Every Mutant in Marvel's X-Men Teaser for Jonathan Hickman Series

Last weekend, Marvel ended weeks of speculation by announcing writer Jonathan Hickman will make his return to the publisher for two new X-Men-related series, House of X and Powers of X. The announcement came with a teaser image by Mark Brooks featuring many of the heroes and villains from the X-Men franchise. And while no overt storylines are spoiled by Brooks' art, it does give fans a super intriguing tease of what they can expect when the two series kick off in July.

Marvel Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski was quoted as saying " these new stories will redefine the X-Men and their place in the Marvel Universe," which is more than enough to get the speculation train moving down the tracks. But before we join in on the that game, there's the even more pressing matter of taking a closer look at which mutant characters appear on the X-Men teaser image.

Many of the faces will be familiar to longtime X-Men fans, though some characters haven't been seen for several years, and in some cases, decades. Also, many of the X-Men shown are in their classic and iconic costumes. So with that in mind, we're here to help breakdown exactly who these X-Men friends and foes are, with some added background information tossed in for good measure.

The Founders (Bottom Middle)

Front and center in the middle of the image is the man who founded the X-Men and a non-mutant who had a long association with its founder and the team: Moira MacTaggert and Professor Charles Xavier. Moira is one of the premier scientists in the field of mutant research, and was once engaged to Charles. She helped to create the mutant-tracking technology known as Cerebro (helmet is laying in the grass in front of Charles) and founded the Mutant Research Center Muir Island in Scotland. Moira would be one of the only humans to be infected with the Legacy Virus, which played a part in her death when Mystique and Sabretooth attacked Muir Island.

Of course, Charles Xavier brought Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel and Beast together as his first students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Cyclops, while possessed with the Phoenix Force, would take his mentor's life in the Marvel event Avengers vs. X-Men, but Charles' psyche was revealed to still be alive in the astral plane in Astonishing X-Men. The series saw Charles take over Fantomex's body, redubbing himself X. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but Charles' presence in the teaser alludes to his return to the X-Men franchise on a permanent basis.

Finally, the green-colored lobster in the bottom-left of the image above is Bill the Lobster, who gained super-strength and intelligence from a cyborg science experiment. He's definitely an odd inclusion in the X-Men teaser when you consider his small role in the comics. Bill the Lobster's last appearance came during the first Civil War.

NEXT PAGE: The Master of Magnetism, Apocalypse, a Time-Traveler and More

Heavy Hitting Heroes And Villains (Top Middle)

Standing directly behind Moira and Charles is Magneto, the Master of Magnetism. Magneto is the very first villain the X-Men faced and is easily their most popular nemesis, even though he has also fought on their side on numerous occasions. He recently turned back to the dark side in the finale of X-Men Blue. To Magneto's right is Cyclops, Wolverine from the New X-Men era, Emma Frost, Jubilee and either Warpath or his brother, Thunderbird. Since no other members of X-Force appear on the teaser, we're going with Thunderbird. He was a member of Charles' second team of X-Men alongside Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Storm in Giant-Size X-Men #1. Thunderbird would perish on his second mission with the team.

Cyclops, also back from the dead, is in his '90s era costume from Jim Lee's X-Men run, also made famous in X-Men: The Animated Series. Jubilee is also in her '90s gear, Wolverine is in plain clothes with dog tags hanging from his neck, and Emma Frost is decked out in all-black. Magneto and Emma are feuding after she teamed up with Miss Sinister to attempt the spreading of the Mothervine virus across the globe.

Sworn enemies Apocalypse and Cable are standing behind Magneto, with the X-Men's Blackbird jet right behind them. The older version of Cable is important here, because he was killed by his younger counterpart in Extermination. In his hands is a gun he isn't associated with using: Forge's neutralizer gun, which can take away a mutant's abilities. Resting on Apocalypse's shoulder is the robot insect member of the Starjammers, Sikorsky. Moving left on the image is Iceman and teleporters, Blink and Gateway.

