Earth X got its start in 1997, when Wizard magazine commissioned Alex Ross to create a possible dystopian future for Marvel. Ross imagined a world in which all ordinary humans had gained superpowers, and he considered how some of the most well-known Marvel characters (such as Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Incredible Hulk) would cope in a world in which their superhero abilities were now commonplace. The issue of Wizard containing the Ross article was quickly sold out. The article was so popular that it was republished in 1999. The Earth X incarnation of Spider-Man will make his cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse