Yesterday, artist Chris Bachalo confirmed the existence of a Marvel NOW! relaunch of "Uncanny X-Men" written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Bachalo in February 2013. The series was hinted at by a one word "Uncanny" Marvel NOW! teaser last week, and Bachalo stated the relaunch signals a new direction and tonal shift for the book. To further clarify what's in store for the relaunch, Marvel.com has posted an interview with Bendis about the placement of "Uncanny X-Men" and the tonal shift Bachalo indicated.

"Everything in 'Uncanny X-Men' came right out of our story planning for 'Avengers Vs. X-Men,'" Bendis told Marvel.com. "There was a great deal of time where Marvel had asked Jason Aaron and [me] to bring all the elements of the story together. It was during this process that both of us came up with a lot of ideas for the mutants going forward. By this time I knew that I was taking over the X-Men and that allowed me freedom to take his [X-Men] characters into places I probably wouldn't have the guts to [in 'Avengers Vs. X-Men'] if it wasn't my job to clean up the mess so to speak. While we were discussing whether or not it was time for Charles Xavier to die, one of the reasons I was all for it was because it made all of my books so much more interesting."