In Avengers Arena #1 X-Men villain Arcade and writer Dennis Hopeless showed they meant bloody business! Young heroes of the Marvel Universe (including Avengers Academy and Runaways) woke up in a Murder World with orders to kill each other in Battle Royale style games.
In this week’s Avengers Arena #2 who will face Deathlocket? Is that a freaky as I think it is? Will another young hero die? And we meet a crew of kids with a connection to Captain Britain.
From teenage dream to nightmare! Avengers Arena debuts today. 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 16 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 is out today.
For the complete transcript here’s the Marvel.com link.
Avengers Arena may be one of the biggest surprises to come out of the Marvel NOW relaunch. Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker will take 16 young heroes (including members of Avengers Academy, Runaways and Darkhawk) and throw them into a Battle Royale scenario. The kids are trapped on an island by a classic X-Men villain. Arcade is back and he’s created a new Murderworld for Marvel’s young heroes. This concept sounds like a mini-series or one-shot but Hopeless and Editor Bill Rosemann tells Comics Newsarama this is definitely an ongoing series.
“Dennis and Kev have thought long and hard about how and why these characters will react to the scenario and the ripple effects their actions will create. Each month — and, yes, this is an ongoing monthly series — they’ll use the creative space to dig deep into the emotions of each character. As to what our cast will look like a year from now, well…”
“Yeah, this is definitely a long game sort of story. We need the space to explore all the different ways a worst-case scenario like Murder World affects this massive cast. I’m not sure we could have done them justice in a miniseries,” adds Hopeless.
I love the villain at the center of this new book. Arcade may not have a great track record for assassinating his targets but he’s definitely a twisted character to enjoy. Rosemann and Hopeless discuss the plan to make Arcade a potent enemy.
“When at his best, Arcade’s creepy façade of a cheery carnival barker is a calculated play that both distracts his targets and also leads his unsuspecting foes to underestimate him. And never forget he began his career by murdering his own father before embarking on a successful run as a freelance assassin. Dennis and Kev both completely understand his potential and knew instantly how to peel off the cheese to reveal his untapped terrifying core. Previously, Arcade always left a way out of his deathtraps, giving his prey a sporting chance, but now… soon everyone will learn that to underestimate Arcade is a deadly mistake,” declares Rosemann.
“Arcade doesn’t get a lot of respect and we all kind of understand why. For the longest time, nobody ever died in Murder World. But despite all of his failures over the years, Arcade is a brilliant guy. Deranged and bizarre, but brilliant. He designed and built all of those crazy death traps,” says Hopeless.
“The scenario Arcade has cooked up in Avengers Arena is a game changer for him. It’s his way of saying, “You don’t respect my reindeer games? Fine. Respect this!”
You could call Arcade the Seneca Crane (from The Hunger Games) of Marvel. The question is who will survive to become the Katniss or Peeta?
One of the X-Men’s most colorful enemies is coming back with a vengeance!
Marvel invites you to Avengers Arena #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker this week. Sixteen young heroes are trapped in a game devised by the only and only Arcade! Marvel’s best and brightest young heroes will be in the fight of their lives on Murder World island.
The X-Men have escaped Arcade’s deadly traps before but some of these kids may not be so lucky.
“Arcade has spent a lot of years building “Murder Worlds” that yield very few actual murders. He’s decided it’s time to get back a little self-respect. It’s time for a new kind of Murder World. AVENGERS ARENA is about the unlucky kids he’s chosen to help him try it out,” says Hopeless.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but I can promise a lot of murder in this new Murder World.”
Editor Bill Rosemann reveals the contestants: “Fans of AVENGERS ACADEMY will hopefully be excited by the next chapter in the lives of Hazmat, Mettle, Reptil, Juston and his Sentinel and X-23. Speaking of schools, who are the Braddock Academy? After his last appearances in War of Kings and NOVA, Darkhawk soars again! Staying with sci-fi, just wait until you see what Dennis and Kev have planned for Annihilation’s Cammi, baddest girl in all the galaxy. And last but certainly not least, direct from the pages of the dearly missed RUNAWAYS, we have Chase and Nico!”
“It’s sort of ridiculous how huge our cast is at the start. But if you’re going to kill a lot of characters you gotta have a lot of characters,” Hopeless adds.
I love all the kid characters but you had me with ARCADE! Avengers Arena #1 lets the games being this week.
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.
Avengers Arena is one of the biggest surprises to come out of the Marvel NOW relaunch. Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker will take 16 young heroes (including members of Avengers Academy, Runaways and Darkhawk) and throw them into a Battle Royale scenario. The kids are trapped on an island by a classic X-Men villain. Arcade is back and he’s created a new Murderworld for Marvel’s young heroes. This concept sounds like a mini-series or one-shot but Hopeless and Editor Bill Rosemann tells Comics Newsarama this is definitely an ongoing series.
“Dennis and Kev have thought long and hard about how and why these characters will react to the scenario and the ripple effects their actions will create. Each month — and, yes, this is an ongoing monthly series — they’ll use the creative space to dig deep into the emotions of each character. As to what our cast will look like a year from now, well…”
“Yeah, this is definitely a long game sort of story. We need the space to explore all the different ways a worst-case scenario like Murder World affects this massive cast. I’m not sure we could have done them justice in a miniseries,” adds Hopeless.
I love the villain at the center of this new book. Arcade may not have a great track record for assassinating his targets but he’s definitely a twisted character to enjoy. Rosemann and Hopeless discuss the plan to make Arcade a potent enemy.
“When at his best, Arcade’s creepy façade of a cheery carnival barker is a calculated play that both distracts his targets and also leads his unsuspecting foes to underestimate him. And never forget he began his career by murdering his own father before embarking on a successful run as a freelance assassin. Dennis and Kev both completely understand his potential and knew instantly how to peel off the cheese to reveal his untapped terrifying core. Previously, Arcade always left a way out of his deathtraps, giving his prey a sporting chance, but now… soon everyone will learn that to underestimate Arcade is a deadly mistake,” declares Rosemann.
“Arcade doesn’t get a lot of respect and we all kind of understand why. For the longest time, nobody ever died in Murder World. But despite all of his failures over the years, Arcade is a brilliant guy. Deranged and bizarre, but brilliant. He designed and built all of those crazy death traps,” says Hopeless.
“The scenario Arcade has cooked up in Avengers Arena is a game changer for him. It’s his way of saying, “You don’t respect my reindeer games? Fine. Respect this!”
You could call Arcade the Seneca Crane (from The Hunger Games) of Marvel. The question is who will survive to become the Katniss or Peeta?
I’m excited that one of the X-Men’s most colorful enemies is coming back with a vengeance! Marvel’s recent Hopeless, Walker, SURVIVE tease was a real headscratcher! Today’s reveal is an exciting addition to the Marvel NOW especially if you enjoy The Hunger Games and some forgotten teen heroes.
Marvel announced Avengers Arena #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker will star 16 young heroes trapped in a game devised by the only and only Arcade! Marvel’s best and brightest young heroes will be in the fight of their lives on Murder World island. The X-Men have escaped Arcade’s deadly traps before but some of these kids may not be so lucky.
“Arcade has spent a lot of years building “Murder Worlds” that yield very few actual murders. He’s decided it’s time to get back a little self-respect. It’s time for a new kind of Murder World. AVENGERS ARENA is about the unlucky kids he’s chosen to help him try it out,” says Hopeless.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but I can promise a lot of murder in this new Murder World.”
Editor Bill Rosemann reveals the contestants: “Fans of AVENGERS ACADEMY will hopefully be excited by the next chapter in the lives of Hazmat, Mettle, Reptil, Juston and his Sentinel and X-23. Speaking of schools, who are the Braddock Academy? After his last appearances in War of Kings and NOVA, Darkhawk soars again! Staying with sci-fi, just wait until you see what Dennis and Kev have planned for Annihilation’s Cammi, baddest girl in all the galaxy. And last but certainly not least, direct from the pages of the dearly missed RUNAWAYS, we have Chase and Nico!”
“It’s sort of ridiculous how huge our cast is at the start. But if you’re going to kill a lot of characters you gotta have a lot of characters,” Hopeless adds.
I love all the kid characters but you had me with ARCADE! Avengers Arena #1 is out for the kill this December.
