Original Sin is at the halfway mark but Marvel is plotting it’s next big event.
Avengers and X-Men AXIS sees Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Children of the Atom together against the mutated power of the Red Skull. The Captain America villain stole Professor Xavier’s brain and harnessed his telepathic powers in a new war on mutants in the early pages of Uncanny Avengers. From early promo art it appears Red Skull has united Marvel’s greatest villains.
Writer Rick Remender and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort revealed more details and answered fan questions in a special Marvel liveblog. Here are some big highlights.
How AXIS builds from Uncanny Avengers #1.
“It’s exciting to get to this point. I’m itching for people to see what we’ve been building to. At first blush, I said ‘Onslaught? Hmm…’ and then realized you could execute it with the Red Skull in a way that’s incredibly fascinating. What’s more interesting than evil personified with the power of Charles Xavier?”
“The thing that was important to me coming out of AvX was that the Unity Squad could not solve their rifts right away, they had to earn it. They finally come together at the worst possible moment in their lives and it’s a birth too late.”
“The March to Axis builds out of Uncanny Avengers, Captain America, Loki: Agent of Asgard and Magneto, two hero books and two ‘villain’ books. We’ve been planting seeds for the last couple years. A lot of the Apocalypse Twins’ motivation comes from the ‘Red Onslaught.'”
“It was necessary to have a cooling off period for Red Skull’s visibility so he could build up in the background. He didn’t do this overnight.” Rick Remender
On the new powers of the Red Skull and his evil alliances:
“You’ll see the invasion of Genosha and the Red Skull empowered like never before in act one.”
“The one thing that has always held Red Skull back–and he’s always been dangerous–was that he couldn’t physically stand up to Thor or Iron Man. That is no longer the case. With Xavier’s powers, he is a tangible threat to anybody opposing him.” Tom Brevoort
“One of the things that was important in building Axis was featuring natural ways to involve the villains; Magneto and Loki are two of the big ones and they have really major roles in the story. In Uncanny Avengers, Magneto will find himself in Genosha, which Cullen Bunn will also explore in his series. Loki will be involved with Doctor Doom, who also plays a part in the story. They all have significant arcs. That’s always incredibly important to me that all of the bombastic action is a by-product of the characters and their choices.” Remender
“Red Skull is the first time I’ve ever written character and there is nothing to relate to–he’s just evil. It’s fun. There is no love inside the Red Skull, there is no grey side to him. The biggest challenge is coming up with his motive. What does he want to do? Whats he’s always wanted: He wants to dominate.”
“There is not just animosity built over the course of Axis, but friendship as well. There will be interesting interactions between Deadpool, Carnage, Sabretooth, Titania and Absorbing Man, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Remender
“We have not seen Magneto’s response to what Red Skull did to Xavier…yet.” Brevoort
“No two characters have more reasons to be natural rivals than the Red Skull and Magneto.” Remender
Characters to watch in AXIS:
“I love Tony Stark and it has been a blast to write him. I don’t really have anybody in Uncanny Avengers I can write humor for. This event has big changes for a lot of huge characters, and one of them is Iron Man, based on something that has been going on with him and the Red Skull in the background.”
“I get to write Genesis and Deadpool again, plus Rogue and Scarlet Witch and Storm; Wolverine and Cyclops and Nightcrawler–Nightcrawler has a huge role.”
“I’ve written some Magneto, but not a whole lot before. Cullen Bunn is using some stuff I did in Uncanny X-Force in the Magneto series.”
“I really fell in love with Nova and built in a bigger role in Axis for him.”
“The Hulk has one of the craziest things happening in Axis out of anybody.”
“The Vision is right in the open and I’m building some new stuff for him. Tom and I both love him.” Remender
Heroes and Villains Interacting:
“I certainly like when we can get characters who have been around for a long but never spent much time in each other’s company interact.”
“Getting to see sequences where Deadpool and Iron Man bounce off each other is cool.” Brevoort
“Doctor Doom and Wasp have some big beef in Axis based on old issues. There are unexpected grudge matches you may have wanted to see.”
“It is symbolic to Red Skull to take what was much a mutant nation and put re-education camps there. Also, it’s rubble; it’s an island that is completely demolished and he can do what he wants there.” Remender
Spider-Man and his enemies in AXIS:
“Spider-Man’s big role in Axis doesn’t really take off until the second act, but when he does get involved, he has a large responsibility.” Remender
“You are getting the Hobgoblin. It changed because initially we thought we could use the Green Goblin, but where the Spidey guys need him for the future, it didn’t work.” Brevoort (Carnage, Jack O’Lantern was also named.)
The Road to AXIS.
“Axis definitely plays off Uncanny Avengers; Havok and Scarlet Witch both have huge story beats that have them coming out the other end changed.” – Rick Remender
“If you have been reading Captain America, Uncanny Avengers or even Uncanny X-Force, there are pay-offs here, but there are also pay-offs for the Avengers, the X-Men, the Inhumans and Spider-Man. It’s a Marvel event.”
“Heroes will fight villains they don’t usually, but with a pretty big twist.” Remender
“As we release more Axis covers, there will be more shadowed out figures. More shadowed figures to come!” Brevoort
March to Axis begins in September in Captain America, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Magneto and Uncanny Avengers.
Axis kicks off in October and will be nine issues written by Rick Remender with art by Adam Kubert, Leinil Yu, Terry Dodson and Jim Cheung.
By Editor