
What If...Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force?
An X-Men and America Chavez Story
Rebecca Podos(Author)
Penguin (Cornerstone) (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 7. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-1-80494-654-1 (ISBN)
Description
Kitty Pryde, Betsy Braddock, and America Chavez race against time itself to save Jean Grey and the X-Men in this epic Multiversal adventure reimagining Marvel origin stories.
So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched generations of mutants live in a world shaped by Jean Grey's legacy. But what if... that legacy was cut tragically short, dooming the world to a future without the X-Men?
What if... a watcher must do more than watch?
The year is 1990: The X-Men all perished more than a decade ago, and Kitty Pryde is no hero. Emma Frost rescued Kitty from an obscure existence as a mere rebellious teen kicked out of boarding school, terrified of ever being discovered as a mutant. After growing up under the tutelage of the White Queen, Kitty is an apex predator of a superior species, yet she lives alone in a tiny, rundown apartment, preferring isolation to a knife in the back. What is her alternative? The world is what it is.
But sometimes Kitty isn't so sure of that. Sometimes it feels like she phases right out of her own life. Breathe in: She's suddenly surrounded by friends she's never known, living out events that never happened. Breathe out: It's all back to normal. Kitty always shoves these flashes down, until someone from that other life finds her. This familiar stranger, Betsy Braddock, is a rambling confirmation that something is wrong with their world.
Betsy has a wild theory and if it's right, Kitty's only shot at changing the present is to free-fall into the past. The girls follow a tenuous psychic trail back to the glory days of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where they embed themselves with the X-Men. There they discover the inflection point that will unravel their future revolves around a certain omega-level mutant, destined to become the Phoenix. But little do Kitty and Betsy know, they're not alone in their search.
The year is 1975: Jean Grey has weeks left to live. The Whisperer is coming. He has recruited an ally and accounted for every foreseeable variable. He will leave nothing to chance. He will lead this reality to its Doom.
So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched generations of mutants live in a world shaped by Jean Grey's legacy. But what if... that legacy was cut tragically short, dooming the world to a future without the X-Men?
What if... a watcher must do more than watch?
The year is 1990: The X-Men all perished more than a decade ago, and Kitty Pryde is no hero. Emma Frost rescued Kitty from an obscure existence as a mere rebellious teen kicked out of boarding school, terrified of ever being discovered as a mutant. After growing up under the tutelage of the White Queen, Kitty is an apex predator of a superior species, yet she lives alone in a tiny, rundown apartment, preferring isolation to a knife in the back. What is her alternative? The world is what it is.
But sometimes Kitty isn't so sure of that. Sometimes it feels like she phases right out of her own life. Breathe in: She's suddenly surrounded by friends she's never known, living out events that never happened. Breathe out: It's all back to normal. Kitty always shoves these flashes down, until someone from that other life finds her. This familiar stranger, Betsy Braddock, is a rambling confirmation that something is wrong with their world.
Betsy has a wild theory and if it's right, Kitty's only shot at changing the present is to free-fall into the past. The girls follow a tenuous psychic trail back to the glory days of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where they embed themselves with the X-Men. There they discover the inflection point that will unravel their future revolves around a certain omega-level mutant, destined to become the Phoenix. But little do Kitty and Betsy know, they're not alone in their search.
The year is 1975: Jean Grey has weeks left to live. The Whisperer is coming. He has recruited an ally and accounted for every foreseeable variable. He will leave nothing to chance. He will lead this reality to its Doom.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
500 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80494-654-1 (9781804946541)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2025
Penguin (Cornerstone)
€14.99
Available for download

Book
10/2025
Del Rey
€27.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Rebecca Podos (she/they) is the Lambda Literary Award-winning and Cybils Award-winning author of YA novels. Her latest releases are the co-edited anthology Fools in Love (Running Press Kids) and the award-winning YA fantasy novel From Dust, a Flame (Balzer + Bray), as well as a story in the YA fairy tale anthology At Midnight. Furious, a contemporary YA co-written with Jamie, is her next release. By day, she's an agent at the Rees Literary Agency.