X-Men: Red is a 2018 comic book published by Marvel Comics, written by Tom Taylor (All-New Wolverine) and initially drawn by Mahmud Asrar (All-New, All-Different Avengers) with covers by Travis Charest and Jenny Frisson.
Following Jean Grey's resurrection, the revived heroine assembles a new team of X-Men to fight an evil that is targeting the legacy of her former mentor, the late Charles Xavier.
Joining Jean initially are Laura Kinney (the all-new Wolverine) and her younger clone Gabby (the Honey Badger), Namor the Sub-Mariner, Nightcrawler, Wakandan mutant Gentle, Gambit, a new mutant character named Trinary, and Storm.
See also: its colour-themed sister titles of the era, Gold, Blue, and Black. Red ended after eleven issues to make way for the Age of X-Man event.
A relaunch of this title, published as part of the Destiny of X era, began in 2022. The new series has a completely different premise, serving as a continuation of S.W.O.R.D. (2020) with Storm now in the lead role as the first regent of Arakko.
X-Men: Red contains examples of the following tropes:
- Are We There Yet?: Gabby in issue 3, while riding on the back of Trinary's co-opted Sentinel.
- Bait-and-Switch Gunshot: One of the mob in issue 3 fires his gun at Gambit, right as Remy throws one of his charged cards. At first he thinks the gunman missed... until he turns around and realizes the shot struck the mutant woman he was actually there to help protect from the mob.
- Big Bad: Cassandra Nova acts as the villain against which Jean's team fights.
- Bulletproof Human Shield: Laura uses herself as one in issue 7, physically covering the rest of her team when a passenger aboard the plane they're on is triggered by Cassandra Nova's nanoprobes and begins firing wildly into the aircraft's cargo deck. Strangely enough, this includes shielding Gabby, who not only can't feel the pain of being shot, but has the same Healing Factor she does.
- The Bus Came Back: Adult Jean, of course, is back properly for the first time since the end of New X-Men. Namor returns as an X-Man for the first time since Avengers vs. X-Men, while Gentle makes his first substantial appearance in any regular Marvel title since Young X-Men.
- The annual features the first appearance of Blinky since Black Bolt (2017).
- Clear My Name: Jean has been framed for the murder of Britain's ambassador to the United Nations by Cassandra Nova, driving her into exile and leading to the creation of the Red team.
- Colourful Theme Naming: Red joins colour-themed sister titles Gold and Blue. While those names are continuity nods to past X-Men teams, however, there has never been a "Red" team.
- Continuity Nod:
- While addressing the UN, Jean references previous attempts to create a "mutant nation" such as Genosha and Utopia just making it easier to murder them.
- The carjackers in issue 1 are the same pair of hapless burglars that broke into Laura's apartment in All-New Wolverine #10.
- Gabby remarks about Gambit blowing her up in Madripoor when Jean expresses her surprise at their having met, referencing the events of "Enemy of the State II."
- Cute, but Cacophonic: Two carjackers learn the hard way that the baby they accidentally just kidnapped is a mutant. A mutant whose terrified screams can rend Laura's flesh to the bone.
- Fantastic Racism: Parents are trying to shoot their mutant children, and politicians are calling for prenatal testing to find baby mutants and abort them. This is revealed at the end of issue 1 to be at least partly down to Cassandra Nova and Her Nanosentinels.
- Fingore: Lakshay Singh, head of India's mutant police, calls in a Sentinel after Jean's team breaks Trinary out of his facility. Laura slices the phone in half in an effort to stop him, and he loses a few fingers along with it.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: The initial Red team consists of four women and four men. The scale tips in the favor of the women when Storm joins up.
- The Leader: Jean is this for the Red team.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Gabby gets blasted by the Sentinel in issue 3, and Trinary is stunned to see her get back up. Gabby casually brushes it off while pushing her intestines back in. Justified by her Healing Factor and the fact she Feels No Pain.
- Multinational Team: Perhaps one of the more nationally diverse X-Teams in a while. Jean, Remy, Laura, and Gabby are Americans,note Gentle is Wakandan, Nightcrawler is German, and Namor considers himself more Atlantean than anything else. Trinary's nationality was revealed to be Indian in a tweet. Laura could also potentially claim dual Canadian citizenship via Logan.note
- My God, What Have I Done?: The gunman who murdered a mutant girl Gambit was trying to protect has this reaction when Jean and Trinary shut off the sentinite that was controlling him.
- Nanomachines: The means by which Cassandra Nova is controlling people, and stoking hatred against mutants. It's unclear whether they're more of her nanosentinels or something else.
- Neck Snap: The fate of poor Kyle when Cassandra Nova slips into the Xavier School in issue 3.
- Noodle Incident: The girl on the bus Gabby had confused feelings about.
- Original Generation: Trinary is a new character created for this series.
- Pun: The team's underwater base is dubbed "Searebro."
Word of God confirms Gabby came up with the name. - Shout-Out: When meeting Gabby for the first time, Trinary asks her if she isn't a little short for an X-Man.
- Team Mom: Jean, as per usual.
- Torches and Pitchforks: An actual torches and pitchforks mob turns up harassing mutants in Louisiana. Gambit, of course, hangs a lampshade on it, and mocks them for using cheap supermarket tiki torches.
- Western Terrorists: Domestic terrorism in the United States is a major theme.
- Your Head Asplode: The unfortunate fate of one of the UN ambassadors who comes to agree with Jean's efforts, courtesy of Cassandra Nova.