Shifting to the right of the image is the villain Toad standing on the Blackbird's left wing, Archangel, Dazzler, Storm in her mohawk phase, Firestar, Bishop and Beast. And sitting at the very top of the image is a tree with glowing bubbles hanging from it. While we're not entirely sure what this could be, it's possible its a section of The World from Weapon Plus or Krakoa itself, though its big red eyes are missing.

NEXT PAGE: A Forgotten Summers Brother, Fan-Favorite X-Men and Character Hybrid?

A Very Unique Family Tree (Left)

The left side of the teaser adds some more interesting iterations of fan-favorite characters. Starting from the right and skipping the mutants we've already discussed, there is the Weapon X version of Wolverine and teenage Storm, who was de-aged by Nanny and Orphan-Maker. To the far left is a character who looks like Nightcrawler and Gambit combined. He shares a physical look similar to Nightcrawler, except he has Gambit's face, eyes and hair.

To this character's left is Vulcan, brother to Cyclops and Havok. Vulcan was a part of Moira's secret team of X-Men that were sent to their deaths on the Krakoa mission ahead of the team seen in Giant-Size X-Men #1. He became a prominent cosmic figure in Marvel's War of the Kings event series and is believed to be dead at the moment, but as we've learned with the X-Men, death can be cheated.

Next is Jean Grey in her Marvel Girl costume, Mister Sinister above her, followed by the New Mutant Warlock. The placement of Mister Sinister above a Summers and Grey is very intriguing -- Mister Sinister loves to experiment with the bloodlines of both families. Could he have plans of revisiting his past obsession? Or perhaps Mister Sinister is responsible for what has happened to Gambit and Nightcrawler?

NEXT PAGE: A Phoenix, Shi'ar, Sentinels and the Ultimate Hybrid

What Is The Deal With Havok, Colossus and Magik? (Right)

We end the X-Men teaser with the heroes and villains on the right side, beginning with Rachel Grey in her Phoenix form. Extermination ended with Rachel turned back into her Hound state and being taken away by Ahab, and she is solicited to show back up in the ongoing X-Force series. Next are two mechanic villains, Master Mold and Nimrod. Master Mold was created by mutant-hater Bolivar Trask to mass-produce Sentinels, and Nimrod hails from the "Days of Future Past" timeline and travels to the present-day to terminate mutants. Master Mold and Nimrod would later merge together to become an even greater threat to the X-Men.

The woman with the metallic armor is Empress Lilandra of the Shi'ar Empire. Lilandra and Charles were in a romantic relationship, and the introduction of the Shi'ar helped propel the X-Men into more galactic affairs in the Marvel Universe. Charles and Lilandra's daughter recently debuted in Gambit and Rogue's Mr. & Mrs. X. She may be another of the deceased characters to make a return in House of X and Powers of X.

Below Lilandra is Cyclops' other brother, Havok, except instead of being an adult, Havok is de-aged to be a young boy. There are no examples from the comics of Alex Summers being a boy while wearing his classic Havok suit, so this could have something to do with the gun Cable is holding. Crouching next to Havok is Nightcrawler, and on the other side of Havok is Wolverine, dressed in the classic brown costume he's been wearing since reuniting with Cyclops to reform the X-Men.

The most perplexing character is our last, as she looks to be a combination of a couple of different X-Men. The woman has metallic skin like Colossus and is holding Magik's Soulsword, thus making this a hybrid of the two siblings. However, she also has the three ponytail-look of New Mutant Dani Moonstar. So could we be looking at three X-Men-in-one body?

There are a few X-Men missing from this piece of artwork, including some prominent names like Rogue and Kitty Pryde. There could be a storyline reason for their absence, of course, but for right now, there should be enough of the X-Men and their rivals to keep fans theorizing until House of X #1 and Powers of X #1 arrive in stores this July.