Welcome to another creepy edition of X-Men on Monday at X-Fans, AIPT!
Godzilla: King of the Monster! X-Men: spooky, amazing, exceptional – you know adjectives! Throw it to Fabian Nishieza, a legendary Marvel comics. The questions are: Can a single one-shot include all these pop culture powers?
Well, we’ll know right away when Marvel releases Godzilla vs. X-Men #1 on May 14th, 2025. Ahead of the One-Shot release, author Fabian Nishieza lets us know what we can expect from the latest X-Men crossover. Let’s see what he has to say.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
AIPT: X-Men Monday, return to Fabian! So there were a lot of X-Men stories and a lot of Godzilla movies. I’m curious, when you’re given less than 30 pages to crush these franchises together in one shot, what’s your approach to focusing on the perfect story?
Fabian Niceza: It starts with deep, meaningful regret for adopting the challenge, followed by.
Traditional team-up structure – Are the enemies team-up? yes. What do “franchises” have in common? Isolation, “other” was misunderstood by people. How could this commonality pose a threat to both? Well, the X-Men was fighting giant robots, and Godzilla fought giant robots, so maybe…
Once that foundation is in place, decide how it needs to start, how it will end and resolve any complications/twist between the two.
Then I pray to Zeus for more pages. Zeus does not answer my prayers. And I type.
And I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years and haven’t written a “perfect story” yet, but… there’s always hope!
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
aipt: Ah, you’re working too hard on yourself, Fabian. So, what can readers expect from Godzilla vs. X-Men? I’ve seen the visuals from artist Emilio Ryso.
Fabian: Emilio’s art is amazing. I tried to draw him some big moments and he nailed them.
As for the story itself, I think we can expect the story to get caught up in the DNA of both franchises. Godzilla is trying to protect himself and his kind from humans who cannot see beyond fear and prejudice, and the X-Men agrees to help him stop Godzilla, knowing that most people don’t think they are.
Throw along with a Japanese businessman with Grudge, who is affiliated with Trask Enterprises, and an X-Men who knows he needs to be taller. You can expect a juicy twist.
Marvel Comics, Toho Co., Ltd. , and provided by Godzilla.com
AIPT: X-Fan Pame says that both Godzilla vs. X-Men and the recent stories of X-Force #300 are located in the 90s. Pame’s Questions could reaffirm some of the 90s stories to write both stories and get the voices of all these characters again? Or does their voice come naturally to you, as you have written them over the years?
Fabian: I just wrote the Cable Limited series a year ago, so the character doesn’t need much work to go back, but I had to reread the X-force issues between #25-30 just where I was planning the story.
Provided by Marvel Comics
All of these characters’ voices are in my head and slide relatively easily.
AIPT: Building from Pame Questions… Which is the most enjoyable to revisit Godzilla vs. X-Men?
Fabian: I wish there was enough space for individual characters to do more, but that wasn’t really the case, so I didn’t have much time with them individually. But as long as I get a fun non-X Marvel crunchy continuity into the Gambit Heist scenes and the story, it’s all good!
AIPT: X-Fan Phil Aitken wants to know what this one-shot will inform you of your approach to writing Godzilla.
Fabian: As a child, watching some of the Godzilla films and recent releases, it helped inform my thoughts on the King of Kings, but Godzilla has no “voice,” so it is often defined by the behavior of humans who fear it and dislike it.
My young Godzilla was someone who sympathized with your loneliness and the choice to help even those who hurt it against greater power. The similarities with the X-Men are clear. So I hope that you will create a compelling story.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
AIPT: X-Fan Aleksey wonders if it’s difficult to powerscale X-Men to Godzilla’s level.
Fabian: See that non-X Marvel crunchy continuity comment for your answer! That means you’ll see it when you buy a book!
aipt: x-fan josht has multiple questions, so let’s wrap it around these…
First of all, what is your favorite Godzilla movie?
Fabian: Destroy all monsters, mainly because of the “All monsters” part and the smoke rings of Minilla in 1969 when she was eight years old.
aipt: Next, who is your favorite Godzilla monster friend or enemy?
Fabian: When I was a kid, I probably saw the film as Rodin.
aipt: And Josh’s final question – who made more resurrections? Jean Gray or Mothra?
Fabian: The real question is, who made the most cocooned revival, Jean only had one, so I think Mothra will win.
Provided by Marvel Comics
aipt: Um, did we start a Jean Gray Mothra rivalry? I don’t know if we survived that experience. But with that ominous note – Fabian, thank you for stopping by the X-Men on Monday!
X-Fans, Godzilla vs. X-Men #1, will be released on May 14th, 2025. There is a preview page exclusive to this week’s X-Men Monday. In addition to the X-Men, these pages include the words Fabian Nicieza, pencils, Emilio Laiso ink, and VC’s Clayton Cowles letters.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
Courtesy of Marvel Comics and Toho Co., Ltd.
I don’t know about you, but I’m reading Fabian’s writings and seeing Emilio’s layouts, their classic outfits, their colors…it seems I’m back in 7th grade. I’m really looking forward to this!
Until next time, X-Fans will remain exceptional!
