Friday, July 3, 2015

Axel Alonso and Cullen Bunn on 'Uncanny X-Men'

Axel Alonso shared his thoughts on Uncanny X-Men at his weekly Axel-In-Charge column. Check it out:

Also on the X-Men subject -- Cullen Bunn and Greg Land are on "Uncanny X-Men," but it's a very different Uncanny X-Men than readers are used to, led by Magneto and with other characters primarily known as villains, including Sabretooth and Mystique. What inspired this change in direction in the return of one of Marvel's longest-running titles?

Alonso: The X-Men find themselves in a unique situation after "Secret Wars." They live in a world that not only hates and fears them, but -- thanks to the Terrigen Mists -- is a lot more dangerous. The new Uncanny team is resolved to protect mutants by all means necessary, whatever the cost. What lines are each of these characters willing to cross to save their kind? Well, look at that roster. I mean, they're even more hardcore than the X-Force.

Cullen Bunn, the writer of the upcoming Uncanny X-Men also remarked:

Bunn: Just jumping in real quick. There's not much I can say about the book's direction. I will say this, though. Marvel didn't shove any characters at me. There was no push to make it more like the movies. These characters (and you haven't seen the full roster yet) were my choices. Did I pick some because they were "cool"--yep. I think they will be cool. I think it will be cool to give them some of the direction and continuity they might have lacked. I think it will be cool to explore some of the inter-character dynamics and history of these characters. Anyone who thinks I've forgotten any history of these characters (like Sabretooth trying to gut Psylocke) is fairly far afield. And... yeah... a team like this could very easily tear itself apart. Maybe they will. Is it a strange lineup... you bet! I approached this as a group of characters who (mostly) have no business trying to uphold Xavier's dream... trying to do just that.

When asked about the characters' classic costumes, Bunn replied:

Bunn: Yep.... most recognizable versions on the promo image. That's all.

On Twitter, he said:

Bunn: Greg just went for the most easily recognized costumes in the promo image.

8 comments:

randybear said...

He didn't confirm or deny they're wearing the old outfits lol

To me this means... either Land is too lazy to design new looks and he doesn't want to say it or they're still deciding on whether or not to give them new looks.

It's a shame for Psylocke definitely, but I also really liked Magneto's current look. It's too bad he's going back to that awful pink/purple combination.

JJ said...

I read those comments as that they're definitely not wearing those costumes and Greg land only drew them for that promo image. I'm pretty sure that's what he's implying.

Also, I love how he mentioned Betsy and Sabretooths connection. Psylocke doesn't have much personal history with Mystique so I'm excited to see how they interact. Plus, I wonder how Fantomez is still alive? Maybe he was restored to reality from Secret Wars? Either way, after the last x-force volume, Bunn is going to have to do a lot redeem his character!

And I wonder who the other members of the roster are going to be...

Unknown said...

I would FLOVE it if Cypher, Moonstar, Northstar and Frenzy are the yet-to-be-announced members!

FSaker said...

Bunn's answer about the uniforms doesn't explain at all whether the team is getting new uniforms, keeping their current ones or (as the promo image indicates) returning to their "iconic" ones... And did he mention somewhere that there will be other members in the team? That would be nice.

@JJfroud, Fantomex wasn't dead. Well, the original Fantomex died in Remender's UXF, but by the end of those series his three brains were inserted in cloned bodies, generating nu-Fantomex, Cluster (a.k.a. "Fantomlady") and Weapon XIII (a.k.a. Evil Fantomex). Nu-Fantomex then joined Cable's X-Force, got crazy and evil, then Betsy stabbed him in the head with the psi-knife (unless if by "dead", you mean him dying alongside most people on Earth in the beginning of Secret Wars - but in this case, Psylocke, Magneto et al are just as "dead" as he is).

I wonder if this Fantomex is nu-Fantomex, Weapon XIII (he would fit perfectly in a team with Sabretooth and Mystique) or if the three brains were placed back into a single body (which would be my favorite choice; I loved old Fantomex and his romance with Betsy). I also wonder what made Psylocke choose to join this team instead of Storm's, and how Ororo, Kurt and Piotr will react when they see her with this team. And it will be interesting to find out why Magneto will accept to team up with Mystique, considering how he was outraged with the things she was doing in Madripoor not long ago...

Tazirai said...

Bunn answered us on CBR forums. They are using those just for the cover. he didn't mention whether or not they'd get new ones. I hope they do.
Mystique is probably mad at betsy for nearly defeating the entire Brotherhood solo, pre-ninja, lol.

FSaker said...

Right, I just read the X-Books forums and his answer there does seem to indicate that the Uncanny X-Men won't be wearing the iconic uniforms (and that there will be at least one more member to the team). Thanks for the indication! And he was really nice going there to give some little extra details to the readers.

And yes, Betsy gave the Brotherhood a huge beatdown at least once, during the Fall of the Mutants event, right? If I remember correctly, only Crimson Commando and later Spiral (who back then was her almost-unbeatable nemesis) managed to subdue her (one thing I liked about Humphries's UXF run is that Psylocke finally managed to kick Spiral's ass in it). I guess Mystique may be madder at Magneto for attacking her "mutant nation" and severely injuring her, though.

(by the way, it's funny to see how Mystique is always portrayed as Magneto's right hand in films, animations and videogames, when in comic books they never worked together - well, except for the AXIS event)

Unknown said...

Fall of The Mutants is one of Claremont's and the X-Men's best stories. I always bear the end whrn the X-Men (including Madelyne who gave that really sad goodbye to Scott and Nathan Christoper) sacrifice themselves to save all of reality as the world watches live and that news cameraman gives them the most awesome eulogy. I even feel Raven's pain when she attacks Forge and calls him a murderer.

Ah.... Freedom Force. You all recall when the second Spider-Woman (not Jessica Drew) was part of that team?

FSaker said...

Yes. Her presence there was an interesting choice, as she was neither a mutant nor a villain.

Back to nowadays, tomorrow Marvel will release Master of Kung-Fu #3 - and, if I remember correctly, when a reader asked the writer if Psylocke would appear there, he teased that it could happen in issue #3. I guess she may be one of the ninjas working for Red Sai (a.k.a. Elektra), alongside Nightcrawler. If she's there, hopefully her participation will be bigger than taking a punch to the face (or a sword to the chest) in one panel and remaining unconscious or dead for the rest of the battle...