Welcome, X-Fans, to another uncanny edition of X-Men Monday at AIPT!
You know you’re getting older when Marvel decides to revisit comics you remember buying on a new comic book day not too long ago. At least, the lead-up to Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s Secret Warsfelt like it wasn’t too long ago, but in fairness, it was over 10 years ago. Either way, Avengers: Doomsday will be here before you know it, so the House of Ideas is celebrating some of its source material in a series of Incursions one-shots, kicking off with X-Men: Incursions #1 on November 18, 2026.
What happens when the Days of Future Past and House of M universes collide, with only one able to survive the incursion? I’m not sure—but with writer Alex Paknadel and artist Jim Towe on the one-shot, you know you’re in for a great story! Even better, Alex agreed to return to X-Men Monday to share a bit more about what we can expect. Let’s see what he has to say.
AIPT: Welcome back to X-Men Monday, Alex!
Alex Paknadel: Thanks for having me again! Always a pleasure.
AIPT: First, before we discuss X-Men: Incursions #1, I’ve noticed you’ve been tackling quite a few ambitious one-shots. You had Ultimate Universe: Two Years In, What If…? Secret Wars, and now X-Men: Incursions, which smashes two universes together. I feel like every comic book writer’s dream is more pages, but is there any joy in being limited to just one issue?
Alex: I will say that minis and maxis are probably my preferred form. I like breathing room, but I also like bounded stories with defined beginnings, middles, and ends. That said, the challenge of telling complete, emotionally consequential stories in a single issue can be a lot of fun. It also allows you to scratch a lot of itches if that makes sense. I’ve played in the Immortal Hulk, The Darkhold: Spider-Man, and the Ultimate Universe sandboxes, which have been immensely satisfying. The only downside is that you have to make some quite ruthless decisions in terms of page real estate. If you’re dropping in on a beloved universe or scenario people haven’t seen in a while, it’s impossible to give every fan favorite character the spotlight they deserve.
AIPT: OK, on to the comic! X-Fan Pixman asks, what made you choose the Days of Future Past and House of M universes for your story?
Alex: Hey, Pixman! The easy and truthful answer to this is, “I didn’t.” Tom Brevoort approached me with the intriguing idea of using the multiversal decay concept introduced by Jonathan Hickman in the lead-up to Secret Wars to pit a mutant dystopia against a mutant utopia. I instantly saw the dramatic potential in the idea and ran with it from there. The biggest challenge was assigning real estate for each universe. Days of Future Past has this colossal cultural footprint, but the core story is only two issues. House of M, on the other hand, was a modern crossover with something like fifty issues in total. For that reason, it made sense to me to spend more time in the House of M reality, but to anchor it with a POV character from Days of Future Past to foreground the contrast.
AIPT: For the readers who are just learning about X-Men: Incursions for the first time, what can they expect to find in its pages?
Alex: So, the idea is that in the run-up to Secret Wars, the multiverse is rapidly contracting. Realities are colliding, and the touch points for those collisions are always alternate Earths. In our story, the realities of Days of Future Past and House of M are about to collide, but before that happens—and for reasons that will be made clear in the issue—Doctor Strange takes Kate Pryde (the older Kitty Pryde) to the House of M Earth to catch a glimpse of a world where mutants aren’t brutally subjugated and killed. I was inspired by stories like It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol, but I essentially flipped their structure on its head. Kate gets to see the world she could have won if things had only been slightly different. It’s not a spoiler to say she doesn’t take it well.
AIPT: X-Fan Heather wonders what made you choose Kate Pryde (and specifically the Days of Future Past incarnation) as the central character of this story.
Alex: Thanks, Heather! I chose Kate Pryde because she’s the protagonist of the original Days of Future Past, so she felt like the most logical and organic throughline to orient readers in our story. When this jaded and cynical Kate Pryde appeared, her younger counterpart had only been appearing in Uncanny X-Men for a year or so. The tonal whiplash between that sunny kid sister type and this grieving mother and partner must have been wild. She’s endured more tragedy than just about anybody in Days of Future Past, but she’s still taking the fight to the Sentinels every chance she gets. She’s a fantastic protagonist with real pathos, so she was the only choice to anchor this story and make its emotional stakes feel real.
AIPT: X-Fan John Klein III is a huge fan of your What If…? Secret Wars and loves how you wrote Ultimate Shadowcat, so John’s extremely excited to see you write both Days of Future Past Kate Pryde and House of M school teacher Ms. Pryde. What is it about a Pryde you enjoy writing?
Alex: Thanks for the kind words about What If…? Secret Wars, John! I was offered this gig right after that one-shot dropped, and I’m certain the warm reception it was given had a lot to do with it, so thanks again! As for the Pryde of it all, I think part of it is that she’s been our eyes and ears in this world since her introduction, right? Some of us aspire to be Scott or Emma or Logan or Ororo, but Kitty just innately feels like one of us. If you were to interact with these larger-than-life characters, you’d want the relationship to be close to the one Kitty has with her teammates, I think. She’s extremely relatable, and so readers—me included—always seem to identify with her quite fiercely. That’s just my two cents, naturally.
AIPT: X-Fan Dan says, considering we’re using Days of Future Past Kitty, will we get to see her and Rachel Summers interact?
Alex: Hi Dan! No Rachel this time, sorry! I kept it more or less confined to the original two-parter, but only due to space constraints. Rachel is inarguably the most significant legacy of Days of Future Past, so a cameo or a short scene with her really wouldn’t have done her justice. I really tried to make it work early in the planning stages, but it was already bursting at the seams. I know that’s not what you want to hear, sorry.
AIPT: X-Fan Patrick Maloney’s favorite part of your Cyclops limited series was the Reavers! Patrick wants to know what kinds of baddies we’ll see in X-Men: Incursions.
Alex: Thanks for the kind words, Patrick! Cyclops was true labor of love, and I’m so glad it connected with the fans. To your question, in our story you won’t see baddies so much as huge cosmic forces of antagonism, if that makes sense. We have very nasty Sentinels, to be sure, but the imminent threat is that two universes are about to collide and annihilate each other! The baddie is multiversal entropy!
AIPT: X-Fan Pixman returns with another question! In X-Men: Incursions’ cover art, we can see House of M Ms. Marvel. Does that mean we might see other House of M Marvel heroes, like Spider-Man or Cloak and Dagger?
Alex: Hi again, Pixman! You will indeed see other House of M heroes, but as this is an X-Men-focused one-shot, I’m going to be focusing predominantly on our mutant friends. Keep your eyes peeled, though!
AIPT: As we wrap up, you’ve got Jim Towe on art. What can we expect from Jim’s visuals?
Alex: Jim had a tricky brief here, which was to essentially flit seamlessly between the aesthetics of John Byrne, Simone Bianchi, Olivier Coipel, and others. That’s a huge ask, but he rose to the challenge admirably. Everything feels of a piece, and—as ever—Jim’s storytelling is peerless. I wanted to convey big emotion in this one, and a lot of it is conveyed through silent panels with meaningful glances, etc. Jim ran with all of it and made it his own. I’ve been very fortunate with my collaborators, and Jim is no exception. He’s also a big action guy, so you can expect some crazy pyrotechnics in this one.
AIPT: Finally, the last time we talked in an X-Men Monday, you were reflecting on Cyclops, but had X-Men: Incursions secretly in the works. So, before you go… anything you can tease about future Alex Paknadel projects we can look forward to?
Alex: Well, I have a creator-owned book and a couple licensed books coming down the pike. I think I’m also reasonably safe to say I might not be quite done in the X-Office just yet. It’s honestly my happy place, so thanks again to the fans for keeping me there for a couple of years now. It’s been the privilege of my career.
AIPT: Well, as long as you keep writing them, it’s a privilege to read them! But on that note—thanks for stopping by X-Men Monday, Alex!
Remember, X-Fans, X-Men: Incursions #1 goes on sale November 18, 2026. The final order cutoff is October 12, 2026, so be sure to preorder if you haven’t already to secure your copy! And if you still need convincing, here are four eXclusive, unlettered pages featuring Jim Towe and colorist Fer Sifuentes-Sujo’s artwork, courtesy of our friends at Marvel.
Next X-Men Monday – October 12, 2026
In the next edition of X-Men Monday, writer Paul Jenkins makes his X-Men Monday debut to discuss the upcoming Wolverine: Origin III – The Dark Age limited series.
Until next time, X-Fans, stay eXceptional!
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