X-Men Unleashes New "3K X-Men" Team In Dark Reflection of Cyclops' Team
For months, ever since the debut of X-Men #1 last July, fans have been eagerly awaiting more information on the newest X-Men enemy, the organization calling itself "3K," led by the vile Cassandra Nova. Finally, in the pages of the upcoming X-Men #16, 3K's new team of mutant villains will formally debut as a dark reflection of Cyclops' X-Men team.
X-Men has slowly revealed that the insidious new 3K organization is now capable of transforming homo sapiens into homo superior, something never possible in the past except for short bursts when using something like mutant growth hormone.
Cassandra Nova Officially Returns to X-Men Lore, Replacing Magneto as Their Primary Villain
A new era of X-Men stories calls for a new primary antagonist, and the return of Cassandra Nova to the comics suggests she's ready to fill that role.
Revealed in Marvel's latest solicitations, X-Men #16 - from writer Jed MacKay and artist Netho Diaz - will introduce a team of "All-New All-Different X-Men," 3K's very own group of superpowered mutants fighting for their cause. Ryan Stegman designed the epic looks for the six new mutant villains, seen in a gorgeous cover depicting the new team.
3K's New Mutant Villains Were Revealed In The First Issue
They are a group of former spies and terrorists
For fans who have been reading MacKay and Stegman's X-Men since its debut issue, there will be some striking similarities between 3K's new mutant team and some mutants Cyclops' X-Men fought in #1. Investigating six new mutants, detected by Cerebro, Cyclops and his Alaskan X-Men team were shocked to discover that the mutants were part of the Fourth School. The organization, an off-shoot of Orchis that believed in John Sublime's eugenics theories on post-human evolution, was working with the 3K group, and had discovered the ability to activate latent X-Genes in fully grown adult humans.
X-Men Reveals a Mysterious New Group of Evil Mutants in Secret Bonus Scene
The X-Men relaunch's debut issue has introduced a major Big Bad, the mysterious mutant organization called 3K dedicated to a new mutant future.
There are six new mutants on Stegman's cover for X-Men #16, and the group of mutants the heroes fought in X-Men #1 included six operatives. The power signatures of those in X-Men #1 match those on the cover of #16, plus Illyana cut the arm off one of the militant mutants who displayed a blackhole/gravity well ability. That same mutant - seen as the central figure and possibly leader of the new mutant crew - appears to be sporting an artificial replacement arm. Stegman's designs for the six new mutants are incredible, each displaying unique abilities like stone skin or a "lava lamp" like body, and wearing costumes that any X-Men team would be proud to fight in.
X-Men's From The Ashes Era Has Introduced Many New Mutants
The 3K mutants may be a Brotherhood replacement
The X-Men's new From the Ashes era has seen the debut of many new mutants, like the Outliers from Uncanny X-Men, Kate and Emma's new mutants in Exceptional X-Men, and even two mutants in X-Men that Cyclops' team has saved from 3K. However, there is currently no active "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" in X-Men canon, and these new 3K mutants seem like the perfect group to fit that mold. Magneto has offered sanctuary to any mutant at their Alaskan base though, so these 3K mutants could one day become heroes.
After months of anticipation, the villainous 3K's very own X-Men team is about to debut, and will without a doubt cause a lot of grief for Cyclops and his heroic mutant team.
The X-Men's New Costumes Break a Franchise Tradition (To Make Them More Like The Avengers)
The X-Men got new costumes with their all-new From the Ashes era, and not only do they break tradition, they also make them more like the Avengers.
X-Men #16 from Marvel Comics debuts on May 7th, 2025.
