Cable and X-Men are mutants on the run. This powerhouse team has been branded as terrorists. Colossus is one of my favorite X-Men but writer Dennis Hopeless it taking the character into new territory after Avengers vs. X-Men. No Kitty Pryde. No X-Men. Domino thrives on living a life on the run. Colossus not so much as Hopeless explains:
“Colossus is definitely having the worst time of it. He’s dealing with a lot of guilt—old guilt and new guilt—and wants to atone. There’s a simple solution to all of this, but it’s tough to save the world from behind bars. Pete is torn between his guilt and his loyalty to X-Force and their mission”
Pete won’t be on the run much longer. As you can see from Cable and X-Force #6 Colossus goes to prison.
“He wants to make amends, do his time and move on from all the guilt. He likes prison in a weird way. It’s as though a weight has been lifted from his chest and he can breathe again. The only thing particularly difficult about jail is that Domino, Cable and X-Force won’t leave him alone in there.”
Cable and X-Force #5 courtesy Marvel
Hope Summers is another mutant who’s been “exiled” from the flagship X-titles. The mutant messiah is back with her “dad” and Hopeless will continue to explore Cable’s relationship with the girl he raised and his father, Cyclops.
Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution cover courtesy Marvel.com
This week’s Uncanny X-Force #35 is Rick Remender’s final issue and the final issue for this team. The storytelling was ambitous, violent, senses-shattering. Uncanny X-Force may have not been the “flagship” but look how it influenced the entire X-Men line and Marvel Universe. Angel and Evan’s stories became part of Wolverine and the X-Men. I think no writer since Claremont has evolved Psylocke they way Remender has. Betsy will be team leader of the Uncanny X-Force relaunch in 2013. Remender is now writing the Marvel Now flagship Uncanny Avengers.
“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.”
Uncanny X-Force #35 courtesy Marvel
Uncanny X-Force was always violent but not just for shock effect. Each act led to incredible character development and an exploration of consequences and reflections. Fantomex made a deadly decision in The Apocalypse Solution, Betsy was forced to kill the man she once loved in The Dark Angel Saga, Wolverine shared a bloody resolution with his son in The Final Execution.
Every member has been punished for their actions during this run. After so many shocks how will Remender end it?
I admit – I’m not a big Cable fan. Way back in New Mutants when we first met Cable I thought he was going to be this cool non-mutant warrior who wanted to help train young mutants because he lost his mutant son. New Mutants became X-Force, which led to X-Cutioner’s Song which led to lots of crossovers and mini-series and a very confusing future origin story.
My favorite Cable moments were in Mike Carey’s X-Men run when Nathan teamed up with Rogue’s squadron and in Second Coming. Yes, my favorite Cable moment is when he “died” to save Hope. The writing of the difficult Nathan, Scott, Hope dynamic was powerful.
You can’t keep a bad ass cyborg down for long!
Nathan blasted into the Marvel Now in this week’s. Dennis Hopeless. There’s a huge threat and only Cable and his team can stop it – but they’ve been branded terrorists. Hopeless talked with Marvel.com about the Summers family connections – given that Cyclops has become a revolutionary
“I play with that early on. I’d like to do stuff with Cyclops at some point, and we probably will. The plans for that are out [for now] because of what Brian [Michael Bendis is] doing with those characters over in All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. He needs some space to deal with all that. I’m getting the Summers tie and the “What the hell are you doing to our family name?” with Havok. Because Cyclops is off doing this thing, and because of where Havok is, I have him sort of obsessed with the idea that, “obviously whatever Cable is doing is not what it looks like, but I have to be the one that brings it in and figures it out. I need to be the one who solves this problem, because by God the Summers name is not going to be this sullied.”
Cable and X-Force #3 courtesy Marvel
Havok and the Uncanny Avengers appeared in the premiere issue.
“Yeah, Rick [Remender] was very adamant when I talked to him about Uncanny Avengers being a part of the book, that they’re not cops. They’re not going to just assume that this stuff is all what it is on face value. Because number one, Wolverine’s on the team, and he just led an X-Force where they did a bunch of killing, so they’re not going to immediately think someone that they know to be a hero has turned into a villain. At the same time, Cable refuses to explain himself, and he makes it very difficult on them to accept that what he’s doing must be good, and there are story reasons for that. He’s seeing the future, and the more he explains it, the less likely it is to happen as he’s seeing it. In his mind, everything he’s doing makes perfect sense. [Laughs]”
Arrogant, brilliant, blunt. He’s the hero you want on your side – if you stand him! I loved Dr. Nemesis during Matt Fraction’s Uncanny X-Men run. The Golden Age character is mutant with an evolved intellect (and massive ego!) The gun packing brainiac is now part of Cable and X-Force. Writer Dennis Hopeless told Marvel.com how he sees the Doctor:
“I see him as a sort of pure scientist, if that makes any sense. He comes into the story for a very specific purpose, and as soon as it’s said that Cable needs this kind of brain doctor, he’s like “alright, I’m in.” At that point I think the mad science of the whole thing is what compels him to stick around. After the first arc, they’re all kind of stuck. You can either go to jail, or you can keep doing this with us. Initially I think it’s a pure scientific interest that has him jumping along with all the crazy pre-cog, criminal, saving-the-world stuff.
How will Nemesis see brilliant mutant inventor Forge?
“They’re different versions of the same sci-fi character. Forge is sort of the Mad Max, post-apocalyptic “I can make anything out of junkyard parts” kind of a tech guy, and Doctor Nemesis is more of the genetic tinkerer from a more utopian science fiction story. Plus, their personalities couldn’t be any more different. I think having those two characters that obviously aren’t going to get along, and are going to bicker back and forth, but whenever they put their minds together are really something powerful, that’s why I chose Doctor Nemesis. The rest of the team was set and I needed another character. I kept looking around, and I thought “Forge would hate this guy, and Cable would shake his head constantly at everything this guy says.” There’s actually a scene—I think it’s in issue #3—where he says something and Cable just walks away shaking his head like “God, why did I start that conversation?”
Cable and X-Force #3 courtesy Marvel
X-Men, X-Club and now X-Force – Will this aloof loner connect with this new team?
“I think he fits in well with this team because it’s almost not a team. It’s just a bunch of people that Cable convinced to help with something that get pulled together. I try to make it clear in issue #3 that to Cable this isn’t X-Force. He’s not putting together a super hero team. First, he’s got a brain problem, and then he has another problem. He’s trying to solve it in the best way he knows how and that is to get experts to help him do something. The outside world kind of brands them “Cable’s X-Force” because that’s how we think of any team that Cable has. Doctor Nemesis, because he isn’t a super prototypical super hero, fits well on a team where you just have to be good at something to be involved.”
For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.
You just can’t keep a mutant cyborg from an alternate future down for long! Cable is back but he’s getting a rough reception in the Marvel Now. The son of Cyclops will become one of the world’s most wanted. Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca launch Cable and X-Force this week. Domino, Forge, Colossus and Dr. Nemesis join Cable on his new misadventures. Hopeless and Editor Nick Lowe shared his take on the team and shared preview art on Marvel.com.
“You get dropped smack dab in the middle of a pretty horrible situation on the first page of Cable & X-Force #1. You see our X-Force team and a bunch of dead bodies. They’re surrounded by the Uncanny Avengers who have just arrived on the scene. Things do not look good,” said Lowe.
“Cable and X-Force have tried to stop something really bad from happening and it’s gone as bad as possible. Cable has one last job to pull before he can retire from being a crazy time-hopping Askani’son. It goes awfully,” says Hopeless, “Cable comes up the team and he’s the one they have to trust, even though he doesn’t say much.”
For fans of Hope Summers this is the book to watch. Lowe confirmed Cable’s adopted daughter will play a huge role in the book.
“The crux of my original pitch and the emotional core of the book is that Cable and Hope both want to be done with the craziness and live normal lives, but neither are very good at it,” said Hopeless of the mutant messiah and her father.
“Hope plays a unique role early on. She’s not strictly a member of the team, but in my mind, Cable doesn’t think of this as X-Force, just people who can help him with a problem. The news call them X-Force, which Cable finds asinine,” says Hopeless of the team name.
Cable and X-Force #2 courtesy Marvel
You can see Cable has a new look including an eye patch but the disease that’s cursed him since birth is gone.
“Cable no longer has the T/O virus. His arm is messed up and he’s never had to use his powers like this. He recruits Forge to help him with that, and we’ll explain why he’s not quite as crazy any more,” explains Hopeless.
Cable’s team will be on the run from Marvel Now’s newest supergroup.
“The supporting cast is basically the Uncanny Avengers. If this book is ‘The Fugitive,‘ they’re Tommy Lee Jones,” Nick Lowe explained.
Cable and X-Force #1 courtesy Marvel
“In my mind, Havok is the reason the Uncanny Avengers get pulled into this and become obsessed with finding Cable. Things have gone bad for the Summers family. His brother is in jail and now his nephew appears to be a terrorist. Rick Remender has made it very clear to me many times that they are not jackbooted thugs. There’s an interesting dynamic between the two teams,” said Hopeless of the crossover elements.
“Early on, the Uncanny Avengers are the big problem. The situations that lead to the job are less villain-based, more ‘something awful is going to happen and we have to stop it.’ We’ll roll into who caused this situation as the series continues,” he adds.
Cable has one of the most complicated backgrounds in comics. Personally there are moments when I love him and when I wish he’s stayed dead.
“Cable is an interesting character because his past is so varied. He’s not a guy who likes to talk about his feelings, but here he’s the guy with all the answers. He’s a complicated sort of guy. He’s a person who wants to make the world a better place and be a good father to his daughter, but he’s also really good at using big guns and breaking into military bases. We’re going to play with all his incarnations.”
I love this description – it’s a good way to explain who Cable is:
Cable and X-Force #1 courtesy Marvel
“Cable is Steve McQueen in the body of the T2 Terminator. He’s a super hero version of Parker. I tried to surround him with interesting characters who are really good at solving a certain kind of problem, but they don’t get along. There are some elements of the classic X-Force, but it’s wrapped around a crime story and an emotional story about a father and his daughter.” – Dennis Hopeless
Every incarnation of X-Force has had an outlaw element.
“We wanted to take the idea of X-Force as the intense paramilitary X-Men book to a new level,” said Lowe.
There will also be a new Uncanny X-Force in the Marvel Now. The X-Editor explains the difference:
“Cable & X-Force is about fugitives on the run from the Marvel Universe, criminals and murderers as far as the world can tell. Uncanny X-Force deals with the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe and a lot of moral quagmires.”
Warpath was the angry big rebel in the first X-Force. After AvX Colossus is free of his demons but full of hate and anger.
“Colossus ends up on the team partially because where he is as a person after AvX. Things are not great. He gets sucked into all this in a way that is very much not what he plans or what he wanted,” explains Hopeless.
“Colossus is the muscle. A veteran. A guy who doesn’t get shaken under pressure,” adds Lowe.
It will be nostalgic to see Nathan and Domino together again. She was part of his Six-Pack team of mercs before joining his first X-Force.
“Domino can get you in and out of any situation,” said Hopeless, “Their relationship is interesting. They were together at one point and since then have both been through a lot. Cable was in the future for years and had a wife who died. Domino calls him on his crap, but they’re not going to jump in bed together just because they’re in the same room.”
Cable and X-Force #3 courtesy Marvel
After a long run on Invincible Iron Man Salvador Larroca is back with the Children of the Atom. You can definitely see how his style has evolved – a mix of his X-Men era and what he developed on Iron Man which is perfect for Cable and his crew.
“We talked about what roles the characters would play and then let Salva loose on the new costumes. We knew we wanted to limit the color palette and have them look not too much like super heroes, but keep the trappings. Cable needed a big mech arm because the loss of the T/O virus ravaged his body,” explains Lowe of the new designs.
“There is a story reason for why most of the characters are wearing what they are and why they have the tech they do. Salva deserves all the credit,” adds Hopeless
Hopeless confirmed the X-Force teams will interact.
“If you’ve got Cable in one book and Bishop as a villain in the other, that’s a big deal,” said Lowe.
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
Avengers Arena #1Sixteen superpowered teens (including members of Runaways, Avengers Academy) wake up on an island with an ultimatum: fight or die! One of the biggest surprises of Marvel Now kicks off this week by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker. Imagine X-23 in Battle Royale and The Hunger Games and that gives you an idea!
Batman #15 The Joker holds all the cards. He knows Batman’s biggest secret. He’s predicted when all Batman’s allies and friends will be dead. The Riddler finds out the hard way that not even other villains are safe from the Joker’s mad final scheme.
Cable and X-Force #1 The son of Cyclops is back with a brand new team. Why have these mutant heroes been branded terrorists?
Fantastic Four #2 Marvel’s First Family blasts off across time and space. Can Reed keep the real motivation for this family vacation hidden from Susan? What new threats are waiting for them?
Space 1999: Aftershock and Awe A disaster blasts the moon out of orbit and across space. The crew of Moonbase Alpha will face outrageous aliens as they try to find a way home. I was a huge fan of this classic sci-fi series from the swinging 70’s but I didn’t know there was a comic book series. This trade paperback collects new stories of the crew of Moonbase Alpha.
Nathan Summers is back running the team he founded back in the 1990’s. New Mutants evolved into the the first volume of X-Force. In recent years the X-Force concept evolved and the team was run by Wolverine as a covert ops unit doing the dirty work the X-Men couldn’t. This Cable and X-Force launches in the Marvel Now. Writer Dennis Hopeless recruits Colossus, Domino, Dr. Nemesis and Forge for this new team of mutants that have been branded as terrorists.
Hopeless told Comics Newsarama about his plans for the team and the roster. I was really interested in the inclusion of Colossus who has literally been to several versions of hell and back thanks to Magik, his bonding with Cyttorak and possession by the Phoenix Force. Apparently things will get even worse for Peter.
“Colossus is coming out of a pretty dark period when our book kicks off. Peter has a lot of regrets. He’s an introspective guy and his recent past will definitely weigh on him. All of that will affect his decision-making for sure.
Unfortunately, we won’t be giving the guy much of a break in which to reflect. He’ll be busy running for his life.”
This new book marks a reunion between Nathan and Domino. Hopeless says don’t expect the former lovers to have the same dynamic.
“Domino has developed into a different kind of character lately. She’s matured some I think and like you said, she now at least tries to be a hero first.
Both Domino and Cable have grown into different people than when they were together. Cable may not look it, but he’s a lifetime beyond the man Domino knew. He raised a daughter, got married and grew old with his wife. Fans shouldn’t expect these two to pick right back up where they left off and fall into bed together. That wouldn’t make any sense.
But they are going to have to work together. They’ll have to figure out what all that history means in the here and now. It’s a complex relationship that’s very fun to write.”
I was thrilled to see that Dr. Nemesis will be part of the team. The genius egomaniac has a new look Hopeless said was redesigned by acclaimed artist Salvador Larroca.
Hopeless says he will address Forge and his most recent appearance in which he was the bad guy in the Ghost Boxes storyline.
Sam Humphries and Ron Garney will launch a brand new Uncanny X-Force. Hopeless says “there will definitely be some interaction between the two X-Force books. Just not right off the bat. These are very different books.”
In 2013 Cyclops’s son is back with a brand new team in a brand new book – and they’re branded Marvel Now’s most wanted! Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca launch Cable and X-Force this January. Domino, Forge, Colossus and Dr. Nemesis join Cable on his new adventures. Hopeless and Editor Nick Lowe shared his take on the team and shared new art on Marvel.com.
“You get dropped smack dab in the middle of a pretty horrible situation on the first page of Cable & X-Force #1. You see our X-Force team and a bunch of dead bodies. They’re surrounded by the Uncanny Avengers who have just arrived on the scene. Things do not look good,” said Lowe.
“Cable and X-Force have tried to stop something really bad from happening and it’s gone as bad as possible. Cable has one last job to pull before he can retire from being a crazy time-hopping Askani’son. It goes awfully,” says Hopeless, “Cable comes up the team and he’s the one they have to trust, even though he doesn’t say much.”
Lowe confirmed Hope Summers plays a huge role in the book.
“The crux of my original pitch and the emotional core of the book is that Cable and Hope both want to be done with the craziness and live normal lives, but neither are very good at it,” said Hopeless of the mutant messiah and her father.
“Hope plays a unique role early on. She’s not strictly a member of the team, but in my mind, Cable doesn’t think of this as X-Force, just people who can help him with a problem. The news call them X-Force, which Cable finds asinine,” says Hopeless of the team name.
Cable and X-Force #2 courtesy Marvel
You can see Cable has a new look including an eye patch but the disease that’s cursed him since birth is gone.
“Cable no longer has the T/O virus. His arm is messed up and he’s never had to use his powers like this. He recruits Forge to help him with that, and we’ll explain why he’s not quite as crazy any more,” explains Hopeless.
Cable’s team will be on the run from Marvel Now’s newest supergroup.
“The supporting cast is basically the Uncanny Avengers. If this book is ‘The Fugitive,‘ they’re Tommy Lee Jones,” Nick Lowe explained.
Cable and X-Force #1 courtesy Marvel
“In my mind, Havok is the reason the Uncanny Avengers get pulled into this and become obsessed with finding Cable. Things have gone bad for the Summers family. His brother is in jail and now his nephew appears to be a terrorist. Rick Remender has made it very clear to me many times that they are not jackbooted thugs. There’s an interesting dynamic between the two teams,” said Hopeless of the crossover elements.
“Early on, the Uncanny Avengers are the big problem. The situations that lead to the job are less villain-based, more ‘something awful is going to happen and we have to stop it.’ We’ll roll into who caused this situation as the series continues,” he adds.
Cable has one of the most complicated backgrounds in comics. Personally there are moments when I love him and when I wish he’s stayed dead.
“Cable is an interesting character because his past is so varied. He’s not a guy who likes to talk about his feelings, but here he’s the guy with all the answers. He’s a complicated sort of guy. He’s a person who wants to make the world a better place and be a good father to his daughter, but he’s also really good at using big guns and breaking into military bases. We’re going to play with all his incarnations.”
I love this description – it’s a good way to explain who Cable is:
Cable and X-Force #1 courtesy Marvel
“Cable is Steve McQueen in the body of the T2 Terminator. He’s a super hero version of Parker. I tried to surround him with interesting characters who are really good at solving a certain kind of problem, but they don’t get along. There are some elements of the classic X-Force, but it’s wrapped around a crime story and an emotional story about a father and his daughter.” – Dennis Hopeless
Every incarnation of X-Force has had an outlaw element.
“We wanted to take the idea of X-Force as the intense paramilitary X-Men book to a new level,” said Lowe.
There will also be a new Uncanny X-Force in the Marvel Now. The X-Editor explains the difference:
“Cable & X-Force is about fugitives on the run from the Marvel Universe, criminals and murderers as far as the world can tell. Uncanny X-Force deals with the dark underbelly of the Marvel Universe and a lot of moral quagmires.”
Warpath was the angry big rebel in the first X-Force. After AvX Colossus is free of his demons but full of hate and anger.
“Colossus ends up on the team partially because where he is as a person after AvX. Things are not great. He gets sucked into all this in a way that is very much not what he plans or what he wanted,” explains Hopeless.
“Colossus is the muscle. A veteran. A guy who doesn’t get shaken under pressure,” adds Lowe.
It will be nostalgic to see Nathan and Domino together again. She was part of his Six-Pack team of mercs before joining his first X-Force.
“Domino can get you in and out of any situation,” said Hopeless, “Their relationship is interesting. They were together at one point and since then have both been through a lot. Cable was in the future for years and had a wife who died. Domino calls him on his crap, but they’re not going to jump in bed together just because they’re in the same room.”
Cable and X-Force #3 courtesy Marvel
After a long run on Invincible Iron Man Salvador Larroca is back with the Children of the Atom. You can definitely see how his style has evolved – a mix of his X-Men era and what he developed on Iron Man which is perfect for Cable and his crew.
“We talked about what roles the characters would play and then let Salva loose on the new costumes. We knew we wanted to limit the color palette and have them look not too much like super heroes, but keep the trappings. Cable needed a big mech arm because the loss of the T/O virus ravaged his body,” explains Lowe of the new designs.
“There is a story reason for why most of the characters are wearing what they are and why they have the tech they do. Salva deserves all the credit,” adds Hopeless
Hopeless confirmed the X-Force teams will interact.
“If you’ve got Cable in one book and Bishop as a villain in the other, that’s a big deal,” said Lowe.
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
