The new X-Men #1 explained: Everything you need to know about their new mission, new base, and new enemies

The new X-Men #1 is here, marking the first full issue of the relaunched ‘From the Ashes’ era of the X-line. And with it comes the first extended glimpses of the new X-Men status quo, including the main team’s base, their mission, and how they fit into the world.

So what’s it all about? We’ll unpack all the major developments from X-Men #1 by writer Jed MacKay, artist Ryan Stegman, inker JP Mayer, colorist Marte Gracia, and letterer Clayton Cowles.

Spoilers ahead for X-Men #1

X-Men #1 follows two concurrent stories – one in which Beast, newly reborn as his heroic self from shortly after his time on the Avengers, shows the X-Men’s new base of operations to the chief of police of the small town in Alaska where they’ve taken up residence, and another in which Cyclops leads his new X-Men team on a rescue mission for another A-list mutant.

In Beast’s portion, the bouncing blue mutant shows chief Paula Robbins of the Merle, Alaska police department all around the X-Men’s new base, set up in the town’s former factory, which closed before the X-Men came to town.

Beast introduces her to their hydroponic growing operation, overseen by Glob Herman, which grows a number of food crops, and introduces her to Xorn, the X-Men’s team medic. Through it all Beast tries to foster an atmosphere of friendliness – even after it’s revealed that this isn’t just any factory, it’s a former Sentinel factory, which the X-Men have now reclaimed.

But Magneto – now hovering in a throne-like chair akin to Professor Xavier’s iconic golden floating chair – is far less welcoming to chief Robbins, making it clear he sees himself as the “dragon,” who will ensure that “my Children of the Atom will thrive,” and that he is to be feared.

Over on Cyclops’ mission, he leads Magik, Juggernaut, Psylocke, Kid Omega, and Temper on a mission to save none other than Wolverine and six other newly activated mutants, all of whom are being experimented on by an Orchis spin-off group known as the Fourth School, who believe they can create a new form of life that is a fusion of humans, mutants, and AI.

The team manages to rescue Wolverine, however it turns out that the newly activated mutants aren’t adolescents of the age when mutant powers usually activate, but full grown adults whose X-genes have been artificially activated (like what happened in Deadpool’s origin). And what’s more, they’re indoctrinated soldiers for the Fourth School.

The X-Men manage to fight their way out of the base and force the Fourth School mutants to flee, but Wolverine refuses to go join Cyclops’ new team, telling Cyclops not to contact him again (we know he’ll be showing up as part of August’s Uncanny X-Men #1). Cyclops and Beast discuss both of their separate experiences, while standing under the shadow of a massive, frozen Sentinel – which Cyclops says is to remain in place a while longer so the humans “don’t forget what they owe us.”

Overall, this fresh start feels like a bit of a rehash of the goals of the Krakoa era, with Cyclops, Beast, and Magneto uniting to build a self-sustaining community of mutants in the heart of Alaska. But aside from the much less advanced and ambitious lifestyle the X-Men have created, there’s one key difference from how the X-Men started off the Krakoa era.

In this case, they’re not trying to appeal to humankind for co-existence through sharing their advanced mutant technology and engaging in diplomacy. They’re stating in no uncertain terms that they will exist in the world alongside humanity, and they will defend themselves however they have to while reminding humanity how mutants have historically been treated.