Multiple universes will suffer the consequences of Wolverine’s actions in Age of Ultron! Earth’s Mightiest Heroes found a way to stop Ultron but Logan’s time jumps have ruptured the continuum! Angela has been pulled into the Marvel Universe. Galactus was transported into the Ultimate Universe – and he’s hungry!
Age of Ultron writer Brian Michael Bendis, new Ultimate Comics Ultimates writer Joshua Fialkov, Executive Editor Tom Brevoort and Ultimate Comics Editor Mark Panicca previewed the aftermath of Age of Ultron #10 in Marvel liveblog.
HUNGER will be a four-part series kicking off in July in which the Ultimate Universe faces the threat of Galactus! Bendis explains how the events of AoU inspired ideas of how it could impact the Marvel multiverse:
“For a lot of Age of Ultron, it was me and Tom Brevoort planning alone. When we put it out to everybody at Marvel that we were doing this crazy time travel story, we told them we wanted there to be ramifications. We asked ‘What’s the craziest thing that could fall into the Marvel Universe?’ A lot of ideas were something dropping on the Ultimate Universe that would be insane. Then Joe Quesada called me out of the blue and told me we could have Angela. That was about the craziest thing I ever heard. Then Neil Gaiman wanting to write Guardians of the Galaxy with me was even crazier. It was exactly the crazy thing I was looking for.”
“I was really excited about bringing something to the Ultimate Universe that wasn’t there before. We’ve been talking a lot about the Ultimate Universe and what it means. It’s supposed to be things you don’t expect anywhere else. Matt Fraction was the one who suggested we turn the page and there’s Galactus. As Tom said, he should be very very hungry by now.”
“You want things to happen that are crazy and special. They may be confusing at the moment, but they have that Marvel excitement. I was kind of bummed we had to leak Angela beforehand, but I was glad we kept Galactus secret.”
Josh Fialkov is the new writer of the Ultimates and is thrilled for the classic cosmic villain:
“I love Galactus. He’s all over my office. I’m a nut for him. The Ultimate Universe has seen its fair share of weird stuff, but everything they’ve seen has had sort of logical roots. The idea that a gigantic purple man appears in the sky and starts sucking the life from the planet is beyond anything these characters understand. They all think they have a vast understanding of the universe, and then here’s something else.”
“When I started working on Ultimates, I was wondering what happened to Rick Jones. Brian created a different take on him that I think is really different and fun. He’s Spider-Man taken to the extreme: great power that ruins your life. He’s been off in space when Galactus crashes through and throws everything into chaos.”
“The heart of the story for me is Rick coming to terms with his responsibilities and that he has to protect this universe no matter how much he’d rather be a teenager.”
Galactus is a classic Fantastic Four enemy but the writers promise this showdown will be very different:
“What’s coming is a Galactus story you have not seen before on many levels. Age of Ultron was the quintessential story of a character fulfilling his promises, and this is down the same road,” says Bendis.
“We’ve seen the classic Marvel Universe deal with Galactus, but we’ve never seen the Ultimate Universe deal with a threat like this.” adds Fialkov.
“There’s also the fallout of what to do even if they save the day. Can they send Galactus back to the Marvel Universe?” says Bendis.
Early in the Ultimate line – Warren Ellis created a different kind of “Ultimate Hunger” epic.
“I’m a big fan of what Warren Ellis did with Gah Lak Tus. That swarm was essentially seeking out energy and Galactus is doing the same, so they will become aware of one another,” said Fialkov.
While Galactus threatens the Ultimate Universe – a creation of Neil Gaiman has been pulled into Marvel proper!
“Angela is a force of nature with a singular force of nature who doesn’t understand where she is. She’s a caustic character who will not put up with the nonsense of the Marvel Universe. The Guardians try to head off Angela at the pass and don’t realize the level of power they’re dealing with. The story of how Angela fits in the Marvel Universe reveals itself to us as it reveals itself to her.” explains Bendis.
Bendis warns the aftermath of AoU will affect the X-books he’s writing:
“Not everybody knows what happened in Age of Ultron. It trickles over into All-New X-Men and Battle of the Atom. We have time-displaced characters all over the Marvel Universe and their fates could be in trouble.”
“Wolverine is carrying with him some pretty big things, including that he had to kill himself in Age of Ultron. It’s going to begin to take its toll on him spiritually in the X-Men books and beyond. He’s the only character who carry this stuff with him without literally going insane, but if he does, is he the guy we want going nuts?”
The first hero to see the massive alien invader was Ultimate Spider-Man – who recently joined forces with the original Peter Parker:
“There is a lot coming over the next six to eight months in terms of Miles Morales and the concept of a Marvel multiverse, characters realizing that door is there. Miles becomes a very important lynchpin,” says Bendis.
Watch for the Chitauri, Kree, Surfers and a new twist on a classic Marvel sidekick:
“Rick Jones is the protagonist. We’re going to introduce the emperor of the Chitauri. An Accuser might show up from the other side. There’s a naked guy on a surfboard exploring space who might be interested. There’s one more character who I think is a pretty good surprise. Rick Jones in the Marvel Universe was always us staring in. Ultimate Rick is us staring at the craziest thing ever.” says Fialkov.
“The Ultimate cosmos is not as densely populated as the Marvel Universe, and that’s because of the Gah Lak Tus swarm. There’s not a lot left for Galactus to pick over, so Earth is in major danger,” says Editor Mark Paniccia.
“We didn’t open the door between the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe for 13 years because we were waiting for the right story. Now the potential is huge, but it’s our job to find the most unique and surprising angles,”says Bendis.
“The feeling that the Ultimate Universe takes place in a world closer to ours is core to those books. It’s a smaller worldview and seeing this through Rick Jones’ eyes contributes to that. He’s been traveling space but not finding anything. Now he finds something and it’s terrifying. Everything Rick experiences in Hunger, it’s for the first time.” says Fialkov.
For more of the interviews here’s the Marvel.com link.
Hunger #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Josh Fialkov and artist Leonard Kirk arrives in July.
By Editor