Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Marvel Announces "Avengers Vs. X-Men" For 2012

LinkCBR: For months, Marvel Comics has been promising something big coming down the pike for readers invested in the Marvel Universe. The planned 2012 project has been described by Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso as "not part of a cosmic event, but a Marvel Universe event," adding, "Very soon, we're going to reveal all. Three simple words that speak to the hardcore Marvel fan and the guy or gal on the street who's seen one or two super hero movies."

Today, those three words became clear: "Avengers Vs. X-Men."

In a story published on the USA Today website, the publisher announced a 12-part bi-weekly series debuting in April. The core "Avengers Vs. X-Men" title will be co-written by Marvel's "Architect" writers -- Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Jonathan Hickman, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction -- and drawn by big name artists Frank Cho, John Romita, Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert.

The appeal of the series is obvious, Alonso told the newspaper: "You've got two populations whose motivations are simple and understandable and defensible. That's part of the beauty of this. You're seeing a story that evolves out of 'What would you do?'"Link In a separate article, the mechanics of the title and its promotion were laid out, from each issue being scripted by one writer who then hands the story off to another for the next issue, to plans to integrate Google+ into the ongoing promotional efforts.

On a story level, the focus of 2009's X-Men "Second Coming" crossover, Hope Summers, will once again be the center of attention in "Avengers Vs. X-Men," as the presumed host for the returning Phoenix Force. In fact, it's the threat of the returning Phoenix Force that will instigate the conflict in the first place, Alonso says. "The Phoenix Force is the spirit of destruction and rebirth. It razes worlds to create something new. It's bad news if you happen to be living on the world about to be razed. It's great news if you're what's going to be the outcome of that world."

Also taking center stage is the Scarlet Witch, who, in many ways, instigated this conflict years ago when she used her reality-altering powers to all but erase mutantkind from the planet. Bendis, who scripts her story in the series' prologue issue, told the newspaper,"She's been on a road of almost impossible-to-perceive redemption over the last few years and now is going to come face-to-face with the Avengers."

6 comments:

Matt L said...

I haven't been reading Avengers so I really don't know the answer to this, but now that The Scarlet Witch is back, can't she just say "bring the mutants back," and give everyone their powers back? Didn't she give Rictor his powers back? I also wonder, if it's all the X-Men and all the Avengers, who will Wolverine, Beast and Storm fight for?

FSaker said...

Unless she ends up regaining her "life force powers" that she lost to Dr. Doom in the last issue of Avengers:The Children's Crusade, Wanda can't bring the mutants back. She could, prior to the aforementioned issue, but now she seems to be back to her old powerset (limited probability sphere powers). Anyway, the fight between Avengers and X-Men now is about the Phoenix, not about the number of mutants.

As for your third question, I guess no one knows. Marvel will conduct a liveblog today to give more details about this event and answer questions from the readers, so let's see if they answer that.

But if I had to guess, I'd say Storm fights for the X-Men. As for Wolverine and Beast, it depends on whether the Westchester X-Men will agree to team up with the Utopia X-Men, or if they will prefer to team up with the Avengers.

Matt L said...

I know this crossover isn't about the number of mutants, I was just kind of asking. Sorry, I guess it was a bit of a non sequitur question.

Alexander said...

I know the Avengers have some mutant members but the team is/was mostly usually made of super humans/mutates or just highly gifted/superior athletic people. Should they really have a say in mutant relations or Hope for that matter?

Besides that I've been burned out for a while on the events & crossover at Marvel for a couple of years now. I'll follow summaries but I'm not buying an issue unless Jean pops on in the end of it all. Which I highly doubt.

FSaker said...

@Matt L - Oops, my mistake then. Sorry. Anyway, I have the same doubt as you about Wolverine, Beast and Storm. Judging from yesterday's liveblog, Marvel won't reveal their allegiances in this event for now (although they always accidentally show the spoilers that they try to hide...).

@Alexander - Actually, I think Jean will return by the end of this event. Let's face it, people have been demanding her return A LOT since she died; it's been ten years since her death, yet comic book readers have not stopped demanding her ressurection. This event is supposed to show the connection between Hope and her. Plus, it's an event about the Phoenix; there can't be a better timing than that to bring Jean back.

Not that I care if she remains dead by the end of the event. I just think that the odds are very favorable for her return this time.

treysome said...

I'm excited for this crossover. More so than fear itself. Wonder which Avenger will Psylocke get to face? I say the best Avenger in hand to hand/martial. I welcome Jean back though.