When the Stuart Immonen-illustrated cover of All-New X-Men #2 was released earlier this week, most fans presumed that the woman off to the right was Rachel Summers/Grey, because, well, there’s a pretty strong resemblance. Turns out that isn’t the case, according to series writer Brian Michael Bendis, in a post on his message board (he also clarified that it’s not one of his most enduring Marvel creations, either):
The mystery woman is not Jessica Jones OR rachel summers. hmmm…
But it does look like Rachel is still definitely a part of the Wolverine and the X-Men cast, and that Storm is also joining that crew, as they’re both on the cover to November’s issue #21 — as Jason Aaron told us earlier this month, the book is getting “at least one high-profile addition” in the Marvel NOW!/post-Avengers vs. X-Men era, and X-Men don’t come much more high profile than Ororo Munroe.
So: with a long way to go between now and November, who’s your guess for the character on the All-New X-Men #2 cover? The use of the word “mystery” implies Marvel is keeping her identity secret for a reason, though that certainly might just be a red herring. Speculate away!
August 16th, 2012 at 10:57 am
Jean’s back at the end of AvX then????
August 16th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Kind of… Bendis’ “All-New X-Men” book has the orignal TEENAGE X-Men timetravelling to the present and apparently staying. (ugh).
August 16th, 2012 at 11:07 am
I thought that was Boom Boom
August 16th, 2012 at 11:14 am
It is not Boom Boom or Jessica Jones or Rachel Gray. My guess is that it is Husk.
August 16th, 2012 at 11:22 am
A de-powered Emma Frost?
August 16th, 2012 at 11:28 am
My first thought wasn’t Rachel…it was Dazzler. But then I remembered she’s in that Xtreme title.
August 16th, 2012 at 11:41 am
I think we’ve all read enough Bendis to know he won’t/can’t write Tabitha(Boom Boom) as well as Ellis did. NEXTWAVE forever.
August 16th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Aged through some sort of maguffin Hope Summers I’m thinking. Has she been announced as appearing in any other Marvel NOW! books?
August 16th, 2012 at 11:44 am
Madeline Pryor or
Skids
August 16th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Um…why not Hope?
August 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Could be Skein in a new outfit/haircut.
Looks kinda like Aurora.
Would be cool if it was Skids.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
I was thinking more along the lines of Jean being resurrected at the end of AvX along with teen Jean showing up.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:31 pm
It looks like Rachel so maybe older Jean DOES return at the end of AvX and gets a haircut.
August 16th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Initially, I went… oh, snap! It’s Boom Boom! That’s so cool! Then, someone said Rachel, and I said, oh. Well, she’s there. Doesn’t look too ginger, though, but maybe. Then they said, “That’s not Rachel… or Jessica Jones!” Wait, what??? Who thought Jessica Jones??? That’s SO not Jessica Jones! Then, I thought it was Boom Boom again, but I think I’m the only person who really gives a boom about Boom Boom. (She’s in my top 5 X-Men of all time.) (No, really.)
August 16th, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Could that be Rahne Sinclair? I read somewhere that X-Factor’s cast would be getting halved.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
“Um…why not Hope?”
My thought too.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Looks like she’s phasing through the rocks. Kitty Pryde?
August 16th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Sorry, I meant alternate reality Kitty Pryde.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:03 pm
@Webhead85 – Look on your left.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
@Webhead85 – Oh.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I definitely think Hope.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I look at that cover of All-New X-Men and I have to wonder if Marvel knows what “All-New” even means.
August 16th, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Could it be Ariel, they resurrected her in Legacy not too long ago?
August 16th, 2012 at 1:44 pm
I’m thinking it’s Jean. The sash around the waste is very reminiscent of her Phoenix costume, plus the AoA Jean has short hair so it might even be that version if not a actual resurrection. By the way, it has yet to be denied that Hope isn’t Jean reborn so maybe that’s the pay-off at the end of AvX.
August 16th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
if its not rachel then its proably hope or maybe a de aged jean or a new version of Madylin pryor other wise its proably hope with a dye job and borrowing rachels outfit. though it could be a new character
August 16th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Knowing Bendis’ wondrous levels of creativity it’s obvious.
Her name is Mayla Liller, and she knows… stuff.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Hope is probably as much a candidate as anyone, but she’s on the Marvel NOW! era A Plus X poster in her current look (http://www.newsarama.com/comics/First-Look-A-PLUS-X-NOW-Poster.html), so that would beg the question as to why she would look different here, and why they would keep her identity a secret.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
There is no Rachel Summers. There is a Rachel Grey.
August 16th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
I’m thought maybe Firestar (Angelica Jones), but it looks like she has blonde hair and not red, so who could it be? If its not an “enduring creation” that would have to mean she is new.
I don’t know if they ever resolved the “reappearance” of Wallflower, so what about her?
August 16th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Ultimate Jean Grey got tired of hanging out with made in Tiwan X-Men and came to 616.
August 16th, 2012 at 4:31 pm
I was thinking since she wasn’t displaying any powers that it was Val Cooper. As a result of A vs X, to appease the government they reinstate her as a liaison.
August 16th, 2012 at 4:45 pm
candy southern?
August 16th, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Weapon X, out of curiosity, has Ultimate X-Men had a storyline set in Taiwan?
If I were a Marvel exec intent on creating a successful female-headed series, I think I would pick the Phoenix, with Jean Grey back in the role. Maybe have her join the Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy (not the X-Men, where her old ties would drag her down). As for how she’s brought back, it almost doesn’t matter. So I’m guessing this is her.
