Whether it’s because a particularly effective Marvel marketing hype train or due to the incredibly perfect fit, the upcoming launch of Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men line – which begins on July 24th with House of X #1 – is reaching legendary status without even having a single issue released yet.

But that’s what happens when you take one of the most rabid fanbases in comics and give them years of inconsistency in terms of storytelling and direction. While there have been plenty of highlights, it’s hard not to feel that even the best books have existed on an island rather than as part of a greater whole. But like the Giant Size X-Men team, Hickman’s working to release that greatness from the grasp of a far flung island and give it cohesion, direction and, ultimately, purpose, or so fans hope.

Will he succeed? Maybe! Who the heck knows?! We haven’t read any of it, and despite the comics internet parsing every word of every interview he’s done so far to the most infinitesimal detail, we don’t even have the slightest clue as to what comics might come as part of his line. That’s okay! Answers will come later.

But with great unknowns come great opportunities for speculative, hopeful content. Potential is fun and infinite in its potential, allowing the mind to wander and think of the glory that could be awaiting us. With that in mind, I reached out to three of the biggest X-Men fans I know – my pal Brandon Burpee, Zack Jenkins of Xavier Files, and his Battle of the Atom podcast co-host Adam Reck – to develop our own takes at what the Hickman X-Men line might look like.

How’d we do that? We fantasy drafted the first wave of books for the line, with each of us crafting our own comics including the book’s title, creative team, team leader and characters who star in the book. It got controversial. There may have been some shockingly early grabs of unexpected characters. At least one non-mutant was selected. We got weird. But it was all in service of fun from a group of people who love the X-Men.

We also discussed our hopes and expectations for what Hickman’s bringing our way as a leadoff, so let’s jump right into that below.