When a writer with a resume like Jonathan Hickman (Fantastic Four, SHIELD, Manhattan Projects) takes on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes you know they won’t be staying on our big blue marble for long!
The Marvel solicitations for February 2013 reveal another member of Hickman’s growing roster for his era. In Avengers #5 the team travels across the galaxy to fight off an invading enemy. Smasher, a member of the Imperial Guard, joins the team. The solicitation reveals that Smasher is the first human member of the Imperial Guard who appear to suffer a major defeat on an alien moon.
The Imperial Guard are a collection of alien warriors from the universe who serve the Shi’ar Empire. The X-Men have clashed and fought with them over the years. Imperial Guard leader Gladiator is now the Emperor and is currently recovering after a beating by the Phoenix Five in AvX.
The cosmic month continues in Avengers #6 with the guest appearance of Captain Universe!
From teenage dream to nightmare! Avengers Arena is coming to the Marvel Now in 2013. Members of Avengers Academy, Runaways and other young heroes are thrown into a Battle Royale fight to the death on an island run by X-Men villain Arcade. Writer Dennis Hopeless revealed his plans for the kids and the mastermind behind The Hunger Games style game on Marvel.com.
“Basically 15 of your favorite Marvel teen heroes–and Darkhawk, who is not a teenager–wake up on an island and are told by Arcade only one of them will come out alive. This time people will actually die in Murderworld. They can leave, but they have to kill everybody else. Issue #1 will show the kids and the readers he’s serious this time,” explains Hopeless.
The X-Men have survived Arcade’s Murderworld in the past stories. Hopeless says this time Arcade will finally live up to this reputation as an assassin.
“In a lot of ways, Arcade is a silly character. He comes from a different era where it was ok for a villain to set up elaborate traps that fail. It was important to keep that showman, likes to watch aspect, but change things up so people will respect Arcade,” he says, “”It was an interesting challenge. I love Arcade. When we first talked about the series, I thought of him, then dismissed him. Axel Alonso called me later and asked med to use him. I’m proud of how we kept his core but made him a little more scary, similar and respectable.”
The book will star a who’s who of Marvel’s youngest generation.
“I got to cherry pick, so all the characters I’m using, I like. I loved Avengers Academy and wanted to use them all, but had to cap it. Hazmat is the point of view character of issue #1 and I love writing her.”
Avengers Arena #5 courtesy Marvel
Hopeless revealed he’s created new teen characters aka victims for this series including a young female Deathlok and kids from an Academy run by Captain Britain.
The fact that Avengers Arena would be an ongoing series was a surprise.
“I’ve gotten a lot of questions about why this isn’t a limited series. It’s because we need space to explain why these kids would do this. These are heroes. We need to show what they’re going to and get them to a place where they fear or distrust each other enough,” Hopeless explains, “Once we get to a place where the game changes and we get away from the core concept, we’ll go somewhere else, but this is a long story.”
The writer takes on the fact that some fan favorites will be killed off as the story proceeds.
“I see all the reaction to this book already because I’m a crazy person and I look for it. I’m a comics fan too. I know it’s hard to think your favorite character might be pulled off the shelf. At the same time, I think death is a serious part of life, and it should not be a cheap storytelling device. It’s one of the most powerful things a person or character can go through. I’m really proud of the book. We’re telling a really good story here. Nobody who’s responding to the marketing has read it yet.”
“These are super heroes, so that’s what makes it different from Battle Royale, which is human kids adapting. Hunger Games, we’re in the head of one girl raised in a post-apocalyptic world; these are teens who all grew up in the Marvel Universe. We’re doing a point of view shift where you see the situation from the perspectives of each character. You see what each is getting from this and where they’re coming from. I think that makes it unique. It’s like if Hunger Games switched the perspective between every character, which would make it very different. It’s obviously influences by those and by stuff like The Running Man, but these characters change it and make it its own thing.”
Avengers Arena #4 courtesy Marvel
We’ll have to read the book to see why some heroes decide to turn on each other (besides obvious survival) but Hopeless explains how the matchups will work.
“Darkhawk has cosmic level powers and X-23 is very difficult to kill. We deal with the fact that power sets are varied and how some would normally wipe the floor with all the others.”
Will your favorite young hero survive Murder Island? Avengers Arena #1 lets the deathgames begin in January.
