Cyclops-intoxicated

CBR's coverage of Comic-Con International in San Diego entered Day 2 with the Friday morning Marvel X-Men panel. Arune Singh, Axel Alonso, Nick Lowe, Rick Remender, Kieron Gillen, Matt Fraction, Marjorie Liu, Daniel Way, Peter David,Victor Gischler, Chris Yost, and Craig Kyle were on hand to announce new titles and discuss all things mutant, with a strange focus on Cyclops' anatomy.

"You're going to see a lot more of the Marvel universe interacting with the X-Men over the next few months and years," editor Nick Lowe said.

"Do the X-Men ever get a welcome to the bright shiny new age without having to go to a little bit of trouble?" Victor Gischler joked, referring to "Curse of the Mutants'" role in the "Heroic Age" banner.

Way said that "Wolverine," "Daken," and "X-23" would form something of a "Wolverine Universe." The Logan goes to hell story in Jason Aaron's "Wolverine" would affect the other two books, Alonso added. "It's not a crossover, but they do conect."

"Wolverine: The Best There is" launches in December, written by Charlie Huston with art by Juan Jose Ryp. "It goes directly into Logan's future, without looking at his past," Alonso said, referring to the number of stories already existing dealing with Wolverine's past.

Remender's "Uncanny X-Force" will begin by resurrecting Apocalypse, which "obviously has ramifications to a number of characters, notably Warren [Worthington, Angel/Archangel]."

"With 'Second Coming' over, Scott [Summers] is no longer a wartime president," Alonso added, but Logan still sees a need for the team and Cyclops doesn't need to know.

In January, the X-Men will begin teaming up with other superheroes in Gischler's series, Alonso announced. "The X-Men are always under siege--why don't they rescue cats in trees, or stop the Rhino when he's rampaging around?"

Singh then showed another "Who is the new Man without Fear?" trailer, this time featuring Gambit.

"Generation Hope" will begin in November, in which Hope will "seize her destiny by the throat." It spins out of "Uncanny" and is written by Kieron Gillen. "There haven't been new mutants in a long time, and it's no longer an easy thing," Gillen said. Next week's "Uncanny" #526 would begin the build-up to the new series, Matt Fraction added.

"In reading the first couple issues, I think it's going to be a lot like 'New Mutants' when it first started," Lowe said of the series.

"It was funny in the old days that new mutants would show up with costumes," Fraction joked. "'I not only have powers, but this is what I do in my spare time!'"

Marco Djurdjevic's X-Men poster will be dividing into covers of the X-titles over the next several months.

Singh then opened the floor to questions.

The first question was, "Who decided to kill Nightcrawler?" "Bastion," Craig Kyle offered. Alonso said it was a natural and necessary story beat, adding "the buck stops with me." He then joked, "because we don't care about the fans," to general laughter.

Next, a woman said, "Matt Fraction, thanks for giving Cyclops his balls back." "Wait'll you see the action figure!" Fraction joked. Peter David added, "We're going to kill Cyclops' balls." The fan's question, though, was, when will Havok return from space? Lowe said, "He will return, but I can't tell you when. Then we'll kill him in the next issue."

Lowe said that there would be at least several arcs before the next X-crossover, in response to a question.

A fan from San Francisco said he enjoyed the focus, but "have any of you ever been to San Francisco?" "Motherf***** I'm from San Francisco!" Alonso said, again to laughter. The fan replied, "it's not that sunny!"

Another fan asked about Ruby Summers, an "X-Factor" character in a dark future. "The obvious thing to do would be to bring her to the present, because what we really need is more Summers children in the present," David joked. He added that there are no plans for her just now, but if she returns it will likely be in a future-based story.

Clues as to Sabretooth's status can be found in "Wolverine" #1, Lowe and Singh said. David joked that there would be a limited-edition statue of Sabretooth's head and Cyclops' balls.

