<figure id="attachment_23923" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23923" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/X522.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="wp-image-23923 size-full" src="https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/X522.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="618" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/X522.jpg?w=1024&#38;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/X522.jpg?resize=300%2C181&#38;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/X522.jpg?resize=768%2C464&#38;ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-23923" class="wp-caption-text">Illustration by David Wynne</p> <dd></figcaption></figure> <p>In which Marvel goes wordless; Cassandra Nova breaks space; none of the X-Men have media training; and Gus was the best dog ever.</p> <p>X-PLAINED:</p> <ul> <li>Erik the Red (more) (again)</li> <li>Kin Crimson</li> <li>A big messy bag of mutant glory</li> <li><em>New X-Men</em> #121-123</li> <li>‘Nuff Said</li> <li>A journey into Charles Xavier’s mind</li> <li>What Emma is drinking</li> <li>A fetus fight</li> <li>The criminal culpability of a fetus</li> <li>Space problems</li> <li>A cosplay challenge</li> <li>Space</li> <li>Charles Xavier’s weird last wish</li> <li>A press conference</li> <li>Teen romance</li> <li>The Stepford Cuckoos</li> <li>Gus</li> <li>Charles Xavier’s age</li> <li>Nanosentinels</li> <li>Stuf</li> <li>Pre-ride safety announcements from the X-Men</li> <li>Whether Cassandra Nova should’ve been a component of Onslaught</li> </ul> <p>NEXT EPISODE: Cassandra Nova vs. the X-Men (Round 2)!</p> <hr /> <p>Check out the visual companion to this episode <a href="https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2026/04/as-mentioned-in-episode-522/">on our blog</a>.</p> <p>Find us on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820">Spotify</a>!</p> <p>Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that <a href="https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen">right here</a>!</p> <p>Buy rad swag at <a href="https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/">our Dashery shop</a>!</dd>