For the complete transcript here’s the Marvel.com link.
All-New X-Men #1 The original five X-Men are yanked from the past into the Marvel Now – and they don’t like what they see! How will the young Scott, Jean, Bobby, Hank and Warren react to seeing how their lives and Professor X’s dream went so horribly wrong?
Batman #14The Joker is back with the vengeance! Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo managed to make the ultimate villain even creepier and horrifying! What has the Joker done to Batman’s oldest ally?
Fantastic Four #1 Marvel’s First Family relaunches into the Marvel Now. Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley send Reed, Susan, Johnny, Ben and the kids on the ultimate vacation through time and space.
Saga #7 The beautiful and disturbing sci-fi hit begins a new storyline. Two lovers from warring alien races fell in love, had a baby and became targets of a the most sinister hunters in the galaxy. What will the family find in the darkest corners of uncharted space?
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 #7 Which is the greater evil: Borg or Cybermen? Doctor Who and Captain Picard’s new friendship is tested as they try to stop the threat to the Federation. In this chapter the Time Lord travels back to Starfleet’s greatest defeat in order to save the future!
Tony Stark rockets into outer space in the second arc of Iron Man in February. Kieron Gillen talked about Iron Man’s team up with Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek fantasies, and Tony paying for his actions in AvX and more on Marvel.com.
“Tony Stark is in space. Issues #1-6 are why he leaves. This is the story between Tony leaving Earth and hooking up with the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Gillen explains.
Cyclops went to prison but I believe Iron Man is in part to blame for the destruction caused by the Phoenix Five. It was Tony’s invention that deflected the Phoenix from Hope and into Scott, Emma, Colossus, Magik and Namor.
“What Tony did to the Phoenix during AvX catches up with him,” Gillen explains, “Tony is having a crisis of his beliefs. Fans know it’s because of AvX. Newcomers may be lost. We catch up here.”
Space adventures are a big part of the Marvel Now with a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy series and movie on the way. The ultimate futurist will be part of the new space age.
“Tony is living his James T. Kirk fantasies. That’s how I put it, that’s how he puts it. He thinks he’s in a space opera, then it all turns badly,” Gillen teases, “Not only does Tony try to live out his Kirk and Han Solo fantasies, he’s keenly aware he is doing so. He wants to make out with a green lady. There’s a lot of space bar flirting in issue #6. Maybe he gets his Kirk moment, maybe it goes awesomely wrong.”
The Armored Avenger may meet the Guardians but don’t expect his fellow Mightiest Heroes around.
“You know how the Hawkeye book is about Hawkeye when he’s not in the Avengers? Iron Man is about Iron Man when he’s not with the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a question of what space means in the Marvel Universe. Brian Bendis and I are on the same page.”
“We are in space with Tony, so we do not find out what is going on back on Earth with the supporting cast. People have been asking me a lot about why the supporting cast was not in issue #1, and it’s because I knew he was going into space. We’ll see them when he comes back to Earth. However…there is a connection between Pepper and Tony even when he’s in space.”
“This is about the way that Tony sees the world. What can reason do? What are the limits of what my thoughts can be? That’s what I mean about Tony and faith.”
“There are a lot of real hard wake-up calls for Tony in God Killer. A lot of things will make him go ‘Hmm.’ This really picks at Tony, at who he is and why he does things.”
Uncanny X-Men #9 interior art of UNIT courtesy Marvel
I loved how Gillen used UNIT in his Uncanny X-Men run and I’ve asked if Tony will encounter the sinister android.
“You never know. There’s an interesting pairing. I will say Death’s Head shows up in this arc. He’s our Boba Fett.”
Tony will build a new suit of armor seen on the cover art above.
“He built the suit to travel. He travels with everything he needs. He’s in tune with the holistic nature of what is needed to support Tony Stark. The suit is designed to go into space as an adventurer, an explorer and a hero. The only thing he doesn’t really have is his support network. I would be surprised if we don’t see him ‘in the cave’ metaphorically speaking.”
I personally feel Steve Rogers and Tony are partly responsible for the action of the Phoenix Five because their interference created them. Gillen reflects on Tony’s actions in the mega series.
“I’m of the position that if Tony hadn’t disrupted the Phoenix Force during AvX, it would have killed everybody on Earth. I’m not sure he would agree with me. He made leaps of faith in Fear Itself and AvX and wasn’t comfortable with either. He’s been avoiding thinking about it. He’s not depressed, but he’s hungry to discover things he hasn’t thought about previously. He’s driven.”