"How do you decide who you're going to disfigure, how you're going to disfigure them, and who you're going to kill?" a fan asked. "We don't target characters and say, what story can we tell to utterly annihilated them," David said. "Killing Nightcrawler means we don't get to write him," the writer added by way of showing that such deaths upset creators as well. "We like writing him."

Alonso added that, in putting together "Second Coming," "we knew there was a high probability Cable would not make it out alive," simply because a sacrifice was needed and it made sense for the story. "When we talked about the architecture of how Cable died, there wasn't a dry eye in the house—I deflected by looking to Jason Aaron and saying, 'You're crying, b!+{#!' Because I didn't want anybody to see I was crying," Alonso said.

After some more back and forth, Alonso joked, "And as you know, when you're dead in Marvel, you're dead! You're never coming back!"

As to whether Rogue and Gambit would get back together, Lowe said, "We've seen a lot of Rogue and Gambit together in the past. You might want to look to other suitors."

David joked, "I want to see Rogue get together with a vampire, just to confuse the 'True Blood' fans."

Kyle confirmed that he and Yost would be taking a break from the X-books after "X-Force: Sex and Violence." "I'll be working on the Thor film, so if I don't do a good job there I won't be doing any Marvel books." Yost, too, will be working on features and animation.

Lowe said that "New Mutants" is "about to go into a brutal arc—so I hope nobody likes those characters." He added that it would payoff story elements that have been building since the first issues, especially things related to Illyana.

The Children of the Vault will return in "X-Men Legacy" in an arc where Rogue takes several of the young X-Men characters to India, Lowe continued.

David said he would not "blow up the status quo" any more in "X-Factor," but would see Longshot in Las Vegas and Rahne Sinclair coming onto the team, "and how that affects the Rictor/Shatterstar

X-Men panel beginning now! Happy Friday from Comic-Con International: San Diego!
Friday July 23, 2010 10:01
10:03

Marvel publicity's Arune Singh is introducing the panelists — editors Axel Alonso and Nick Lowe, Uncanny X-Men writer Matt Fraction, X-Force co-writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, X-Men writer Victor Gischler, X-Factor writer Peter David, Dark Wolverine co-writers Marjorie Liu and Daniel Way, upcoming Uncanny X-Force writer Rick Remender and Kieron Gillen.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:03
10:04

Lowe talks about the Heroic Age's effect on the X-Men. "You're going to see a lot more of the Marvel Universe interacting with the X-Men coming up," Lowe said, starting with "Curse of the Mutants" in X-Men.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:04
10:05

"There's a bright, shiny new age coming, but do the X-Men ever really get a pass without having some trouble?" Gischler asks. He continues to discuss the connection between his series and the Death of Dracula one-shot, and how Marvel wanted to revitalize the role of vampires in the MU.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:05
10:05

Wolverine is up next, with Way and Liu talking about Daken: Dark Wolverine.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:05
10:06

Alonso describes it as "father, son and daughter," with Wolverine, Daken and X-23. In Jason Aaron's Wolverine #1, "Wolverine goes to Hell," and then Hell comes to Daken and X-23 in unexpected ways.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:06
10:07

Hey, check out this awesome Marko Djurdjević X-Men poster! http://i.newsarama.com/images/X_MEN_...FINAL-huge.jpg
Friday July 23, 2010 10:07
10:08

Alonso then discusses Wolverine: The Best There Is by Charlie Huston and Juan Jose Ryp, a series not concerned with Wolverine's past, only bringing him into the future. Read an interview with Huston and Alonso on the book here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/wolv...on-100712.html
Friday July 23, 2010 10:08
10:09

Remender discusses Uncanny X-Force, saying that Wolverine and Archangel will be "co-captains," having "checks and balances" with each other. "The team is more secretive than ever," Remender says.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:09
10:09

Alonso tells the crowd about the nature of the new X-Force. "Scott is no longer a wartime president," he says. "He's disbanded X-Force. But that doesn't mean that Wolverine and Warren don't think that there are instances where it's needed. These guys know they have to do the stuff that other X-Men can't."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:09
10:10

Singh mentions the currently unfolding X-Force: Sex and Violence miniseries co-written by Yost and Kyle, calling it a lot of fun.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:10
10:11

Starting in January 2011, the X-Men will "team-up with major superheroes against major villains," according to Alonso. "The message they're sending to the people is, if you need us, we're out there."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:11
10:11

Singh tells the crowd to pay attention to the past "We are the X-Men" teasers in regards to this project.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:11
10:12

Like yesterday's "Is this the new Man Without Fear!" teaser with Nova, a new one was shown — this time, with Gambit.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:12
10:13

Fraction discussed the "five lights" that appeared at the end of Second Coming. "These are very different mutants than we've ever seen before, there's something about how they developed as powered mutants that we haven't seen before," Fraction said. "They're people who were completely normal, and woke up one morning with their bodies violently transformed into something they don't understand. The next Uncanny arc is about Hope and these lights."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:13
10:13

This leads into Generation Hope, written by Gillen. "We haven't had new mutants for a while. What is the future about, anyway? It's no longer an easy thing, it's a difficult transition," Gillen says.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:13
10:14

"It is a slow trickle," Fraction says of the growth of the mutant race.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:14
10:14

The first part of the Uncanny X-Men arc is out on Wednesday.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:14
10:15

"She sees herself as just a normal person," Lowe says of Hope. "The expectations, and how you would ever live up these things, is one of the key themes. I think it's going to be a lot like New Mutants when it first started, and Generation X. New characters that fans can get into from the ground level."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:15
10:16

"If people thought you were a 'messiah,' what does that do to your head?" Fraction asked of Hope's mindset.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:16
10:17

According to the slide, Generation Hope is coming in November. The image in the background of the "five lights" appears to be the Phoenix, as Singh points out.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:17
10:18

That Djurdjević poster is mentioned — parts are going to be on the covers of X-Men #3, Generation Hope #1, Wolverine #1, X-23 #1 and others, coming out over the next "four, five months."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:18
10:18

Here's that link again: http://i.newsarama.com/images/X_MEN_...FINAL-huge.jpg
Friday July 23, 2010 10:18
10:18

And with that, questions from the audience!
Friday July 23, 2010 10:18
10:19

First up: "Who decided to kill Nightcrawler?" Alonso: "The buck sort of ends with me because I'm group editor, but at least year's X-Men summit because we were planning Second Coming, it was a natural beat in that story. Someone needed to sacrifice themselves. Nightcrawler ended up being the candidate. We're all responsible, but maybe me a little bit more."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:19
10:20

The fan said "Given the Heroic Age, I don't know why you would kill that character." Alonso joked: "Because we don't care about the fans." David: "I can't wait to see that headline on Newsarama."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:20
10:21

Is Havok ever going to come back from space? Lowe: "Yes, but I can't tell you when, because we want to surprise people." The fan: "But he is going to come back eventually, right?" "Of course, and then we're going to kill him the next day," Lowe joked.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:21
10:23

"Do you think we could make take a break from all the crossovers?" Alonso: "I think if you take a look, Uncanny functions as X-Men central. We choose our events carefully. We've only really had three — Messiah Complex, Messiah War and Second Coming."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:23
10:23

Lowe says that post-Second Coming, there's no crossing over between the books for at least a couple of arc. "We do crossovers and then we take breaks," he says. "That's X-Men."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:23
10:25

Fan: "Have you guys ever seen San Francisco? It is not that sunny!" Alonso: "I am from San Francisco, mother*****er!"
Friday July 23, 2010 10:25
10:26

Next question concerned Emma Frost's relationship with Hope. Fraction: "Have you ever seen a kid around a piranha? I'll leave it to you to decide which one is the child and which one is the predator," hinting further that their relationship might develop into something "catastrophic."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:26
10:26

And plans for Ruby Summers? David says no immediate ones, and that it's "so freaking obvious" to bring her to the present day, and "we're not so into doing 'obvious' in X-Factor.'"
Friday July 23, 2010 10:26
10:27

