Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!
Before we begin, I want to take a moment to reflect on the passing of artist Joshua Cassara on September 22, 2026. For X-Fans like myself, who believe the First Krakoan Age delivered some of the best X-Men stories ever produced, losing the illustrator behind the Green Lagoon and countless other iconic images from the era hits hard. But beyond being an incredible artist, Josh was also an incredible friend to X-Men Monday.
I had Josh’s email from a pre-launch X-Force interview in October 2019, so when comics essentially shut down for a stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was determined to keep this column going, even if there was nothing new to promote. Josh was among the writers and artists I reached out to for a series of creator spotlights. At the end of spring 2020, not only did he agree to an interview with me at a time when daily life couldn’t have felt more dire, but he agreed to create a sketch based on Twitter poll results, so long as we then auctioned it off with the money going to the Hero Initiative. Who did X-Fans want to see sipping a cocktail at the Green Lagoon? Maggott, of course! But despite having other priorities, Josh turned a one-of-a-kind piece around very quickly—and even decided to add poll runner-up Jean Grey. And then, Josh did it again to help celebrate X-Men Monday #100. While we initially discussed Josh creating a special Green Lagoon tiki mug to commemorate the column’s 100th edition, he ultimately decided to whip up a cover-worthy image of Hellfire Gala Emma Frost toasting the occasion. Once again, the money for this piece went straight to comic book creators in need.
That’s just a glimpse into the Josh I was fortunate to know. It’s been wonderful to see the outpouring of love from Josh’s collaborators within the comics community, as well as reflections from fans and journalists like myself that highlight Josh’s passion for creating comics and his kindness and appreciation for those who consume them. Rest in peace, Josh, and thank you for everything.
Josh reminded us how awesome comics can be, so let’s do what we do best and get excited about new comics! And honestly, do they get any more exciting than Marvel’s upcoming Midnight line, which already has orders topping 1 million and second printings on the way?
I know I’m hyped to see what Benjamin Percy, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Jonathan Hickman, and their creative collaborators have in store for us on October 7, 2026. But more immediately, I’m hyped that Jonathan is making his first X-Men Monday appearance since X-Men Monday #125 in September 2021 to shed a bit more light on the mysterious Midnight X-Men.
Obviously, you all submitted a lot of questions for Jonathan, so as is tradition, I gave the famously spoilers-averse writer more options than I expected him to answer. Read on to see if your question was selected!
AIPT: Welcome back to X-Men Monday, Jonathan!
Jonathan Hickman: Okay, thanks for having me. As usual, I’ll do my best to answer these without actually answering anything at all.
AIPT: We wouldn’t have it any other way. First up, X-Fan KingdomX asks what made you want to return to the X-Men after the work you’d done with the franchise during the Krakoan Age?
Jonathan: I think it’s pretty common knowledge that, growing up, the X-Men was the one Marvel franchise I followed year after year. Obviously, I was overjoyed to be working on the X-Men when I launched the Krakoan Age withHouse of X, but I think it’s also pretty common knowledge that I left the book earlier than planned. To that end, I never felt like I properly scratched that itch the way I had wanted to, so when we were trying to figure out what franchises would work in a Marvel horror universe, it seemed like enough time had passed for me to jump back into all things X-Men.
The other reason why this particular opportunity seemed to be the correct one was that it allows me to write the franchise the way I like to write. By that, I mean this will be the only X-book in the Midnight Universe, so I potentially have the entire pantheon of characters to play with and to move around in what I consider to be a grand, operatic, but siloed, way (which I think is the manner that best reflects the velocity and density of the very best Marvel stories and is almost impossible to do when the broader line has to be 20-30% of Marvel’s output). I guess I’d say it avoids the sprawl and allows the writing to be more Claremontian, to use a four-letter word.
AIPT: An entire X-Men universe contained and tightly controlled within a single title is a very appealing concept. And yes, very Claremontian. Now, X-Fans godofgriots, Kenneth, Maurice Cormier, and Thinker all want to know what made you want to focus on vampires.
