63 Years Later, Marvel Gives A Founding X-Men Hero Horrific New Powers

The X-Men have their most harrowing and mysterious adventure ahead of them via Midnight X-Men, the upcoming series from Marvel’s new horror-centric publishing line. All three of the books that have been revealed thus far—Midnight X-Men, Midnight Fantastic Four, and Midnight Spider-Man—are exploring different horror subgenres with their eponymous characters, and Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte’s Midnight X-Men series has already revealed a bunch of creative redesigns for some of the X-Men’s most iconic mutants (though in this continuity, some of them are vampires who are warring with mutants).

Part of the fun of this book, not unlike what DC has achieved with the Absolute universe, will be seeing new iterations of classic characters and how Midnight X-Men proposes to challenge or twist their traditional iconography. Perhaps one redesign that is the most curious so far is that of Robert “Bobby” Drake’s Iceman.

Marvel Just Revealed Its Gnarliest Iceman Redesign Ever

You might not inherently assume that he is, due to how elementary his powers seem on paper, but Iceman is an Omega-level X-Men mutant. He’s demonstrated this in numerous ways across 63 years of rich X-Men and Marvel lore, ever since he was a founding member of the X-Men alongside Angel, Beast, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl.

Whether he’s a statuesque figure carved out of ice or a fluffy, powdery snowman, Iceman is literally one of the coolest X-Men characters ever. That said, with what seems to be the ability to freeze blood, specifically, Midnight X-Men’s Iceman may be one of the wildest reimaginings of the character ever, too.

In Midnight X-Men, which boasts a dark fantasy atmosphere, surprisingly, Iceman is being interpreted in a way that is left somewhat ambiguous right now. When editor Nick Lowe said, “I assume that’s not water,” during the Marvel Midnight Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, as per Bleeding Cool, all Hickman had to say was, “Yes, that’s correct.”

Midnight X-Men Is Teasing A Rich Fantasy Mythology

Ironically, Iceman may not even be called ‘Iceman’ in this universe, unless his powers are strictly that he can turn anything to ice. It’s also not plainly clear based on the cover alone, but it does appear as if Iceman bears slightly longer incisors, implying that he is affiliated with Midnight X-Men’s vampires.

This cover artwork is only as striking as it is because Iceman is blood-red, and it’d make sense for this to be his look, in particular, if he’s only capable of freezing blood. If it turns out that blood is only one of many things that he’s able to freeze, the novelty of this gimmick and the body horror applications it could have might not be as great compared to his original X-Men counterpart.

In terms of every other vampire or mutant character, Midnight X-Men’s Iceman is proof that nobody should go into this book with any expectations as to what their abilities will be, as they’re likely to be quite unprecedented. While the solicitation for issue #2 simply and amusingly reads, “Eat. Prey. Love,” the solicitation for Midnight X-Men #1 is a bit more descriptive and reads as follows:

AN ALL-NEW, ALL-DISTURBING UNIVERSE BEGINS HERE!

The clock strikes midnight, and it’s the dark dawn of a new era. The shadows of New York City are stalked by vampires and the mutant empyres. The sword of Damocles hangs over the peace between these two species and the factions within them. An outright war is brewing and the unturned will be caught in the crossfire.

Blockbuster comic book writer Jonathan Hickman returns to the X-Men with a hunger for blood as this new world of terror reimagines the heroes of the Marvel Universe!

Midnight X-Men #2 is scheduled to be released on November 18, 2026.