Fan in a Deadpool costume asks why the character is on Uncanny X-Force. Remender says Warren "wants him on the payroll," and there are both "logical and illogical" reasons for Deadpool to be on the team.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:27
10:28

Alonso to the fan, who has "Headpool" with him: "If you were a true Deadpool fan, you would have brought Dogpool."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:28
10:29

Someone who identified as a "Sabretooth fan" asked why he wasn't in Necrosha. "If you're interested in all things Wolverine/Sabretooth, I would read Jason Aaron's Wolverine, for clues on where you might see Sabretooth next," Singh said.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:29
10:29

Return of Bishop? Lowe: "Not in the immediate, immediate future. He's got some issues to work through He needs to talk out and hug out some things." Alonso: "We need to see what the next hairstyle is before we bring him back." Fraction suggested a Kid 'n' Play-style fade.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:29
10:31

Fan asks how you decide "who are you going to disfigure, and who are you going to kill" in the crossovers, and who they wanted to kill that they couldn't. David: "We don't really target characters and say, 'let's come up with a story to annihilate them."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:31
10:32

David says they're fans of the characters too, so it's upsetting to them to not get a chance to write someone like Nightcrawler again. Alonso says it just made "narrative sense" for Cable to die at the end of Second Coming.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:32
10:33

Alonso said that at one point during the planning of Cable's death scene, "there wasn't a dry eye in the house." Fraction: "Everybody's dad issues came bubbling up."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:33
10:34

Alonso summed up the discussion by quipping, "And as you know with Marvel, once someone dies, that's it! No one ever comes back! How do you come back from the dead?"
Friday July 23, 2010 10:34
10:35

"We've seen a lot of Rogue and Gambit in the past," Lowe said to a fan who asked about their relationship. "That's what people would expect. You might want to look at other suitors."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:35
10:36

David: "I would like to see her with a vampire, just to confuse all the True Blood fans."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:36
10:37

Are Kyle and Yost going to be doing more X-books? Kyle says they're going to be taking a "little break," since he's working on the Thor film, and Yost has also moved to the features writing program. Kyle says it's just a "little break" as they work on their day jobs. Yost: "The minute we get a chance to come back, we'll come back."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:37
10:38

Lowe says "New Mutants is coming into a brutal arc right now, so I hope no one is a fan of those characters. The whole series has been leading to this arc, up to page four of issue #1."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:38
10:38

Which SECOND COMING Death meant more to you?
NIGHTCRAWLER
( 70% )
CABLE
( 30% )

Friday July 23, 2010 10:38
10:39

Lowe talks about X-Men Legacy. "The focus is still on Rogue," he says, along with Magneto and some New X-Men characters. Read an interview with X-Men Legacy writer Mike Carey here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/X-me...ew-100526.html
Friday July 23, 2010 10:39
10:40

David weighs in on X-Factor. "We're not doing anything to blow up the status quo right now. We've got the team reassembled. We've actually been having the group interact with the Marvel Universe since we jumped forward to issue #200," he said.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:40
10:40

"We're doing a storyline now that involves Las Vegas," David said. "I'm sure you can imagine — Longshot in Las Vegas."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:40
10:41

David also talked about Rahne Sinclair coming back, joking that nothing bad could happen to an impregnated mutant in X-Factor.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:41
10:41

"One of the characters is going to be leaving in issue #214, because of something that's going to happen in issue #213," David continued.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:41
10:43

A fan asks about the nature of Jamie Madrox's powers. David says he has an idea that's "kind of a game-changer. I have a problem with Jamie — I understand that he forms a duplicate, I don't understand how he duplicates clothing. These are things that I want to explore."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:43
10:43

What's happening with Surge? Lowe: "Surge is around. You'll probably see her mostly in X-Men Legacy."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:43
10:44

Is Vanisher dead? Lowe: "He was bleeding on the side of the road."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:44
10:44

