Marvel’s Midnight Line Reinvents the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four via Horror

Marvel fans are inactive puzzling implicit the determination to wrapper up the wildly palmy Ultimate Universe enactment aft conscionable 3 years. But there's bully news, arsenic we present cognize Marvel has a marque caller alternate beingness task acceptable to capable the void this year, and Ultimate designer Jonathan Hickman is erstwhile again heavy involved.

Marvel has revealed the Midnight Universe, a caller enactment of books that reinvents acquainted characters and teams with a distinctly horror-flavored angle. The tagline for the Midnight Universe is "The airy had its turn."

Image Credit: Marvel

The Midnight Universe enactment volition dwell of 3 books initially. The enactment launches successful August 2026 with Midnight X-Men, from writer Jonathan Hickman (Secret Wars) and creator Matteo Della Fonte (Nova: Centurion). That bid volition beryllium followed successful September by Midnight Fantastic Four, from Benjamin Percy (Wolverine) and Kev Walker (Infernal Hulk), and successful October by Midnight Spider-Man, by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Infernal Hulk) and Marvel newcomer Scie Tronc.

Much similar the Ultimate enactment oregon DC's Absolute Universe, this is an alternate beingness escaped from the continuity constraints of Marvel's accepted publishing line, leaving the creators escaped to present immoderate beauteous extremist changes to the formula. For example, Midnight X-Men revolves astir a warfare betwixt mutants and vampires, portion Midnight Spider-Man sees Peter Parker transformed into a terrifying half-human, half-spider monster.

"I’m truthful enthusiastic astir this project—it’s the astir excited I’ve been successful years," Hickman said successful a statement. "The conceit of Midnight X-Men aligns perfectly with the benignant of stories I similar to tell. It has a rich, open-ended mythology that arsenic mixes aged and caller ideas into thing that feels some acquainted and original.”

Image Credit: Marvel

“If you've work my work, you cognize that I spot the satellite done a dark, disturbed lens. To me, it's ever midnight,” Percy said. “When Hickman called me, it was from a landline successful the basement of an abandoned location with the wires cut. Blood poured from the receiver into my ear. I said yes."

Percy continued, “When I imagined this different mentation of Marvel—a terrifying, poisoned universe—my caput instantly went to the Fantastic Four. This is simply a rubric I person ever loved, but would ne'er beryllium allowed to constitute otherwise. Now I could thin into my worst instincts and reimagine their communicative arsenic 1 of cosmic, Lovecraftian dread. I americium joined successful this by the visionary Kev Walker, who is hard astatine enactment bringing a caller root communicative for Marvel's ‘first family’ to screaming life. I can't hold to stock our nightmares with you.”

“The enactment we’re doing close present connected the Midnight enactment feels similar past being made,” Johnson said. “We’re each bringing creator-owned sensibilities to our projects, we’re redefining boundaries, we’re reinventing these timeless characters successful a mode that’s ne'er been done. Midnight is thing similar the main line, thing similar the Ultimate line. You volition spot things successful these books that daze you.”

Midnight X-Men volition beryllium released connected August 5, 2026. You tin preorder a transcript astatine your section comic shop.

For more, get the afloat scoop connected Marvel's X-Men: Outback bid and spot an exclusive preview of X-Men '97: Season Two #1.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.