This October 7, Marvel will unleash its new Midnight imprint, with the trio of horror-themed series Midnight: X-Men, Midnight: Spider-Man and Midnight: Fantastic Four. Now, fans can see an awesome combo of mutant powers and vampiric hunger.
In promo images so far, fans have seen Cyclops as a vampire hunter, Nightcrawler as a warrior priest, and iconic mutants including Storm and Gambit as vampires. However, nothing else comes close to what Midnight: X-Men is doing with founding hero Iceman...
Iceman Is Made of Blood as the X-Men Turn Vampiric
Marvel recently revealed new solicit information for Midnight: X-Men #1 and #2 (from Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte) including official variant covers. The pick of the bunch is Skan Srisuwan's cover for issue 2, showing Iceman made of frozen blood, riding a ruby-red blood slide into battle. Usually composing his body from water, this is a logical but ghoulish extension of his mutant abilities.
Midnight: X-Men follows a conflict between three factions: mutants, vampires and 'mutant empyres.' The latter are mutants who have been infected by the undead virus, becoming their own superpowered undead group who battle against traditional vampires and attempt to turn the remaining mutants into children of the night.
Variant covers can take creative liberties with the comics they appear on, but the idea of a vampiric (or 'empyric') Iceman made of blood is too good not to use - the ultimate superhuman vampire, constructed of the very substance that feeds his power.
Only Storm is confirmed as an official empyre so far, however if Iceman is by her side, it makes sense that their group would be so powerful. Storm and Iceman are both considered Omega-level mutants, with Iceman able to freeze time itself at his most powerful. Hopefully, he lacks that ability as a vampire, or the war is all but over before it begins.
Iceman Is Usually the X-Men's Ultimate Anti-Vampire Weapon
Iceman joining the empyres of Midnight: X-Men is a huge blow for Cyclops' anti-vamp faction, given Bobby Drake has perhaps the ultimate anti-vampire power. In the Curse of the Mutants event story (which saw a vampire army target the X-Men), Iceman asked a priest to bless him in ice form, turning his body into solidified holy water.
In the war that followed, Iceman could kill vampires on contact thanks to this smart workaround. The tactic would have made him invaluable in the horror-themed world of Midnight, so it makes sense the undead would target him for recruitment.
As well as the mutants above, Dike Ruan's main cover for Midnight: X-Men #2 appears to show Beast, Angel and Jean Grey in the background. This may be Cyclops' anti-vampire team, or simply reveal the fates of the founding X-Men - flecks of blood around Beast suggest he may have been transformed.
One character who is notable by their absence is Wolverine. That's likely because Marvel is keeping him back, ready to star in his own Midnight series if the imprint's launch goes well. Not all the Midnight comics are about vampires (Fantastic Four will focus on cosmic horror, while Spider-Man will depict animalistic transformations), so it's likely Marvel is holding Logan back for his own unique horror twist.
This October, Marvel will unleash a twisted new reality where monsters reign supreme, with a few heroes left fighting for the light. Among these horrors, founding X-Men hero Iceman will seemingly become the ultimate superhuman vampire - an undead revenant whose body is entirely made of blood.
Midnight X-Men #1 is coming October 7 from Marvel Comics.
Movie(s)
X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
TV Show(s)
X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men '97 (2024)
Video Game(s)
X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)
First Film
X-Men (2000)
Character(s)
Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23
Comic Release Date
213035,212968
English (US) ·