August 16th, 2012 at 6:09 pm
She must be in casual wear for a reason. Wonder if the style is a hint?
August 16th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
she would just be a place holder and the real image will be revealed after avx
August 16th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Bendis already said Kitty Pryde was doing to be in his book. Its Shadowcat. Maybe the one from Rachel’s future….again. But either way, it’s Shadowcat. 100% Plus she
s phasing there.
August 16th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
1. Her ear looks pointy.
2. Many of the folks on the All New X-Men #2 cover also appear on the Wolverine & X-Men #21. Look at that cover again to see who else is featured prominently. There’s your “high-profile addition”–
The mysterious woman is Kurt Wagner using his old image-inducer.
August 17th, 2012 at 4:56 am
How about Vera Cantor?
She’s one of the few original X-Men characters to still be around and remain slightly relevant (Candy Southern died, Zelda Kurtzberg was never very significant).
It’d make sense to include some which the time travelling X-Men would be familiar with.
August 17th, 2012 at 6:41 am
Someone commented that there is no Rachel Summers… there is a Rachel Grey. That could work. I mean people might want to be distancing themselves from Cyclops after the fall out of AvX. And what is more distancing than changing your name.
August 17th, 2012 at 7:41 am
The mystery X-Man looks like none other than……….
.
.
.
.
.
Jubilee ( Jubilation Lee )
August 17th, 2012 at 7:43 am
It is Ariel. She is the teleporter that used doorways to teleport.
August 17th, 2012 at 7:52 am
The young lady in question is none other than a young Jean Grey from an alternate universe/timeline.
August 17th, 2012 at 8:01 am
I hope the x man are still the x man I do not want Wolverine and the X-Men to be the X man like that TV show they had two years ago. But we all new that the X men was not going to win this all for this was for the AVENGERS movie. I really hope I like what their doing. If not I will just start to read independent comics.
August 17th, 2012 at 8:02 am
I think it’s a botched coloring job and a lot of people are interpreting the color of her hair wrong.
Ariel is likely as is an alternate timelined Jean (but I hope not). Could even be Hope.
However, with those necklaces? It looks like Scarlet Witch to me.
August 17th, 2012 at 8:07 am
(apologies if this is a duplicate post, but my previous attempts to post a comment did not show up.
Maybe because I put a URL in my original attempt.)
ANYWAY…
I believe it it either an all-new character OR…
ANNIE RICHARDSON (either back from the dead or a ghost)
“Who?” you may ask?
Annie Richardson was the childhood friend of Jean Grey who, when killed by getting hit by a car is the catalyst for Jean Grey FIRST MANIFESTING her mutant powers!
~P~
August 17th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Her name is “Random D’Jour”… a random x-woman that will be the flavor of the week until either she betrays the team, or is replaced. Darn it Marvel. Stop with the gimmicks and constant team changes, just concentrate on GOOD stories.
August 17th, 2012 at 9:22 am
My first thought/reaction was Skids.
August 17th, 2012 at 10:38 am
I am betting it’s grown up Jean resurrected. Look at the sash and the red dress. I imagine she’s standing away from everyone because of how things go down at the end of AVX.
August 17th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Val Cooper? don’t know what her current status is but when I read the x-books in the ’90′s she was X-Factor’s govt liason and popped up a lot in the x-books before then. looks a lot like her except for the short hair as Val usually had her’s long and tied back.
August 17th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
A young Aunt May perhaps?
August 17th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Put her in a g*d damn costume. I’ll stop reading the X-Men if it’s dumbed down with heroes who dress more like civilians than actual heroes. And yeah that’s a reference to Luke Cage, a character written by white guys who think being black is about wearing tight, black muscle t’s – imagery just as ridiculous as the original costume.
August 17th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Moira MacTaggert… Movies make characters popular again.
August 17th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Looks like Ariel the mutant girl that creates telepotational doorways from X-men Legacy 260.
August 18th, 2012 at 7:11 am
That’s got to be JEAN GREY!!!!! No doubt about it, you can tell by the ribbon wrapped round her waist.
August 18th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Miora Mctaggert came along to the future too..that would be a cool spin
August 18th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
My guess is that if this is the X-men brought from the past to the future its the past version of Emma Frost. I think Emma will die during AvsX and this version of Emma will be one that Prof X was able to train to her full potential instead of Sebastian Shaw.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
that’s ariel!!!
August 19th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
man you people and your Jean Grey answer for every thing ever…
August 19th, 2012 at 7:38 pm
doesn’t even have red hair and somehow it’s still Jean Grey to you…
August 20th, 2012 at 8:32 am
Wait, is it definitely not Boom Boom?
August 20th, 2012 at 8:33 am
Because doesn’t Boom Boom wear a red dress as a costume?
August 20th, 2012 at 10:04 am
She is not standing with the teachers but looking at them so maybe it is teen jean.
August 21st, 2012 at 2:06 am
the clue really is in the initial statement: “he also clarified that it’s not one of ‘HIS’ most enduring Marvel creations, either”. you will note that it states one of ‘his’, as in Bendis’ most enduring creations. and what title has a character he created that could hold that title perhaps? maybe a title thats having a cull of characters around the same time. and its very clear that the chartacter in question has blonde hair, not red. i would have thought it was obvious to those that do not see Jean Grey in everything.
October 6th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
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