Brian Michael Bendis is leaving Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after a phenomenal run to mutate the Children of the Atom this November. All-New X-Men #1 by Bendis and artist Stuart Immomen is part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. The original five X-Men (including Jean Grey) will be yanked from their past into the present – it’s not the future they dreamed of.
As a lifelong X-Men fan I wanted to share the latest on the big change coming to the franchise. The acclaimed writer tells Marvel.com AvX led to the new series but he’s had his eye on the X-Men franchise.
“Avengers Vs. X-Men led to it. It was an idea that had been floating around the X-Office for a while and I’m still unclear where exactly it percolated. I’m a big fan of these kinds of stories, “Pleasantville” or “Peggy Sue got Married,” where a character faces the truth about themselves and what their life can mean versus what it does mean. They’re very interesting stories and the idea of the original X-Men seeing what the X-Men turned into is absolutely fascinating to me. When I first heard about it I was interested, but it never really stuck the landing or came about. I’d asked about it often, as a fan though, but it never found its home.
When we first did the AvX retreat here at my house, we were sitting outside talking after we finished and I said “I guess I should bail off of Avengers when this is done since I’ve been on it longer than anyone’s ever been on it and eventually I’ll have to leave.” Better to leave now than people going “Ugh, leave.” I wanted to make sure I left on a high note and then slowly the idea of everyone leaving their books began to percolate. I don’t want to put too much importance on it, but it created a domino effect where I was leaving Avengers and someone had to take it, so then they’re leaving their book and someone needs to take that, etc. Everyone has this opportunity to start this new part of their career with a strong take on a new book and with that comes Marvel NOW! It’s very exciting, especially to those of us who’ve locked in big gigs early on.
Axel, Tom and everyone were at my house and told me if I was interested I should go to X-Men. I said I’d go if no one is doing the “Days of Future Now” [idea, as it was called back then]. At the time it was only me and Jeph Loeb who were interested in it and Loeb already had other commitments. Before AvX I was already [going to be] the writer of X-Men and it was interesting to write these characters in such dire straits. I knew that no matter how crazy it got during AvX that I’d be handling the fallout, which is always the best part.”
Chris Claremont took us into a horrific future controlled by Sentinels in the classic storyline Days of Future Past. Bendis is calling his new book Day of Future Now. For the original five mutants the current state of the world is a nightmare.
“There’s a line in my script, I think Bobby says it: “We used to remember ‘Days of Future Past’ being this mutant apocalypse, and on some level, other than the Jean Grey School, this is worse than what we thought it was going to be,” says Bendis.
Fans were anticipating the return of Jean Grey but maybe not in this form. What does the arrival of the teens mean to the X-Men status quo?
“Yes, all five of them coming here create a new status quo. Even the simplest one, being Bobby discovering that he grows up to be rather normal, is a shock. It alters you. Jean coming back now is unlike Jean coming back before. This isn’t a reincarnated Jean, this isn’t a clone; this is Jean. She is coming here wide-eyed, but you also have to remember she’s coming into a world where she’s died. [It wasn’t] a great death, and I don’t want to spoil anything for AvX but she’s witnessed some things about her friends and loved ones that will make her feel wonderful, but also shock her to her very core and change all of her relationships. I’m thrilled and one of the biggest gets of bringing back the original five is that we get Jean. We’re not getting a version of Jean, we’re getting the real thing. She’s going to witness what has happened to the X-Men and what she’ll do to try and change that, especially at a time when maybe her powers aren’t at their fullest yet.”
The cast of All-New X-Men will include more than the original five students but it’s a secret for now.
“Yes. Fans of any team but particularly X-Men begin to do detective work to figure out who’s going to be on the team. I’d like to save some surprise for the fans, but know that not everyone is walking out of AvX in one piece. Those who do walk away in one piece will be part of this book. This book isn’t just going to focus on the experiences of the original five but how they change everything in the X-Men universe. There will be a lot of interaction with those who are around to interact with. I’ve already written quite a few issues and Stuart is on his third issue right now and it’s beautiful to look at.”
One of my favorite elements of the Bendis Avengers era was how he brought back great characters like Luke Cage and Spider-Woman. Most of the X-Men are in one or more of the current X-titles but is there a character from the past about to make a comeback?
“Yes, but like Avengers, I’m not going to step in front of it and announce it. I’m just going to let it happen and see if anyone agrees with me. With Spider-Woman and Luke Cage, I just slipped them in there and people liked it. I’m going to need to prove it with my writing beforehand. For example, I’m not going to announce “Maggot is now cool!” and expect people to love him. It has to happen in the writing and most of the time it discovers itself in the writing. I didn’t realize Spider-Man and Luke Cage would be funny together until I started writing them together. The same thing is starting to happen with the X-characters and I’m just going to let it come naturally.”
In regards to accessibility, I’m hoping that this idea, though completely immersed in continuity porn, at its core is five new X-Men coming in and seeing the X-Men through wide eyes. There’s going to be a nice mix of continuity and accessibility. If you know the continuity it’ll all be there but if you’re coming in fresh with the five new X-Men, what fresher eyes could there possibly be? Hopefully, at least, it’s quite a balancing act since it’s literally a cast of hundreds of established characters that have web sites dedicated to them and hardcore fan-bases who have very specific ideas of what the character should or should not do and we’re going to touch on a lot of it.”
I have to admit I was excited about but fearful of this idea. Bendis did plenty of damage of mutantkind with his Avengers run with Scarlet Witch declaring “No More Mutants.” The writer took inspiration from Charles Xavier in a message to X-fans nervous about the future.
“As X-Men fans you should always remember that the X-Men are about acceptance and tolerance. I know that this idea is scary, but embrace Professor X’s ideas and be a bit more accepting and tolerant of the idea—and stop yelling at me. [Laughs] I think for fans young and old the best part is reading an issue and not knowing what’s going to happen after that. Just to have your fans sit back and enjoy the ride is fantastic.
For more of the Bendis interview by Brett White here’s the Marvel.com link.
By Editor
Opinion: Every time a new writer is coming on board X-Men I have excitement and trepidation but I keep telling myself to remember how much Bendis made me love Avengers again and how he brought back Luke Cage and Jessica Drew to glory.