Iron Man #1 just came out last week with Tony trying to recover the Extemis nanotechnology. God Killer kicks off in February.
Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine courtesy Marvel and 20th Century Fox
The success of Iron Man paved the way for other Avengers solo films (Thor, Captain America) and the shared universe that became the box-office smash Marvel’s The Avengers for Marvel/Disney.
Fox controls the cinematic rights to Marvel’s X-Men and Fantastic Four. Fox Creative Consultant calls Hugh Jackman’s next Wolverine the beginning of a shared universe among the Fox franchises.
“I felt like Iron Man was really the beginning of something for the Marvel Studios movies, and ‘The Wolverine’ will be a similar starting point to build a lot off of for the Fox movies,” Millar told Comic Book Resources.
That idea will roll into X-Men: Days of Future Past when it starts production in April. There was a recent change in roles behind the scenes for the upcoming film. Original X-Men director Bryan Singer will now direct and X-Men: First Class director/Millar friend Matthew Vaughn will produce.
“Bryan’s worked as a producer even on the X-Men movies that he didn’t direct — he was a producer on ‘First Class.’ So when Matthew decided he wasn’t going to do the sequel, they just switched places with Matthew producing and Bryan coming on to direct. That’s got nothing to do with me, but I’m delighted that Bryan and I will get to work together over the next few years. I’ve been working with Josh Trank on ‘Fantastic Four,’ and I have a lot of ideas of other places we can go with the characters Fox has the rights to.”
A big question for me: Will Hugh Jackman appear in Days of Future Past? The story is partly set in a dark future in which an older Logan leads the surviving X-Men (Storm, Kate Pryde, Colossus, Magneto, the daughter of Scott and Jean, the son of Fantastic Four’s Reed and Sue against the Sentinels.)
Marvel’s First Family blasts off in a brand new Fantastic Four #1 this week. After writing X-Men, Invincible Iron Man and The Mighty Thor, Matt Fraction takes on Marvel’s First Family and their extended family. Fraction and Mark Bagley relaunch Fantastic Four #1 and later this month Fraction and Mike Allred give us FF #1.
The Marvel NOW! relaunch sees Reed, Susan, Ben and Johnny taking the kids on a cosmic vacation in Fantastic Four while a select team of heroes stands in for them back on Earth in FF. Fraction tells Marvel.com why he’s chosen to write the Fantastic family.
“The family unit of it all; adventure dad, adventure mom, that whole thing, when you’re a kid, is great. And The Thing. Greatest comics character of all time, or super greatest? Now I’m struck that in 102 issues, Stan and Jack pretty much built a universe. That’s a tall order, creatively, an impossibly high bar.
I want to tackle that kind of challenge, to take on a book whose mandate, whose creative soul, means to invent wildly and with reckless abandon.”
Fraction follows an epic run by Jonathan Hickman. What is the tone of the new title?
“The Incredibles.” That “The Incredibles” was kind of the perfect modern Fantastic Four story and wasn’t a Fantastic Four story is, like, a provocation of creative war, y’know? Again, talk about impossibly high bars, but there you go. Can there be a Fantastic Four that’s wildly new, wildly inventive, and that appeals to everybody that might encounter it, regardless of their age or how many comics they’ve read? Let’s find out.”
For more of Fraction’s interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
Artist Mark Bagley joins Fraction on this Fantastic voyage! Here are some images from inside their premiere issue courtesy of Marvel.com.
Fantastic Four #1 courtesy Marvel
The first image looks like a new interpretation of the iconic moment when the four were first bombarded with cosmic rays. Ben Grimm is in human form but the kids are in the picture so…
Fantastic Four #1 courtesy Marvel
This must be a dream as we see Franklin wake up from a nightmare. A sign of things to come?
Fantastic Four #1 courtesy Marvel
The final shots show the family in what looks like prehistoric times complete with a dinosaur….always welcome in an adventure in time and space!
Fantastic Four #1 courtesy Marvel
My Geek Wish: Reed Richards vs. Dr. Nemesis in a mental clash of the scientific titans! I loved how Fraction wrote the X-Club on his Uncanny X-Men run. Nemesis will be in Cable and X-Force but it would be great fun to see Reed put the arrogant genius in his place!
