When we last saw Charles Xavier, he had hatched his dead wife, the late Shi’ar empress Lilandra Neramani, from a hidden Krakoan egg and peaced out to space to save their daughter, the current empress Xandra, from the latest Shi’ar coup.
Remember, Cyclops had a mental health crisis? The X-Men cried like when Krakoa went away? It was fun.
We were teased that the Xavier-Neramani family would return in Imperial, Krakoa architect Jonathan Hickman’s space-politics opera that debuted last week. Now we know how.
Marvel on Wednesday announced Imperial War: Exiles, a one-shot by Hickman, co-writer Steve Foxe (Heir of Apocalypse) and artist Francesco Manna debuting in September.
(It also announced a Nova one-shot, but you’re not here for that. Our analytics tell us you wanna know about the bald boy and his bird wife.)
The one-shot will see the family on the run from the Shi’ar Imperial Guard as the cosmic political heirarchy is rewritten. And from the cover to the comic, it looks like Auntie Deathbird will be there as well. Hooray!
It also trades on the Exiles name, typically associated with a band of mostly mutant cross-reality explorers that more often than not involves Blink from the Age of Apocalypse. This isn’t that. Just pointing it out.
Check out the covers to Imperial War: Exiles and Imperial War: Nova – Centurion, and keep scrolling for the basic deets.
New York, NY— June 11, 2025 — Last week, IMPERIAL, a four-issue event series by visionary writer Jonathan Hickman and superstar artists Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini, kicked off a galaxy-spanning conflict that’s set to boldly transform the cosmic landscape of the Marvel Universe. The highly anticipated series serves as the foundation for a new era of intergalactic storytelling, starting with five IMPERIAL WAR one-shots that spotlight individual characters and groups as they navigate the startling developments and explosive conflicts sweeping the stars. The first two IMPERIAL WAR one-shots, IMPERIAL WAR: SHE-HULK and IMPERIAL WAR: BLACK PANTHER, were announced last month and will hit stands in August. Today, fans can learn about the next two IMPERIAL WAR one-shots, IMPERIAL WAR: EXILES and IMPERIAL WAR: NOVA CENTURION, arriving in September.
The five IMPERIAL WAR one-shots represent key chapters of the overarching IMPERIAL narrative and will each be co-written by event architect Jonathan Hickman. IMPERIAL WAR: EXILES by acclaimed writer Steve Foxe (Dark X-Men) and superstar artist Francesco Manna (Giant-Size House of M) will follow up on Professor X’s departure from Earth as the X-Men’s founder assembles a new team of heroes to protect his daughter, the recently deposed Empress Xandra. IMPERIAL WAR: NOVA – CENTURION sees blockbuster Marvel writer Jed MacKay (X-Men, Avengers) join the action alongside rising star artist Matteo Della Fonte (Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin) to take the helm of the galaxy’s most steadfast defender.
A coup at home has imperiled Shi’ar Majestrix Xandra, tearing her from the throne in IMPERIAL WAR: EXILES. Her only hope for survival lies in a mismatched group of renegades led by her father, Professor Charles Xavier, and her resurrected mother, Lilandra! But when faced with the awesome power of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, the only way to survive…is to run!
“Mutantkind has looked to the stars since the 1970s, so there was no way we could leave the X-crew out of the Imperial master plan,” Foxe shared. “Watching Jonathan build this intergalactic conspiracy was its own storytelling masterclass, and he built launch pads for all of us to tell some of the biggest stories possible on this new cosmic stage.”
Regarding the team’s roster, Foxe explained, “This is a crew of Exiles in the truest sense of the word—a ragtag band of royals, aliens, scoundrels, robots, and furballs thrust together under dire circumstances. And at the heart of it all is a family we’ve never really seen together in one place: Charles Xavier, Lilandra Neramani, and their daughter, Xandra. But make no mistake—this is a breakneck space-chase story first and foremost, and Francesco Manna is knocking it out of the galaxy. Which is good, because if these Exiles slow down for too long…they’ll be exterminated!”
The Xandarian Worldmind will be lost forever…unless Rich Rider can earn the credits needed to keep it alive in IMPERIAL WAR: NOVA – CENTURION! So Nova must offer his services to the highest bidder – Have Helmet, Will Travel!
“I’m very excited to take on the Human Rocket and explore the new cosmic stage defined by Imperial!” MacKay shared. “The great galactic civilizations are moving into an all-new alignment, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the last Nova Corpsman fits in when the pieces are put together.”
“Rich is really interesting to me,” MacKay continued. “For a lot of his history he’s been defined as being a ‘new kid,’ from his Spider-Man-esque origin to his time with the New Warriors, even up to the opening of Annihilation. Now, he’s the last standard bearer of the old order, a veteran of a war that already seems so long ago, and the question is being asked…is a Nova still relevant in the wake of IMPERIAL?”
Preorder IMPERIAL WAR: EXILES #1 and IMPERIAL WAR: NOVA – CENTURION #1 at your local comic shop and stay tuned in the weeks ahead for more IMPERIAL announcements! For more information, visit Marvel.com.
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