Jonathan: Lot of reasons. The first is that horror is traditionally novelistic, and it has a rich history of genres, subgenres, and tropes which have lent themselves to being repeated over and over as cultural mainstays. Philip had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do with Spider-Man. The same with Ben and the Fantastic Four. I also knew the direction that I wanted to go, but it really got firmed up whenever we started talking about what pieces we might want to visit in the future (like if and when the books touch each other, and if and when the universe might grow by a title).
There’s also a thing I tend to do when other creators throw out ideas: I usually ask, “Well, did you think about doing it this way, or did you think about maybe taking a left turn when you took a right turn?” It’s the same with all the previously published Marvel books about vampires, especially where those have touched the X-books over the years. I saw a ton of meat left on the bone. Much in the same way that, like when Brian Michael Bendis did the Illuminati inNew Avengersfor several issues and then moved on, I saw how an ongoing Illuminati book could potentially reshape the entire Marvel Universe. This is the same kind of thing.
But primarily, the reason why I think it’s interesting here is that it offers a franchise that is almost always about ‘humans’ and ‘mutants’ (or, like in my previous X-Men work, where I distilled all previous metaphors down to ‘us’ and ‘them’) the opportunity to lay a secondary, more complex system over the top of it. So it allows you to twist and morph and reshape all of the traditional conflicts the X-books like to use into something that isn’t binary anymore. It becomes multifaceted. More interesting. A better conduit for surprise and delight.
And honestly, I like it when people say, “This is an old idea, it’s been done before, and there’s nothing new to be offered here.” Neutered expectations and incorrect assumptions are a fun starting point.
AIPT: Fortunately, in comics, those are never in short supply! Related,X-Fans Alex Dee, beniamino bedusa, Daniel Tovar Jr., godofgriots, Maurice Cormier, Owen S., Suskay, and WhiteHotRoom_HQ all ask if there are any vampire stories across literature, film, or other media that inspired what you’re building in Midnight X-Men?
Jonathan: Of course.
AIPT: X-Fans August and Hedgewitch250 point out that the X-Men are already established in the Midnight Universe, whereas Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are re-imagined from the ground up. What was the thought process for changing them later in their story, and how does that idea influence this new mythos?
Jonathan: The fact that I just watched Peach Momoko do this in the Ultimate line had some influence, but I think the more concrete reasons are that all three books shouldn’t have the same ‘energy’ and, more than that, because of the scale of the story I’m doing, I wanted a background of existing lore so I could tell the story both forwards and backwards.
It’ll make sense from the jump, but you’ll really start to get a sense of how much grist we’re getting for that mill in the second and third arc.
AIPT: X-Fan Fergus McDuck wonders, since you’ve already written a run on X-Men, was it challenging making sure Midnight X-Men doesn’t become too similar to what you did in the Krakoan Age?
Jonathan: Oh, this is pretty close to 180 degrees from all that stuff. I hope it feels like it has the same kind of effort and energy, and I’m sure I’ll wink at things I’ve done before, but I’m headed in a totally different direction.
The world, the tone, the motivations, the dilemma the characters are facing—they’re all pretty big departures.
AIPT: X-Fan Joshua Nagle asks if you can you tell us a little about how the Catholic Church will factor into Midnight X-Men.
Jonathan: The church is thousands of years old. It’s an information delivery system. Nightcrawler is a Bishop. Bishop is a prophet. Exodus is a saint. Rich lore suits other rich lore, which the X-books have an abundance of. It’ll be cool. You might think it won’t, but it will.
AIPT: X-Fans Eustache La Pistache and Nobin say you’ve mentioned readers can expect “long-form payoffs.” At this point, how many story arcs do you have planned for Midnight X-Men?
Jonathan: I could tell you pretty specifically what the first six arcs are. So that’s 36 issues, I guess. But the reality is that on something of this scale, things tend to slide back a bit as the story expands when you’re writing it.
