Remember when we talked about the Marvel Comics Universe being a multiverse? Well, the rumors surrounding this week's All-New X-Men #40 (the finale in this series) are what can make things get very interesting... or confusing.
Before we get into that, though, let's give you a bit of backstory leading up to this point. And be known that if you haven't been reading X-Men storylines since the summer of 2012, all of this will be spoiler territory.
So, Cyclops was taken over by the Phoenix Force (long story) and ended up murdering Professor Charles Xavier while under the influence. This occurrence threw a major rift in between the mutants of the Marvel U, which culminated in Beast traveling back to an alternate timeline, grab the original teen X-Men, and bring them to Earth-616 in hopes of scaring Cyclops straight. Things didn't go according to plan, and these teens are now stranded on Earth-616, trying to find their way.
One of those teens is young Robert Drake, aka Iceman. While he shares many similarities with the Bobby Drake of today, there is said to be one major difference between the two: teen Iceman is apparently gay, and is said to be coming out in All-New X-Men #40.
How could this be? From the leak, which is said to have originated on 4chan, young Bobby's secret is discovered by the young telekinetic Jean Grey, and is confirmed to be true by young Iceman. While he apparently thinks he's more bi-sexual, Jean must have peered into his thoughts and discovered that he's actually more into guys.
Marvel characters coming out isn't new at all–everyone from Wolverine's son Daken to Earth-TRN366's Miss America have been in same-sex relationships in the past. This is an interesting ordeal, however, considering that the adult Iceman we've grown up with has never been portrayed as anything but a ladies man–although fans have speculated on Iceman being gay for years.
Will there be some kind of discussion between the two Icemen about repressed sexual desires? And how will this play out with the Secret Wars looming over the entire Marvel Universe? For those who can't wait until the full issue drops tomorrow, check out some of these leaked panels from All-New X-Men #40 right now.
