By Marc Strom

The X-Men may stand divided at the moment, but their odds of reuniting just increased by a Fraction.

Beginning with July's landmark UNCANNY X-MEN #500, Matt Fraction joins our merry band of mutants as co-writer with current scribe Ed Brubaker, and he couldn't have chosen a more exciting time!

For series editor Nick Lowe, bringing Fraction onboard seemed a no-brainer.

"One of the things that the X-Men [have] always had a lot of is crazy," quips Lowe. "Such great crazy. And, if there's one thing I know about Matt, it's that he brings crazy."

Though Fraction remains sworn to secrecy regarding details of his upcoming debut, he did let loose a few ideas of what fans can expect from his run.

"[The X-Men are] fighting not just for the survival of their team, but for the survival of their entire species," the writer explains. "That puts the team, and every mutant alive, in this place with unbelievably high stakes. So, in broad terms, I'm most looking forward to exploring what that means and what that does to our core characters."

The X-Men by Greg Land

As for the division of labor between the two authors, who also co-write THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST together, Brubaker likens their UNCANNY method to writing a TV show: "We plot out the basic character arcs and the ideas behind each story, and the subplots that go from one story to another, but then once that's all charted, we each take our story and just write it."

Details of the big anniversary issue remain sketchy, but with the team of Brubaker and Fraction as well as artists Terry Dodson and Greg Land behind the wheel, anything can (and will) happen.

"We've already seen the early steps of the journey [Cyclops] is on," Fraction notes. "I can't wait for the rest of the team to follow."

For all the Marvel news spinning out of Wizard World L.A., visit our news hub. And for a great way to kill time in between announcements, check out Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited!