A major character will die in February 2013 according to the Marvel Solicitations. The victim will be killed by an Avenger in Uncanny Avengers #5. This is the same issue that brings Sunfire, Wasp and Wonder Man to the team. The Grim Reaper strikes and Havok’s leadership is called into question is this issue too.
Is the killer a member of the Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers or Hickman’s Avengers? Who bites it? Who kills?
My first guess is Rogue takes a life. Here’s what Remender said in a pre-launch interview about the X-Woman and her history. Rogue seems like the wild card of the team…and she took out an Avenger before (ok she didn’t kill Ms. Marvel but left her in a coma.)
This week is the finale of Rick Remender’s Final Execution in Uncanny X-Force #33. It’s been brutally violent, insanely ambitious and packed with “OH —-!” moments. This may be Wolverine’s covert team but the incredible way Remender evolved Psylocke, Angel, Deadpool and Fantomex has been masterful.
As Final Execution concludes it’s the manipulations of Mystique at her best (or should I say baddest?) and the Age of Apocalypse Nightcrawler that may seal the face of the team.
This series has not been just about these dark heroes but about a child named Evan. A kid murdered, brought back as a clone, kidnapped and mentally tortured. This poor child is Apocalypse. The heroes of this series have shattered the lines of right and wrong and the story of Evan is the story of good and evil and can it be altered? Does a child destined to be a force of evil be changed?
In the final chapter of The Final Execution in Uncanny X-Force #33 Logan’s team strikes back at the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in an effort to save Evan but they were betrayed by one of their own.
Remender told Comic Book Resources he’s leaving the title with December’s Uncanny X-Force #35. The last chapter of Final Execution will be the series finale.
“There were a lot of different factors involved. It was a very tough decision to make and it came down to a conversation I had about it with Kieron Gillen about how long I would stay past this. He said, “Know when to get off the stage.” That’s something that we maybe overlook.
I’m now doing “Uncanny Avengers” and “Captain America” and I realized that in order for me to do those and not want to blow my brains out, I might have to walk away from “Venom,” “Secret Avengers” and “Uncanny X-Force.” That was a bummer because I put so much into building them and getting the trains out of the station. I love all the characters, but that’s just the reality. With “X-Force,” I feel like this final story, which I’m very excited and have been building towards for a while now, pretty much wraps up everything we’ve been doing. It says everything I wanted to say about a kill squad while also really digging into the X-Universe that I loved so much as a kid growing up. So it really did come down to the fact that it was time to get off the stage.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to stick a nice landing with “Final Execution” and people will really enjoy it, so the series will never have that part where it tapered and stopped being as good. That’s the upshot. You do your best work — and we all have — and then you wrap things up and walk away from it.”
The Star-Spangled Avenger embarks on a brand new chapter with a new creative team in the Marvel Now. Writer Rick Remender and Artist John Romita Jr. hurl Steve Rogers into Dimension Z in Captain America #1 on November 21.
“At the core of this book is Steve Rogers. Even though tonally you can expect a bit of a shift, the character still shines true. We’re taking a drift into science fiction. Visually it will be pretty crazy. John is plugging away on issue #3 and it looks gorgeous,” Remender said on Marvel.com.
Ed Brubaker’s final Cap issue came this week after an eight year run and a focus on the spy game. Remender is shifting Steve in the new series.
“It’s a large step away from the espionage spy stuff Ed Brubaker has been doing, but it’s the same core character dropped in a new situation,” he explained.
The Red Skull, HYDRA and AIM were big elements of the Brubaker era. Remender is making the bizarre scientist Arnim Zola (played in human form by Toby Jones in Captain America: The First Avenger) into a more formidable enemy.
“Rick asked for a scene with a human Arnim Zola walking into his lab and then it’s 1960’s horror movie gore. I had a moment of thinking I was drawing Kick-Ass and had gotten my books confused,” Romita revealed, “There are human heads on other things and so on. It gave me the willies. That doesn’t happen a lot.” –
“We’re establishing Zola and who he was in his early days in one page. You can do it visually with the right artist. John does it,” Remender said,””Arnim Zola is established as terrible in one scene.”
Captain America #1 courtesy Marvel
“Mainstream books can be the best ones to take a turn into horror or science fiction because it’s unexpected. It meets its rating, but it’s very inspired by EC Comics from the 50’s or Bernie Wrightson on Frankenstein,” added Remender
“It’s an action book. It’s high adventure. Cap throws some fists. The villain is villainous. A hero is only as good as his villain, and wait until you see what John and Dean (White) have done with Zola,” adds Remender.
“Arnim Zola is one of those characters who because he was such a bizarre design and because people who weren’t Jack Kirby drew him, he became almost a comical figure. That’s all going to go away,” said Editor Tom Brevoort.
“Zola doesn’t come out of this with anybody ever thinking he’s a joke again. He’s a high level madman, the top boss and the focus. But as always, there are henchmen. We’ve got Dough Boy, who is Jabba the Hutt as designed by Jack Kirby. When you see what John does with Zola’s mutates and their weapons, it’s wonderful, incredible big and exciting,” said Remender, “Zola is the villain for the long haul. We will get to know his plight.”
Captain America #1 courtesy Marvel
Brevoort revealed how the upcoming change to the Sentinel of Liberty was inspired by The Man Without Fear.
“When Rick and I first started talking about doing Cap stuff, for all the high adventure and sci fi, there was an element of what Frank Miller did to Daredevil in Born Again, tearing him down and taking everything away to build him back up. We’re throwing Cap down into a place where he’s completely out of his element, where the idea of America has no relevance. We’re stranding him on a metaphoric desert island and getting to the core of what drives this character. We’ll learn one new thing about him that really drives the first year.”
The new book will take Steve into Dimension Z but also dives into his past.
“Running parallel will be the story of Steve Rogers’ early days. We’ve always said he was Captain America without the physique before the super soldier serum, now we’ll see that. We’ll see the things that made him the guy he is today,” Brevoort continued.
“It was important to show Steve earning the tenacity and heart, because you’re not born with that. What you learn from your parents and the people around you informs your decisions and choices that define who you become,” Remender said.
“Back then, you had to be a lot tougher than the average human being. I think Steve Rogers would have become a cop, gone into the military–somehow been more than the guy on the street even without the super soldier serum. He would never have been just the average joe,” said Romita.
“The scene in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ where he jumps on the grenade nails it,” added Remender.
Captain America #2 courtesy Marvel
A fan asked about Cap’s popular cast of supporting characters.
“I don’t want to give away too much of our hand, but Sharon Carter is involved. Hank Pym will give Steve his gadgets. I do think the important thing here is for the new characters to define this era of Cap. When we get into the second year…nothing you see is as it seems,” Remender answered, “When I pick up a book, I always try to take the relationships and move them to the next stage. There will be a big Steve-Sharon progression in issue #1.”
One of the fan favorite elements of the Brubaker run was the return and redemption of Bucky Barnes.
“Bucky is a conversation for the third or fourth arc. Once we get a better idea of the landscape of Marvel NOW! and Winter Soldier’s role in it, I’m excited to have these two in each others’ lives,” said Remender.
Remender said not to expect Falcon in the series because Sam Wilson is a “full-fledged in Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers.”
“That moment” on the final page of Uncanny Avengers #1 (Don’t worry I’m not going to spoil it for you.)
It was like the final scenes in Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie and Halloween.
That act. It was a desecration, an insult to X-Men fans and Xavier’s dream.
It may become one of the most shocking moments in comic book history.
It’s necessary. I hated it. But I love (or hate myself for loving) the stories, alliances and moments that will follow it. It may have made me an even bigger X-Men fan because I want payback.
With Uncanny Avengers #1 the dangerous minds of Marvel Now have proven that nothing is sacred and anything can happen. It’s not a reboot. It’s gripping the past in hand and violently surging into new territory.
The Red Skull is no longer just a super villain.
In that final page Rick Remender, John Cassaday and Laura Martin created a force of pure evil, hate and malevolence.
And I want him dead. Claws, shield, hammer, cosmic blasts – whatever it takes!
Welcome to the Marvel Now. You may have hate what happens here. But wouldn’t you rather read a book that makes you feel?
By Editor
I’m working on a review of the entire issue – I just had to get that out of me.
Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution cover courtesy Marvel.com
Rick Remender on Uncanny X-Force may be hailed as one of the most dangerously ambitious epics of fearless writing, senses-shattering and violent storytelling in Marvel history.
Remender tells Comic Book Resources he’s leaving the title with December’s Uncanny X-Force #35. The last chapter of Final Execution will be the series finale.
“There were a lot of different factors involved. It was a very tough decision to make and it came down to a conversation I had about it with Kieron Gillen about how long I would stay past this. He said, “Know when to get off the stage.” That’s something that we maybe overlook.
I’m now doing “Uncanny Avengers” and “Captain America” and I realized that in order for me to do those and not want to blow my brains out, I might have to walk away from “Venom,” “Secret Avengers” and “Uncanny X-Force.” That was a bummer because I put so much into building them and getting the trains out of the station. I love all the characters, but that’s just the reality. With “X-Force,” I feel like this final story, which I’m very excited and have been building towards for a while now, pretty much wraps up everything we’ve been doing. It says everything I wanted to say about a kill squad while also really digging into the X-Universe that I loved so much as a kid growing up. So it really did come down to the fact that it was time to get off the stage.
Uncanny X-Force #31 courtesy Marvel
Hopefully, I’ll be able to stick a nice landing with “Final Execution” and people will really enjoy it, so the series will never have that part where it tapered and stopped being as good. That’s the upshot. You do your best work — and we all have — and then you wrap things up and walk away from it.”
In this week’s Uncanny X-Force #31 what’s left of Wolverine’s unit takes the fight to the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Remender is moving on to Uncanny Avengers and Captain America. Marvel has teased Sam Humphries and Ron Garney on a Marvel NOW book with the teaser KILLERS – a perfect description of Wolverine’s black ops squad. The series may be coming to an end but it’s a good bet the X-Force concept will live to kill again.
Rick Remender and John Cassaday lead the Marvel NOW relaunch with Uncanny Avengers this October. Remender and Editor Tom Brevoort revealed their launch plan for the new team made of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Children of the Atom in today’s Marvel.com LiveBlog.
Captain America assembles Thor, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Rogue and Havok against a reborn Red Skull. Why does the classic villain unite Avengers and X-Men?
“The Red Skull has an anti-mutant agenda. It’s a modern perspective on who he was back in World War II Germany. Mutants are a boogeyman he can get behind and build his power base off of. He’s gathered a group of followers all of whom have bad experiences in their background involving mutants. They’re his version of the X-Men, but preaching that humans and mutants cannot live together, that this is a race war humanity cannot win unless they line up behind The Red Skull,” explains Brevoort.
“One of the goals is making The Red Skull the threat he deserves to be. That spreads across the Marvel Universe. I’ve had talks with Kieron Gillen about Iron Man. The shared universe is a big deal,” continues Remender, “You want one guy out there who is just pure evil, and that’s The Red Skull.”
Uncanny Avengers #2 courtesy Marvel
“John Cassaday’s Red Skull is particularly creepy and effective. Getting to play with that character was a big selling point of the book for him,” says Brevoort.
Cassiday and Brevoort reveal Professor Xavier and Magneto will turn up in the new series.
“Given the relationship of the characters, given the worldview of the book, it seems like it’s inevitable that, if he’s in the position to do so coming out of AvX, Magneto would show up at some point,” explains Brevoort.
“It’s fair to say that Xavier is very important to Uncanny Avengers. He’s pretty critical and you’ll definitely see him in the book,” continues Brevoort.
The teasers have said the formation of the team is a threat to Professor X’s dream.
“Charles’ relationships with these characters and his current status quo play a huge role in this book,” says Remender.
Uncanny Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Avengers vs. X-Men had been building for years. The writer says the post-AvX lineups have been mapped out carefully.
“A lot of thought has been put into how these characters interact and the consequences of how they’ve been thrown together. That’s the fun of it beyond who they’re going to punch to save the world,” explains Remender, “One of the toughest but most rewarding things about this book has been figuring out how to make sure in every arc that A meets X.”
A reborn Red Skull is a huge threat but Remender will throw Kang and Apocalypse at the new team too.
“I’m getting the most excited about is how the villains and their plots mix and mash. Three of the biggest villains in the Marvel Universe play roles in what will culminate in a huge story over the first 20 pages,” explains the writer. Remender’s Apocalypse story from Uncanny X-Force will carry over into the new series.
Uncanny Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Marvel revealed some of the first pages from inside the premiere issue: Cap and Thor ready for action and a bizarre operation in which a bomb appears to be planted in the brain of a victim who had visions of the Phoenix!
In the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men – the Uncanny Avengers are born. Captain America assembles Thor, Wolverine, Rogue, Scarlet Witch and Havok against the threat of a reborn Red Skull and his S-Men. Rick Remender and John Cassaday launch this first book of the Marvel NOW relaunch in October.
Uncanny Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Marvel revealed the first look inside Uncanny Avengers #1. Three inked pages by John Cassaday show an attack in the heart of New York City.
Uncanny Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Marvel calls this the Red Skull’s first attack. It sure looks like Avalanche – a former member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The villain was last seen a reformed man running a bar out west.
Uncanny Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Captain America and Thor rush into action. Cap hurls himself into battle against the villain while the Odinson is flying survivors out of the danger zone.
Marvel also says this premiere issue will include the funeral of a great hero and threaten Professor Xavier’s dream. I can only imagine what Rick Remender has planned. He is one fearless writer!
It’s so good to see John Cassaday drawing Marvel heroes again!
