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It hasn’t escaped many Marvel fans’ notice that one of the lead writers of the company’s X-Men relaunch, From the Ashes, is also the writer of Marvel’s flagship superhero team, the Avengers. This December, we’re going to see what that means in practical terms, as the two biggest teams Marvel have face off against each other in a story that the publisher promises is going to have deeper meanings for the future of its comic book universe.

“Jed MacKay pits his Avengers against his X-Men in a story that sows the seeds for some major future developments,” teases the official description of December’s Avengers #21, drawn by primary series artist Valerio Schiti. “Captain Marvel and Cyclops square off! Scarlet Witch and Magneto finally confront their history! And Storm’s loyalties are put to the test…”

Longtime X-Men member (and often team leader) Storm, of course, joined the official line-up of the Avengers with this week’s Avengers #18, replacing Thor as he stepped away from the team due to events in the ongoing Immortal Thor. In the issue, Storm explained to Cyclops the difference between the two teams as she sees it: “Captain Marvel is the Avengers chair, but they’re an assemblage of equals,” she said. “Not a strike team with a combat leader.” Could this be a hint at what MacKay is planning for the collision between the two groups…?

To be fair, the Avengers and the X-Men have a long, long history of coming to blows in their 61 years of existence. The two groups first met (and fought) in 1964’s Uncanny X-Men #9, before doing so again in 1987’s X-Men vs. The Avengers, 1992’s Avengers/X-Men: Bloodties, 1996’s Onslaught, 2005’s House of M, and 2012’s AvX: Avengers vs. X-Men.

To say that the two groups have a problem getting along is, seemingly, an understatement, despite the number of characters who have at one point or another belonged to both teams: in addition to Storm, there was Beast, Wolverine, Sunspot, Cannonball, Sunfire, Rogue, and Quicksilver — for that matter, there’s even been the Uncanny Avengers, a group that was intended as an official cross-team effort between the two line-ups.

How much of that history is going to come into play in Avengers #21 — and what, exactly, is going to spark the latest punch-up between the two groups — will likely remain a mystery for a couple of months yet. Avengers #21 will be released December 4. Check out the covers by Valerio Schiti, Matteo Lolli, and Bengus (a Marvel vs. Capcom variant, no less!) in the gallery below.

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