Marvel Comics plans on exploring how the X-Men's new status quo affects the larger Marvel Universe in X-Men/Fantastic Four. The four-issue miniseries by writer Chip Zdarsky and artists Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson will focus on the Fantastic Four's Franklin Richards.
"It’s a lot of quiet family moments and giant explosive moments! The FF and the X-Men, especially right now with Krakoa, are about the family you have and the family you choose, so I’m playing with that concept a lot here," Zdarsky told Newsarama. "I should also say that the original Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men mini-series from the late 80s is my absolute favourite Marvel mini (Claremont! Bogdanove! Austin!) and this is, at its heart, a conceptual sequel to that."
The miniseries spins out of the events of House of X #1, which saw the Fantastic Four confront the X-Men following a terrorist attack by Mystique, Toad and Sabretooth. After Sabretooth was apprehended, Cyclops extended an offer for Franklin to join his mutant brethren on the mutant island of Krakoa.
"I loved that scene in House of X #1 and I knew it needed to be expanded upon, so when I saw the opportunity to pitch this mini, the Franklin question was the heart of it," Zdarsky said. "Both Jonathan Hickman and Dan Slott have been very encouraging and gracious in allowing me to do what I’ve pitched. Which is surprising. I feel like I’m being punked on some level. You’d tell me if I was, yeah?"
With the two Marvel teams being in conflict, at one point there was a discussion on naming the title X-Men vs Fantastic Four, though the story will involve more than pitting the two teams against one another.
"To be honest, we toyed with calling it that. Because, sure, they have very different goals with regards to Franklin and there’s definitely conflict in the story," he added. "But there are other forces at play here which will test both the FF and the X-Men, so ultimately this is a story about the two teams and their outlooks, not just about them fighting each other."
X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson goes on sale in February from Marvel Comics.