I am THRILLED to share this news! Two of Marvel’s Finest, Fiercest Females will star in a brand new Marvel Now series! Comics Newsarama reports that Fearless Defenders will star Valkyrie and Misty Knight in a follow-up to Fear Itself: The Fearless.
I have been sharing my hope that Valkyrie of The Fearless and The Defenders would live on in the Marvel Now. Now I guess we’ll see if they are two great concepts that taste great together?
Cullen Bunn (Venom, Wolverine) will write the new series with Will Sliney on art. Bunn scripted the excellent Fear Itself: The Fearless 12-part series that I may have posted over and over that I LOVE. I think Misty Knight kicks ass but I absolutely love Valkyrie so you can imagine my excitement!
According to the CN story – Dani Moonstar of the recently ended New Mutants has found a home in the Marvel Now – YES! Dani was once a Valkyrie and recently made a deal with Hela during the SIEGE saga. More female characters will joining the team too.
“The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she’s been asked to choose all these women from the heroes of Midgard, instead of from Asgard. She has completely failed in this task. [Laughs.] Valkyrie has been unable to choose anyone that she feels is worthy to be one of the hosts of the shield maidens. So she just hasn’t done it. She’s dropped the ball,” Bunn tells CN.
“Because she’s not done what she said she would do, nature — or supernature, as it is — abhors a vacuum. The absence of the Valkyrior has opened the door to something terrible. Something awful is waking, and Valkyrie finds that it’s really her fault that she’s put everything at risk.”
Bunn had heroes and villains after Valkyrie in the earlier limited series but he’s plotting new enemies for her and Misty in the new series.
“Yeah, in the first issue I’m introducing a couple of new villains. One of them is, in my mind, the nastiest villain to ever come into the Marvel Universe. She is absolutely ghastly. At her very core, she is a horrible, horrible person, and she is capable of some really deplorable things that we’ll be seeing.
We’re creating a new team, and I felt like it would be important to create this mastermind-type character who’s coming in to be the main antagonist for the foreseeable future for the team. She’s not the only villain you’re going to see, and you’ll some other Marvel Universe villains, but she is new, and I wanted people to believe she is a challenge for Valkyrie. Look at Valkyrie — she’s a very powerful character. This woman is definitely going to be a challenge for Valkyrie, and she’s going to be that challenge without having any powers whatsoever.”
Fearless Defenders arrives in February 2013. I’m loving the Mighty Mark Brooks cover art up top!
For the entire interview here’s the Comics Newsarama link.
By Editor