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Are you a fan of HBO’s red-hot dysfunctional family/corporate boardroom comedic drama Succession?
We might have a comic book for you – Marvel’s Immortal X-Men.
Fans of Immortal X-Men writer Keiron Gillen knows he’s not shy about sharing what stories influence his work, from Lord of the Rings to Sandman, and you can now count HBO’s Succession among them.
Gillen, who will be taking over for Jonathan Hickman as Marvel’s lead X-writer for its upcoming new ‘Destiny of X’ era, spoke about the upcoming series illustrated by artist Lucas Werneck with Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab), and cited his newfound fandom of Succession as a comparison to Immortal X-Men, particularly citing Magneto’s role in the series.
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As anyone who’s been following the Hickman-led X-saga knows, Magneto is currently on the Quiet Council, the leader of the mutant country of Krakoa. But when Immortal X-Men begins, the Master of Magnetism will be stepping down, much like how Succession’s patriarch Logan Roy’s leadership wanes in the hit HBO series.
“I like Machiavellian characters with plans,” Gillen tells EW. “I hadn’t watched Succession when I started writing Immortal, but Succession has a lot of Immortal in it. I’d love to do an homage cover from behind Magneto’s chair.”
So while Succession may not have directly inspired the Immortal X-Men writer, its backstabbing characters and closed-door deals are apparently similar enough to get warrant a nod. Of course, fans of Hickman’s X-saga should recognize the comparison. So far, it’s been a story of ruthless power plays and betrayal on a Shakespearean scale.
Gillen also mentioned another meta influence for his handling of Magneto, and that’s his own predecessor Jonathan Hickman. No, Hickman doesn’t have powers over the elements or plans for a new world order (that we know of), but he has been a leader on Marvel’s X-Books as much as, if not longer than, Magneto has been on Krakoa.
“It’s not deliberately meta,” Gillen quips cheekily, “but it certainly works.”
Gillen and Werneck’s Immortal X-Men #1 (opens in new tab) hits shelves March 30th. You can watch the trailer Marvel released for it and the entire ‘Destiny of X’ saga right here:
Magneto has been a ‘Machiavellian character with a plan’ since the very first X-Men comic, but he’s not the only one. Check out Newsarama’s list of the best X-Men villains of all time.
