The first “major new enemy” of the relaunched X-Men line will debut in Sentinels, starring a new incarnation of the mutant hunting robots

The massive robotic anti-mutant weapons known as Sentinels are some of the worst enemies of the X-Men, hunting down and killing or imprisoning mutantkind. But now, a new era of Sentinels will focus specifically on dangerous mutant villains in an eponymous limited series launching as part of Marvel’s new ‘From the Ashes’ era of the X-Men.

In Sentinels, by writer Alex Paknadel and artist Justin Mason, humans who have been “scarred from Earth-shattering super hero conflicts” will be turned into mutant hunting weapons with the power of nanotechnology, not so different from X-Men ’97 villain Bastion’s Prime Sentinels.

But this time, there’s a twist. Rather than simply being built to hunt mutants, the new Sentinels will be led by Lawrence Trask, son of the original creator of the Sentinels Bolivar Trask and a mutant himself, who will aim them specifically at certain mutant menaces who he has foreseen will cause great disaster to the world. 

And while their first target is the well-known villain Omega Red, Marvel is promising that Sentinels will set the stage for “a major new enemy that will define the first year of the new ‘From the Ashes’ era.”

Check out a gallery of covers including the main cover by series artist Justin Mason, as well as variant covers by Nick Bradshaw, Jeremy Wilson, and Chris Campana:

“Who are the new sentinels? The original Sentinel Program was human supremacy and fear coded into circuitry. But now their legacy falls into the hands of mutantkind!” reads Marvel’s official description of Sentinels. “Powered by cutting-edge nanotech, this new generation of Sentinels protects a fragile peace between mutants and humans. But when being a Sentinel is your job – your life – is it possible to stay human? Meet Sawtooth, Lockstep, Drumfire, and Voivod, a brand-new team of heroes that will take on the most heinous mutants! Their first mission: capture Omega Red!”

Those heroes, Sawtooth, Lockstep, Drumfire, and Voivod, are all apparently new characters with ties to Marvel events such as Secret Empire, The Death of Doctor Strange, Onslaught, King in Black, and World War Hulk. 

That said, there is a different Sawtooth in Marvel continuity, who is an alt-reality version of Sabretooth. As for the name Voivod, not only is this also the name of a metal band, it’s an adapted spelling of the word Voivode, a term for Transylvanian nobility tracing back to the time of the actual Vlad the Impaler/Dracula.

“As an X-fan going back to my first set of teeth, I couldn’t be prouder or more excited to share Sentinels with the fans,” Paknadel says in a statement. “This book is about flawed human beings doing a dirty job for a dirty cause, and Justin Mason and I are determined to make you care about each and every one of them. Whatever your expectations are going in, I promise this book will surprise you.”

Sentinels #1 goes on sale October 9. It joins a whole host of new ‘From the Ashes’ titles including a trio of core X-Men series.

The Sentinels make the list of the best X-Men villains of all time.