Next month's X-Men: Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 one-shot is set to kick off the next major event in the lives of Marvel's X-Men characters, The Fall of X, and Marvel has released a trailer for the new comic book, teasing some of the major twists that the X-Men will be dealing with at this year's Hellfire Gala.
In a press release, Marvel reveals, "FALL OF X will upend the age of Krakoa as we know it and scatter your favorite characters and X-Titles across the world and beyond as they’re left reeling after shocking revelations, stunning betrayals, and impossible deaths at the Hellfire Gala." It added, "The action-packed trailer spotlights the glitz and glamour before revealing how things take a dark turn as Nimrod, the greatest threat to mutantkind, arrives, with an army of Stark Sentinels not far behind. And that’s just the start of the night’s uninvited guests..."
What does this one-shot have to do with the Fall of X?
The Hellfire Gala, essentially a state dinner for the current world of mutants on the mutant nation of Krakoa, where mutants can show off their global achievements to the rest of the world (including the non-mutant superheroes), has been a regular occurrence in the X-Men Universe for a few years now. One of the regular function of the Hellfire Gala has been a vote on who will become a member of the official "main" forward-facing X-Men team (while the vote is an in-universe deal, fans are allowed to pick the final member of the team, from a series of nominees).
This year, though, the Hellfire Gala will be interrupted by a devastating attack that will set up the Fall of X, which suggests that the current era of mutant unity on Krakoa is coming to an end. Writer Gerry Duggan is currently writing Invincible Iron Man, as well, and as you can see from the trailer, Stark-built Sentinels are a major factor in this new event.
What do the covers for the one-shot look like?
One of the key past aspects of the Hellfire Gala has been the distinctive outfits everyone wears (evoking Vanity Fair's yearly Met Gala). The main cover for the one-shot, by Phil Noto, shows off some of those fashions...
2023 is the 60th anniversary of the X-Men, and J. Scott Campbell will be featuring a 60th Anniversary variant for the issue...
As noted, there will be a vote to determine who will join the X-Men's "main" team, and one variant displays the possible options...
There will be a Valerio Schiti cover spotlighting some of the characters from Schiti's upcoming series, G.O.D.S, with Jonathan Hickman, the man who created the Hellfire Gala during his previous stint as the main X-Men writer...
Marvel has been celebrating the late, great George Perez with variant covers spotlighting his art. On this variant cover, we see him draw Polaris and Haovk...
Finally, the upcoming return to the X-Men animated universe is celebrated with an X-Men ’97 Variant Cover by Dan Veesenmeyer...
X-Men: Hellfire Club 2023 #1 is due out July 26th.
Source: Marvel