C2E2 2020: "X of Swords" will be the next X-Men event this Summer 2020

After experiencing a literal Rebirth, Renaissance, and Reunion in House of X/ Powers of X and a new beginning in "Dawn of X" that has united the mutant community under one nation of Krakoa, Head of X architect and writer Jonathan Hickman and his team of X-Men writers, artists, and creators are ready for the next summer event for the Children of the Atom, and it's called "X of Swords" - as referenced by the promotional image featuring most of the well known characters of the X-Universe wielding their famous blades that are either signature, mystic, enchanted, or cursed.

Announced at this weekend's C2E2 event and reported by Newsarama, "X of Swords" will see Hickman team up with "Excalibur" series writer Tini Howard - who came up with the name and may refer to the Tarot card "Ten of Swords", as well as a literal "crossing of swords/ weapons" as the "X" may imply. Famous weapons such as Wolverine's Muramase Blade, Magik's Soulsword, Excalibur itself, and many others are seen in the teaser poster drawn by Mark Brooks.

"X of Swords" is announced to begin this July and will be a crossover through the X-Men titles.

Secret Empire extends to #10 issue come August

In what feels like a recurring trend for recent Marvel events, Marvel.com has announced that their current Captain America/ Hydra centered crossover story "Secret Empire" has been extended one more issue - bringing the total count to 10 and seeing the last issue come out this August. The story, written by "Captain America: Steve Rogers" writer Nick Spencer, sees the Cosmic Cube altered Steve Rogers as the new Supreme Commander of Hydra - leading his new council and army to take over the world and with the divided heroes trying to mount a stand against his secret empire.

In the article, Marvel SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort explained why there was a need to add an issue #10:

“[Writer] Nick [Spencer] has constructed each issue of SECRET EMPIRE so that it ends with a climactic twist or a big reveal or a shocking development, and issue #9 is no exception,” said SVP & Executive Editor, Tom Brevoort. “So moving into the finale, with issue #10, the heroes across the Marvel Universe will be pushed to the breaking point as we race to the exhilarating climax we’ve been planning for months. Oh, and let me say again: we’re not going to use the Cosmic Cube to simply reverse everything away—the stakes matter, maybe more than they ever have before.”

Secret Empire #10 will be written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Steve McNiven, with a cover by Mark Brooks featuring a new look for the Hydra leader Cap.