Are we going to see more of the relationship between Magneto and Hope? Alonso: "Yes."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:44
10:44

More of Legion? Lowe: He's going to be a big part of Fall of the New Mutants.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:44
10:45

Is Jean Grey going to come back anytime soon? Lowe: "She's dead."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:45
10:45

"When is Kitty Pryde going to do something?" Fraction: "It wouldn't be X-Men if we didn't do something like bring Kitty Pryde back and then not do anything with her for three months. Her story starts in five months. She can't talk and she's stuck in a tube. It's like Panic Room but it sucks."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:45
10:46

Future plans for Mister Sinister? Lowe: "It's percolating." Alonso: "It's more of an 'if they come back' at this stage."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:46
10:47

Fan asks if there's a possibility of a "second" X-Factor title with more self-contained story. David: "Short answer, no." He goes on to say that they try to mix it up with longer stories and one to three-part stories.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:47
10:50

Fan asks about diversity in the mutant world. Lowe says he thinks the X-Men cover a "pretty wide spectrum." "I think there is a much more diverse cast than you'd see on 'Friends,' for example," Singh says. "There isn't a Mexican mutant, is there?" asked Alonso. "There is now," Lowe answered.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:50
10:51

Everyone attending the panel today gets a "Daddy's little girl" X-23 button on the way out.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:51
10:52

Fan asks Way if we can see a "little darker Deadpool." Way: "Short answer is yes. He wants to become the world's greatest hero. It's not going to work out. I just have to get him to that point where he can leave that with some pride."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:52
10:53

More of Gambit's dark side in the future? Lowe: "The place you'll see the most of that is X-Men Legacy."
Friday July 23, 2010 10:53
10:56

Alonso discusses the difference between the X-Men comics. Astonishing is a "boutique" book, the new Gischler-written X-Men comic is meant to be self-contained stories with the X-Men interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:56
10:56

In the new X-Force, will we see a "rekindling" of the Angel/Psylocke love story? Yes.
Friday July 23, 2010 10:56
10:57

Singh ends the panel with plugs for Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine and X-Force: Sex and Violence.

Since their first appearance way back in September 1963's "The X-Men" #1, the titular characters have been fighting to protect a world that fears and hates them because of their mutant powers. Forty years later, the X-Men's long struggle had made them one of the Marvel Universe's premier super teams, but in the climax of January 2006's "House of M," the reality altering mutant known as the Scarlet Witch used her ability to depower most of the mutants around the world and keep new mutants from being born. Suddenly the X-Men weren't fighting to fit in; they were fighting to survive.

Hope seemed lost until the X-Men found a glimmer of it in the 2007-2008 storyline known as "Messiah CompleX." In that storyline, a new mutant baby was born. She became a symbol the X-Men could rally around, a possible mutant messiah that might be able to reignite the mutant race. The X-Men's leader, Cyclops, had such faith in the baby that he sent her into the future to be raised by his time traveling son, Cable. In the "Cable" ongoing series, the baby came to be known as Hope and the title character raised her from infant to teenager.

In the latest X-Men crossover event, "Second Coming," the teenaged Hope and Cable returned to the present day. It was a brutal and violent tale that found the X-Men under siege from anti-mutant forces that wanted to kill Hope and destroy mutant kind forever. At the end of the storyline, Cyclops's faith was rewarded as the mutant finding computer Cerebro lit up with five lights representing new mutants whose powers just activated. In the current "Uncanny X-Men" storyline "The Five Lights" the X-Men are racing to find this next generation of mutants. Then in November these new mutants will take center stage as writer Kieron Gillen and a currently unrevealed artist begin their new ongoing series "Generation Hope", which was announced today at Marvel's X-Men panel at the San Diego Comic Con. CBR News spoke with Gillen about the project.

For several years now the X-Men have been hoping and praying for new mutants to appear in the world. In "The Five Lights" and "Generation Hope" they'll discover that they should be careful what they wish for.

"Something strange is going on. Things are not right. The process that caused mutants to develop is slightly out of wack. The 'machinery' isn't making mutants as they should be. When they activate they become both a danger to themselves and a danger to the world. Basically there's something mysteriously wrong with these mutants and the X-Men are hoping they can stabilise them – and find the method to do that," Gillen told CBR News. "So the idea that things are all right with the world post-Second Coming is deceptive. New mutants are appearing but things aren't back to "normal". The X-Men have fought and some of them died for this mutant messiah but it's not a case of the sun coming up and everybody living happily ever after. This is a mutated mutation. It isn't exactly what they're used to. Generation Hope' is about making sure that these new mutants that are appearing don't hurt themselves or others."

The five new mutants that compose the new cast of "Generation Hope" come from all over the world. At the end of "X-Men: Second Coming" #2 Cerebro's lights came on in the countries of Mexico, Canada, Nigeria, the Ukraine, and Japan. "We wanted an international cast with their own views on the world," Gillen said. "These are mutants and "pure" is probably the best way of describing their powers. Mutants aren't based on power sets. Their based on an ability they've developed because of mutation. So me and Matt ["Uncanny X-Men" writer Matt Fraction] spent a lot of time trying to work out some different takes on traditional powers; ways to make them interesting and dramatic. And a lot of it is based on personality types, because fundamentally this is a group of teenagers between the ages of 14 through 19."

The young cast of "Generation Hope" will most certainly need instruction in the use of their mutant abilities, but the mysterious new nature of mutation and the unique position these new characters find themselves in means that Gillen's new series isn't your typical young mutants in training book. "It's an extreme take on that concept. That may be be one way of looking at it. They are a group of new mutants but when the X-Men find these new mutants they might not necessarily want to be in training," Gillen explained. "Some of these people are superhero types but this book is about saving new mutants. So saving them might not necessarily mean taking them in and training them in how to use their powers to save the world. Some of them may not have any control over their powers and are in danger because of it. So this book is about saving the future of the mutant race.

"It's a very character driven book," Gillen continued. "Early on, when Matt and I were discussing these characters, we were instantly like, 'Oh yeah! This guy would do this, this and this.' There is one character, the Ukrainian, where I've got a list of scenes I'm waiting to write. It's like when he first meets this X-character he's going to do this. He's almost a force of nature in that way."

The main cast of "Generation Hope" won't just be composed of new characters. Other X-Men will regularly pop up in supporting roles, and the mutant messiah Hope will become a core member of the cast. "She's a very developed character now, and she's a lot of fun to write. She's conflicted and very angry. She's really resisted the idea of being a messiah, at least so far. Will that maintain? During the ego trip days of adolescence you can go back and forth between certain roles," Gillen stated. "Your ego is a complicated thing. You'll often resist things that are thrust upon you and occasionally flip around and embrace them."

Gillen told CBR that he is enjoying the chance to write the teenage cast of "Generation Hope." "Obviously, teenagers are people. They just haven't been exposed to everything that limits their perception. So when it comes to change, especially the kind of accelerated changes you see in comic books, teenagers tend to take that really well. They're exactly the same as everybody else but they get to the point quicker," the writer remarked. "That's how they process things. Their brakes don't quite work, which is interesting. They're out of control vehicles. I like looking at people who are like that."

When "Generation Hope" #1 hits stores, four of the five new mutants will have been found. "The last character is sort of a tricky one, and the first arc is essentially about them," Gillen said. "Plus our first arc involves setting up all these different ideas. It's not 'Everything falls into line, mutants are back.' In extreme cases, it can be very disturbing. Things may be trying to go back to where they are but the process that creates mutants in the Marvel Universe has fundamentally warped. It's no longer working properly. Not that I'm saying there are mystical reasons behind how mutants are produced – but what's going on here is a mystery and the book is about that.

