a task force for normal Joes. Marvel didn't announce a creative team yet, however.

Check out covers from many of the upcoming X-books below: