Marvel has unveiled their next major saga, as legendary X-Men architect Jonathan Hickman returns to explore the cosmos in Imperial. Teased as "The end of the beginning," Imperial by Hickman arrives in the Summer of 2025, with Marvel hinting at a major galactic war, saying, "Nature abhors a vacuum."
The visionary Jonathan Hickman is known at Marvel Comics for his acclaimed run on Fantastic Four, crafting the X-Men's beloved Krakoan Age, and the recent G.O.D.S. series, and the brilliant writer is back again for an exciting new event. Currently, there are no details about who else will round out the creative team for Imperial, with Hickman the only creator mentioned in Marvel's announcement.
Imperial May Focus On A Destructive New Galactic War
The Shi'ar Superguardians are called the "Imperial Guard"
While there is basically zero information about who or what Imperial will focus on, it is safe to assume that it will take place and space, and presumably feature of the Shi'ar Empire. The Shi'ar, one of Marvel's oldest galactic empires, was a major focus for Jonathan Hickman during his run on X-Men, and they have not been heavily featured in some time. Specifically, the group of superheroes that protect the Shi'ar Empire are called Superguardians, and they belong to the "Imperial Guard," tasked with keeping their Majestrix and Shi'ar space safe. There have been countless conflicts involving the Shi'ar over the years, and it would surprise no one if they started another galactic war.
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In fact, the Shi'ar warrior Gladiator recently waged all-out war against Jean Grey, using the weight of the powerful Galactic Council to send Thanos and Perrikus on a mission to kill Phoenix. While the fate of the Galactic Council is unclear, Jean's success in the Phoenix series could lead to the dissolution of the Council, which could potentially be the "vacuum" that space is experiencing. Of course, something could also happen to Emperor Hulkling, who united the Kree and Skrull races into a combined Empire for the first time in history, which would be another major vacuum in the hierarchy of cosmic royalty.
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It Seems Likely Cannonball And Sunspot Will Play A Role In Imperial
Jonathan Hickman planned an Imperial Guard series before leaving the X-Men
It would be very surprising if the iconic X-Men heroes Cannonball and Sunspot did not appear in Imperial, since creator Jonathan Hickman explicitly expressed regret that he did not get to write an Imperial Guard series featuring the two mutants while in the X-Office. Cannonball is married to Superguardian, a member of the Imperial Guard, and Sunspot lived with them on Chandilar for some time, with both heroes rescuing Majestrix Xandra in Secret X-Men. Speaking on the Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men podcast in 2022, Hickman had this to say:
“I was going to do an Imperial Guard book with Bobby and Sam, and it was going to be them on the other side of all of that technology stuff in the Shi’Ar... and the Imperial Guard and Star Jammers would have been part of it, I’m sure. But it would have been a big space book seeding all of that for when we eventually... obviously we’re going to crash it all together. But it was going to seed all of that in a pretty intense way, so I’m bummed about that."
Hopefully, Jonathan Hickman will get the chance to finally tell his Imperial Guard story, starring Cannonball and Sunspot alongside the Starjammers, when Imperial debuts next year.
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Imperial from Marvel Comics will debut Summer, 2025.