"It's also about the next generation of mutants. So what does that mean?" Gillen continued. "My cast is a bunch of kids and I'm interested a little in the idea of a generation gap. For five years now, there have been no new mutants. So these characters are separated from that community. It's not like their immediately part of this big family. In 'Second Coming,' you saw how Hope was being treated. People are very interested in her. These kids are sort of in the same boat. So there's definitely that element to it. It's like what happens when people get what they want? It seems like those who pray for a messiah are often very likely to nail that messiah to a cross."

While the X-Men and the larger mutant community of the Marvel Universe is based in San Francisco, much of the action in "Generation Hope" will take place in various parts of the globe. "The initial thrust of this book is that mutants are emerging and you have to go all over the world to find them," Gillen revealed. "So I'm not saying that any more new mutants will emerge right away, but if they do, this is the book where we'll go out to find them."

People across the globe suddenly becoming mutants and developing powerful and dangerous super abilities is a phenomenon that's bound to have political ramifications. "When these new mutants emerge they immediately become persons of interest to the world. We'll ask questions like, what do these individuals actually want? And what do people want from them?" Gillen remarked. "Say a mutant arises in a country with a dictator. He's not going to let the X-Men have the mutant, is he? Another example might be a mutant emerging in Iron Fist's City Kun' Lun. A mutant emerging there would have immediate societal impact. And as you can imagine, we can easily get plots out of how society responds to mutants based on what they can do and what the X-Men may have to do to make a situation 'all better.' And of course 'all better' has various kinds of definitions."

The cast of "Generation Hope" won't just have to overcome larger political forces. They'll often find themselves in positions where the number one threat they're facing is the situation they're currently involved in. "How these characters' powers emerge and what they are actually like when their powers emerge are big factors in this book," Gillen said. "Things are tricky for a variety of reasons. It's plain haywire. They are mentally unsuited for the powers they've been given. So the fundamentals of our plots come from who these people are, where they arise, and the conflicts that arise from that."

That clash of powers, personalities and politics will allow Gillen to tell both large scale and very intimate stories in "Generation Hope." "The first arc is quite deliberately epic on a sort of city smashing scale but there are stories that I want to do on the opposite end of the scale, which are completely intimate. Like an issue about a private loss of something precious due to the change," the writer revealed. "That's what interested me about the book; the varying scale of it, from the micro-to-the-macro. There are all these interesting things that come with becoming a mutant and people respond to them in different ways. When you become a mutant the life you had the day before is just gone. So what do you do when all this change is forced into your life? That's a perfect question for generating stories with all sorts of different scales."

In "Generation Hope," the future of the X-Men and mutantkind has arrived. The themes and tone of the series will often be about the quest to decide what that all means. "To me this book is about the future; about various people wrestling with the concept of what the future is. We all try to decide what that is everyday and we usually reach a sort of group consensus. The group in 'Generation Hope' kind of forms around that," Gillen explained. " Individually there's one member of the team who's a complete nihilist. He doesn't believe in the concept of the future. That's the cause and the conceit of the first few issues were doing. And that's kind of an overall theme of the book. That question of what is the future and how does it relate to youth and how youths relate to people in power? These are the big amorphous themes I'm thinking about when writing them."

Gillen would love for "Generation Hope" to have a long and fruitful future because the writer has plenty of stories to tell about the next generation of Marvel's mutants. "When Matt and I started talking about this I had some ideas. Then I went on a train ride to Wales and I started writing and writing. This was even before we got to the central core of the team and all the dovetailing character plots. There was basically three years of stories on that sheet of paper," the writer said. "They're not all good stories. I think only about half of them are quite interesting [Laughs]. But that's just an example of how much stuff just gushed out, which is always a good sign."

"With 'S.W.O.R.D.' I very much planned for five issues because I thought it might be canceled [Laughs]. I was aware that launching a new book is tricky... but I also knew that to launch a book you have to think of the long term character arcs and how long it would progress before the status quo would have to change dramatically," Gillen continued. "And I know where the status quo will have to change with 'Generation Hope'. In other words, that destination is really "So – what's this generation all about then?" That's a big question and should keep me busy for ages."



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