Invincible Iron Man is the first big book of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Now coming after Secret Wars.
Ultimate Spider-Man team Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez reunite to launch a brand new series starring Tony Stark in October.
Bendis, Marquez, Editor-In-Chief Axel Alonso and Executive Editor/Senior V.P. Tom Brevoort answered fan questions about the past, present and future of the Armored Avenger in a special Marvel liveblog along with Marquez’s designs for Stark’s new armor.
Here are the major highlights for Iron Fans:
Why is Tony Stark leading the way and why Bendis?
“Iron Man is front and center of All-New All-Different Marvel for a reason.” said Alonso.
“In a global sense, Iron Man is the character most associated to the Marvel of today. He’s what Spider-Man was in the 60’s and 70’s. That’s opened our eyes and led us to make a concerted effort to put Iron Man front and center and at the core of the All-New All-Different Marvel Universe.” said Brevoort.
“I’ve been trying to talk Brian into doing Iron Man for a long time. There had been a lot of classic Daredevil runs before Brian, but he found new things to say about Matt Murdock. I thought the traits he brought to Daredevil would all be useful when writing Tony Stark. I had this instinct Brian can do something special with Iron Man, but the timing never worked out for years.” said Brevoort.
Bendis on The Iron Legacy:
“Two of my four children are adopted and adoption is a very large part of my comic book life. People are interested in the new family dynamic. I’ve shied away from writing about it because it felt like a line I didn’t want to cross, but Kieron Gillen set me up beautifully here. Tony Stark has a lot of confidence in the world, but there’s a quest here to find out who he is and where he came from. We have a suit of armor and a man trying to figure out what he’s really made of.” Bendis
“I’ve been on top of Superior Iron Man since Tom Taylor started it. Everything he did will be touched upon. Nothing that has gone on there will be ignored.”said Bendis.
“Tony is so involved in so many aspects of the Marvel Universe, the least of which is the Avengers. I wanted that felt in the book. Every time I’ve written Tony, he’s been part of a big event or a team. I’ve had some personally great moments with the character like Civil War: The Confession. I want to get under his skin and feel his place in the Marvel Universe.”
“To me, and I’m an old 70’s guy, Invincible Iron Man was always the book. At my core, I think of that logo. It’s the same way I asked that we had a red and gold Iron Man again. That’s been away for awhile, now it’s new and exciting again. ‘Invincible’ to me is as much a part of Iron Man as ‘Amazing’ is to Spider-Man or ‘Incredible’ is to Hulk.” added Brevoort.
Bendis on Iron Man’s Villains:
“What does Tony have and what doesn’t he have? The villain bench is not as deep as some of his peers. Not to say he doesn’t have good ones, one of which will show up right away. I asked David to show me the villains in his sketchbook, because every artist has them. Villains are a big priority. You won’t see them all at once, but over the first year.” – Brian Bendis
“Tony needs his Magneto. Not somebody who believes in something differently, but who believes in a different way to go about it.” – Brian Bendis
“There’s a classic Iron Man villain in the first story and a major Marvel Universe player on the last page of issue #1.” – Brian Bendis
“There are some brand new tech villains, people who have invented tech way beyond what Tony has. We’ll have more mystical villains, something harder for technology to deal with. People with legitimate concerns and different ideas of what the future should be.”
Bendis on Stark’s Supporting Cast:
“Tony tries to have a grown up relationship with a woman worth pursuing and growing up for.”
“New supporting cast member who is a major Marvel character.”
“There will be a new member of the supporting cast who you have seen in other books but not Tony’s books. The new A.I. is quite sassy; Tony designed it to challenge him intellectually and morally.”
“This is a new chapter in Tony’s life, but it’s because he needs a new chapter.”
“When you’re writing a smart person, you have to think about people smarter than you, how they think and how they act.”
“Tony is going to be going through a lot of changes. He has to react to the world differently. The changes may not be as cosmetic as in other books, but believe me, there will be a lot.”
“There’s a lot that Tony is responsible for that deserves a big ol’ ‘you’re welcome.’ But what Tony will always be faced with is that a futurist tries to invent things before the world needs them and can see a bunch of different ways things will go–but other things might be coming.”
Marquez on Designing Iron Man:
“When Brian and I first started talking about with Tom, we wanted to make the armor new and fresh, and make it able to adapt to any situation. With slimming it down…technology gets less bulky over time. We wanted it to be sleek. It’s opportunity for me and other artists to be creative with a basic design.”
“When I came on Miles Morales, I was following the legacy of Sara Pichelli. I’m able to design from the ground up here a little more.”
Invincible Iron Man #1 launches in October.
By Editor
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