Previews: The Hellfire Gala begins in X-Men #21 and Excalibur #21

page from X-Men #21 — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The X-Men's 'Hellfire Gala' mini-event in which mutantkind puts on its most extravagant finery and invites the rest of the world to their red carpet event is just weeks away, kicking off in June and running through the whole month, in almost every ongoing title of the 'Reign of X' line.

Marvel has unveiled interior pages from two June 9 titles of 'The Hellfire Gala' event, X-Men #21 and Excalibur #21, both of which feature the mutants of the current 'Reign of X' line's two flagship titles making their grand 'Hellfire Gala' entrances, replete with their popular Krakoa-style red carpet looks.

First up, Jonathan Hickman makes his exit (x-it?) from the main X-Men title just as the first official team of Krakoan X-Men make their entrance. Hickman isn't going anywhere though - he's still 'Head of X' for the line and has a mystery project launching as writer Gerry Duggan takes over X-Men with a new #1 in July.

"THE HEROES OF KRAKOA DEBUT!" reads Marvel's official description of X-Men #21. "It's a changing of the guard as the first X-Men team of Krakoa debuts! One era ends as a new one begins, and the handoff happens here."

Here's a gallery of interior pages and covers from X-Men #21:

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Then, the solicitation for Excalibur #21 points to big developments in how Krakoa relates to the outside world.

page from Excalibur #21 — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

"RICTOR HATES PARTIES. Even the nice ones," reads Marvel's official solicitation for Excalibur #21. "And with Captain Britain's return to a changed world, this one is looking to be not so nice. Excalibur's Earth-shattering HELLFIRE GALA issue will change Krakoan diplomacy forever."

Though there are no details yet on what that means - and the solicitation text indicates Rictor as the source of the drama - it's worth noting that August marks the beginning of The Trial of Magneto limited series, which revolves around the Master of Magnetism being accused of a murder which takes place at the Hellfire Gala.

And, since the Hellfire Gala will feature Marvel Comics depictions of real world guests, well, just about anything could happen.

Here's a gallery of the pages and the covers for Excalibur #21:

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Stay on top of everything coming up for the X-Men with our listing of all Marvel's planned X-Men comic book releases through 2021 and beyond.

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)