In 2013 Robert Downey Jr. will encounter a brilliant scientist named Maya Hansen and Extremis – nano-technology that falls into the wrong hands. If you can’t wait for Iron Man 3 then lock and load with this week’s Iron Man #1. Kieron Gillen and Greg Land reload Tony Stark for the Marvel Now with a brand new series.
A ghost from the past alerts the Armored Avenger to a deadly new threat to the future of the world. Tony infiltrates an auction packed with AIM operatives and high rollers to recover the Extemis technology. Gillen and Land treat us to Tony’s brand new suit of armor as Iron Man fights to get the truth only to learn the danger from Extremis has ecalated.
Iron Man #1 cover by Greg Land, courtesy Marvel
Iron Man is the first hero to debut his own solo series in the Marvel Now relaunch but this doesn’t feel dramatically different. Gillen knows how to deliver snappy dialogue. Gillen masterfully crafted sharp and severely funny dialogue for Emma Frost, Dr. Nemesis and Namor on his Uncanny X-Men run so he’s perfect to take on the snarky, arrogant genius (with a heroic heart) that is Tony Stark.
Iron Man is off to a solid start and I’m eager to see where Gillen takes Tony!
This review/post reveals key elements of AvX: Consequences #4 and #5.
Seriously.
Here is comes.
AvX: Consequences #5 courtesy Marvel
Kieron Gillen wrapped the second volume of Uncanny X-Men but he has more mutant stories to tell that propelling fan favorites into the Marvel Now. Gillen’s Extinction Team have been the stars of AvX: Consequences. This 5-part epilogue to Avengers vs. X-Men reveals how the Phoenix Five are facing the consequences of their actions while possessed by the cosmic entity.
In Chapter 4 Cyclops submits himself to Tony Stark as a cosmic lab rat. Scott has been playing the martyr but is he really playing possum to outwit the genius?
Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. has been keeping secrets. She’s hiding fugitive members of the Phoenix Five and she reveals that she’s more than a green haired alien. I really hope Brand might pop up in Gillen’s upcoming Iron Man run.
If you’re wondering about Hope and Namor’s roles in the Marvel Now this is the issue! Hope and the King of Atlantis share an exchange in the underwater ruins of Utopia. In one line Gillen captures the personality of Namor and why I love him so much.
Storm and Colossus fought it out in Brian Wood’s final issue of X-Men but here Peter and Ororo share a bitter reunion. Colossus may be free of his demons but his former little snowflake left him filled with hate. I know that Peter will be part of Cable and X-Force and I can’t help but think of when Nathan recruited a rage filled Warpath to join his first incarnation of the team.
Wolverine comes back to prison to deliver sad news to Cyclops. I really enjoyed this encounter. After the bitter fallout of Schism and AvX I think Gillen is setting the stage for a reconcilation between Scott and Logan. (I wrote this part of the post before I read issue #5)
I think the most exciting plot springboard is when the fugitive Magneto finally makes his appearance. Erik is back playing the role we all know he can do best: the villain.
This week’s final chapter picks right up with a new mutant unholy trinity: Magneto, Magik and Danger. The clues have been there the entire series but I wanted to believe Scott Summers was accepting his role as the martyr and on the road to redemption.
Logan said it best when he tells the Avengers, “Scott is gone.”
Magneto, Magik and Danger stage a daring jailbreak and execute Cyclops’s severe punishment on his prison tormentors. Scott leaves a note for Logan. The letter sums up what Kieron Gillen has pulled off: the role reversal of Wolverine and Cyclops. The bad boy who did the dirty work to keep mutants safe is now the heir to Professor Xavier’s legacy of teaching young mutants. The former golden boy is now the self-appointed and ruthless defender, protector and avenger for the mutant race.
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
From the preview art for All-New X-Men #1 we know Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto and Magik will be part of Brian Michael Bendis’s Marvel Now X-Men era. Marvel has teased another Bendis book (with Chris Bachalo on art) with the simple word: Uncanny.
From the finale of AvX: Consequences #5 it looks like my theory of an Avenging X-Men may not be that far off! You may have read my earlier op/ed about how AvX should have been called Operation Hate Cyclops. This week’s finale may cement the hate for some of you.
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
All-New X-Men #1 is out November 14th. Maybe we’ll find out then?
