'X-Men United' #2 Opens Graymatter Lane, Emma Frost's Mental School

Eve Ewing and Tiago Palma's 'X-Men United' introduces Graymatter Lane, a psychic mind palace school founded by Emma Frost to reunite scattered mutantkind. Editor Tom Brevoort teases the clash between Emma's and Cyclops's differing visions for the future of mutants.

Following the fall of Krakoa, mutants have been scattered around the globe. In X-Men United, writer Eve Ewing and artist Tiago Palma give them a new home—but not one you can visit on a map. Welcome to Graymatter Lane, Emma Frost's psychic mind palace school, and the newest evolution in mutant education.

As revealed in X-Men United #1, Graymatter Lane isn't a physical campus. It's accessible worldwide via the psychic plane, letting mutants of all backgrounds meet, learn, and develop together regardless of where they physically live. Issue #2 expands on Emma's vision, and Conductor of X Tom Brevoort told Marvel.com it's the culmination of her long career as an educator, stretching from the Massachusetts Academy through Genosha.

"The idea behind Graymatter Lane is that it's more than simply a school. Rather, it's a campus environment wherein mutants of all sorts from across the globe can meet and interact and develop together. And as we'll see moving ahead, Emma's vision for what Graymatter can offer extends beyond solely just mutants." — Tom Brevoort

Cyclops vs Emma Frost: A Philosophical Clash

Brevoort also detailed how Cyclops and Emma clash over the project. Scott Summers has been on the front lines twice when mutantkind gathered in large numbers—first on Utopia and then on Krakoa—and both times, the result was catastrophic. He's convinced that concentrating mutants in one place, even a psychic one, invites disaster.

Emma's counterargument is equally valid: mutantkind needs a place to live, grow, and congregate for their mental and emotional well-being. "Both are determined to do the right thing as they see it regardless of how the other one feels," Brevoort said. "It's always more interesting when characters can have a legitimate difference of opinion without one being absolutely right and the other being absolutely wrong."

The Preview Pages

What This Means for Marvel Fans

After the Krakoan era's end, the X-line needed a new organizing principle, and X-Men United is positioning Graymatter Lane as the answer. Emma as headmaster feels like a natural return to form—she's one of the most experienced educators in X-Men history—while the Emma/Scott tension echoes their complicated relationship throughout the Morrison, Fraction, and Hickman eras. Pick up X-Men United #1 now and grab issue #2 when it hits shelves.