Summary

• Professor X steps down as leader of the X-Men, itting his time has ed amid facing a new villain, indicating a possible end to his story.
• The X-Men encounter a godly adversary, Enigma, as they question how to defeat a being with limitless power, potentially risking Xavier's life.
• The preview of X-Men Forever #2 reveals Xavier's emotional turmoil and self-blame, hinting at a final mission to fix the damage done.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for X-Men Forever #2! The X-Men's mutant nation of Krakoa falls to Orchis, Professor X has decided that his time as X-Men leader has come to an end, as he’s stepping down from that position forever.

In a preview for X-Men Forever #2 by Kieron Gillen and Luca Maresca, Professor X is communicating with the mutants trapped in the White Hot Room (a pocket dimension that exists outside time and space). Charles is doing so through the ‘voodoo doll’ copy of Mother Righteous (aka a Sinister-clone named Rebecca Essex), who found herself trapped in the White Hot Room along with some of the X-Men’s premier mutants.

Through Rebecca, Xavier psychically implants his plans for getting the X-Men out of the White Hot Room inside their minds, along with how they can help rebuild the world Orchis effectively tore apart. As the copy of Mother Righteous dissolved (something deliberately done by the prime Rebecca), Charles uttered haunting final words through her mouth, “all the X-Men that have died in Orchis’ purges. Bring them back. Lead them. Someone has to. My time has ed”.

Charles Xavier is Done Leading the X-Men, Indicating His Story Will Soon Come to an End

The fact that Charles Xavier has given up leading the X-Men isn’t too surprising, especially given everything he’s been through during the Fall of X era. When Orchis launched their fateful attack on mutantkind during the Hellfire Gala Massacre, the leaders of the anti-mutant organization forced Xavier to use the god-tier influence of his telepathic powers to force every mutant on Earth through Krakoan portals off-world. Indeed, the final page of Hellfire Gala 2023 #1 shows Charles Xavier blaming himself for the fall of mutantkind while weeping alone on the Krakoan shores.

Professor X believes he’s failed mutantkind. While he’s doing everything he can to fix the damage that was done - as shown in the brief interaction between himself and the X-Men trapped in the White Hot Room in this preview - it’s clear that this will likely be his final X-Men mission. And truthfully, the possibility that this will be Xavier’s last storyline becomes far more likely when considering the villain he’s facing in X-Men Forever isn’t just Orchis (as other factions of the X-Men are handling them), it’s something far more terrifying: Enigma.

Professor X is Facing a Literal God During what is Perhaps His Final X-Men Story

The main antagonist of X-Men Forever is a godly entity that exists outside time and space called Enigma. Enigma is the original Nathaniel Essex who reached godhood as the Dominion, after creating multiple clones of himself to claim this divine ascension. For reasons that should be obvious, Xavier and his allies have to take Enigma down, though throughout this conflict, one question rings through their minds: how does one kill a god? While that question has yet to be answered, it would come as no surprise if the solution to beating Enigma came at the cost of Xavier’s own life.

While Professor X’s final fate is still uncertain, even in the face of a villainous deity with untold power, the one thing that is clear is what was revealed in this preview. Charles Xavier has decided that his “time has ed”, as X-Men’s iconic leader is officially stepping down forever.

X-Men Forever #2 by Marvel Comics is available April 24, 2024.