I’ve also spoken to both Steve [Wacker] and Brad [Winderbaum] to make sure I’m not wasting my time, and I’ve been assured that I’m not, so I’m not going anywhere. I’m finally working on a book again that’s both exciting AND structurally appropriate for what I like to do and what I’m best at. Feels good, honestly.
AIPT: I love the idea of the Midnight line’s “Cloaked Covers.” This makes me think not only of your desire to withhold advance covers and solicitations, but also an almost blind bag-like experience. Could you talk a bit about how this twist on traditional covers came about?
Jonathan: This is pretty straightforward. Jay Bowen at Marvel is a really great designer, and we requested for him to work on these and got all the rope we asked for and more. If I’m remembering this correctly, Jay locked onto this design pretty early, and everyone dug it. There was actually a version where there was going to be an acetate overlay, but I think we shelved that because it would have only been for the first issue. But I could be remembering that wrong.
Anyway, the answer is Jay Bowen. He’s pretty great.
AIPT: A famous element of the Krakoan Age was the X-Slack, and you’ve got two X-Slack alums—Midnight Fantastic Four writer Benjamin Percy and Senior Editor Jordan D. White—alongside you on this Midnight adventure. Do you have something similar this time around, with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and other collaborators?
Jonathan: We do not have a Slack. We normally don’t talk to each other at all. I actually had to break up a fight between the two of them at San Diego Comic-Con. Which was fine. I suppose a little healthy competition is a good thing.
My assistant usually talks to Jordan or any other editorial person at Marvel. I stopped taking their calls or responding to emails a while ago because, when my lawyer negotiated my most recent contract, we put language in there that limits electronic communication and in-person eye contact.
You have to be firm about these things.
AIPT: Totally understandable. Jordan’s a wild card. As we wrap up, X-Fan Quinncy Kessler wants to know what you’re most excited for people to see in Midnight X-Men.
Jonathan: Things like what Iceman really looks like instead of all the misdirection we’ve put out there.
Which brings up RB Silva, who has worked on all the character designs for the book. Which is a crazy tough job, because the X-characters have such an ingrained style baked into them. But he’s done an amazing job. The designs are so good and so much fun.
AIPT: Is there a “Midnight” take on an X-Men character that’s made them feel like an entirely new character?
Jonathan: Yes.
AIPT: Finally, X-Fan Iron wants to know how you went about choosing which characters fit into which roles in this new universe. For example, Storm is a vampire, but Cyclops isn’t. What motivated these decisions and the character selection?
Jonathan: It’s pretty simple. All the characters I like are now vampires. All the characters I don’t like will be soon enough.
(Also, for everyone reading this who asked a question about whether certain characters show up—there were a lot of you—the answer is probably, because the cast of this book is huge. Will you all be happy? Nope. Will you all be sad? Definitely. It’s a horror story.)
Finally, I did want to plug that we have not one, but two, Matteos working on this book: Matteo Della Fonte and Matteo Buffagni. Both are exceptional artists and doing incredible work, while our colorist, Arthur Hesli, might have the hardest, most important job of all of us in nailing the tone and mood of the story. It also goes without saying that all three should be commended for putting up with my nonsense. It’s unending.
All right. That’s it. Midnight X-Men is out October 7th. I hope you’ll check it out, and more than that, I hope you love it. I know all of us working on it do. Thanks!
AIPT: Thank you, Jonathan, for taking the time to stop by X-Men Monday and answer a few questions!
And X-Fans, I know this is usually when you get to see some eXclusive art, but that won’t be the case for Midnight X-Men. You’ll just need to purchase a copy of Midnight X-Men #1 on October 7 and discover what’s behind that cloaked cover, just like we used to in the olden days. In a time when we’re inundated with spoilers—often against our will—that’s pretty refreshing, in my humble opinion.
Next X-Men Monday – October 5, 2026
In the next edition of X-Men Monday, writer Alex Paknadel returns to discuss X-Men: Incursions #1!
Until next time, X-Fans, stay eXceptional!
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