X-Men: Sins of Sinister gets its own Sinister-ized Captain America and more new character designs

Sins of Sinister character designs
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Starting in January 2023, Mister Sinister will remake the Marvel Universe in his image in the upcoming X-Men crossover event Sins of Sinister, which shows Sinister's personal reality at 10 years in, 100 years in, and 1000 years in. After announcing the full details of the event earlier this year at New York Comic Con, Marvel has revealed some Sinister-ized redesigns for characters appearing in the event.

Here's a gallery of the designs which include Captain America, Storm, Wagnervine (a mash-up of Wolverine and Nightcrawler), Cable, and Nightcrawler by Paco Medina and Mister Sinister, Auntie Fortune, Iron Fire, and Rasputin by Alessandro Vitti:

The whole event - in which the Marvel Universe is remade in Mister Sinister's image, a la the original '90s Age of Apocalypse event - kicks off with a one-shot titled Sins of Sinister #1 from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Lucas Werneck, with a cover from Leinil Francis Yu, who also provides covers for each of the tie-in titles. Likewise, the first issue of each tie-in title will be drawn by Paco Medina, while the second issue of each title will all share an artist, as will the third and final issues.

Sinister's machinations will create "a horror timeline that makes Age of Apocalypse look like the X-Men Swimsuit Special," which is set 10 years in the future, according to Marvel's solicitation text for the one-shot. And that timeline will extend into several other spin-off limited series, each running for three issues.

First, there's Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants from writer Al Ewing (and of course Paco Medina, who draw all three first issues), in which Storm leads a team across the wrecked landscape of a future version of Planet Arakko/Mars, seeking a way to end the so-called "Age of Sinister."

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Then there's Nightcrawlers from writer Si Spurrier and Medina, in which a team of genetically engineered mutant clones of Nightcrawler, each mashed-up with another mutant starting with team leader Wagnerine (Nightcrawler + Wolverine, naturally), serve as Mister Sinister's personal strike force.

And finally, there's Immoral X-Men, also from Gillen and Medina, in which Emma Frost tries to strike back against Sinister, while "the X-men are sworn to crush a world that adores and respects them."

The whole event wraps with an April one-shot titled Sins of Sinister: Dominion #1.

Here's a gallery of all the covers, along with an event checklist:

All of these limited series start in January 2023. Read on to find out what else we know about 'Sins of Sinister.'

Original story follows...

With the release of a new teaser for January's upcoming X-Men crossover story 'Sins of Sinister,' Marvel Comics has seemingly confirmed that the tale will be a Mister Sinister-themed version of the classic X-Men tale 'Age of Apocalypse,' with Sinister apparently creating a version of reality in his own image.

"Enter an entire universe cursed by... The Sins of Sinister!" reads the teaser, which shows apparently Sinister-ized versions of not just the X-Men, but Captain America, Thor, and others.

Check it out:

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Read on to find out what's been revealed so far.

Marvel Comics is sending out an SOS (cue Sting's vocals)... 

No, not a message in a bottle, but a series of teasers for the next big X-Men crossover, titled 'Sins of Sinister.' Though Marvel hasn't spelled out the plot of the upcoming event, they've left enough breadcrumbs so far for us to make an educated guess as to what’s gonna happen.

And if we’re right, it’s not looking good for the X-Men - or nearly any mutants for that matter.

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

While Marvel's initial teaser only stated that SOS would arrive in January 2023, the latest teaser released reveals the crossover's official name. It also spells out longtime X-Men-villain-turned-tenuous-ally Mister Sinister's involvement, while also dropping some big hints about what the story will entail for those who are versed in current X-Men continuity.

Marvel's teaser from August 22 states "Mister Sinister's plans come to fruition beyond his wildest dreams... and his darkest nightmares," resulting in "A new world. A new disaster."

All of that seems to hint that SOS, Sins of Sinister, is going to amount to Sinister's version of his very own 'Age of Apocalypse' type storyline in which all of reality is remade in his image, at least briefly.

How did we get to that? Well, it's all in Marvel's teaser - if you know what you're looking for. In recent X-Men comics, Sinister has been cloning for X-Men ally-turned-enemy Moira MacTaggert, who formerly had the mutant power of reincarnation, in which her entire timeline is rebooted upon her death, with Moira retaining her lost knowledge and memories into her new incarnation.

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Through his genetic manipulations and cloning, Sinister has created a machine that could theoretically allow him to remake the world in his image through the use of the cloned Moira's powers - seemingly setting up an alt-reality in which Sinister reigns supreme.

The original Age of Apocalypse ran through all of Marvel's X-Men titles in 1995, with the entire line being temporarily rebooted into new titles based on the events and history of an alt-reality where Apocalypse rules the world. The idea was repeated in 2019 with Age of X-Man in which the Nathan Summers of the Age of Apocalypse reality remade his own world.

Now, it's looking a lot like SOS could repeat the AoA formula, but with Sinister at the wheel.

Stay tuned right here to Newsarama for more information as it's revealed.

Keep up with all the new X-Men comics planned for release in 2022 and beyond.

George Marston

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)