Avengers & X-Men: AXIS pits Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Children of the Atom against the Red Skull. The Marvel event begins this Fall by Rick Remender and crosses over into other titles.
One of the most anticipated battles will happen in the pages of the Magneto solo book in the March to AXIS. Magneto’s parents were killed by the Nazis so that’s reason enough for Erik to hate the Red Skull but there’s an even more powerful reason: the Red Skull stole the brain of Charles Xavier. Writer Cullen Bunn told Comic Book Resources how he’s getting in Magneto’s head for the big fight.
“Yes, this will be my first time writing Red Skull. I’ve always thought the Red Skull was pretty terrifying to begin with, even when he didn’t have any real powers. Now, though, he has powerful psychic abilities fueled by his malice and hatred. He’s turned Charles Xavier into an abomination. He is everything Xavier was not. Everything he’s doing makes my stomach turn. I channel a lot of that into the Skull here. There are some things he does in this story that are just nasty.”
This isn’t the first time Magneto has confronted the Red Skull but both men are different this time. Magneto recently left the X-Men to become a vigilante in the style of the Punisher and Red Skull is armed with Xavier’s brain in a sadistic campaign against mutants.
“I don’t think Magneto and the Skull have forgotten the “Acts of Vengeance” encounter, but neither of them are talking about it. Even if Red Skull had not taken Xavier’s brain — even if he wasn’t attacking mutants — Magneto would want to see him dead. This is a guy who has been committing the most vile atrocities for decades. He is almost an embodiment of everything Magneto stands against. When Magneto discovers what the Skull is really up to, though, he sees red. At that point, one thought crosses his mind: The Red Skull must die.
In many ways, Magneto sees killing the Red Skull as his chance to strike at his own past, to take some small step toward peace. But this mission may be even more scarring for the Master of Magnetism.”
The March to Axis and battle begins in Magneto #9 this September.
By Editor