Geoffrey Thorne, the creative force behind the upcoming X-Force run debuting in July, revisited the CBR Forums to engage with fans and answer their burning questions.
Have you drawn inspiration from Rachel's earlier days in Alan Davis' Excalibur run for your take on her character in X-Force?
Thorne: Assume I've read (and own) 98% of all X-related material ever printed. And that includes John Byrne's bootleg. Also, assume I'm not paying homage to or emulating any previous version or arc. Further, assume I LOVE Alan Davis's work.
Is there a possibility of seeing Rachel interact with her brother and X-Force founder, Cable, in your upcoming run?
Thorne: I never say "no" to using cool characters, but I wouldn't count on Cable showing up any time soon.
Will X-Force follow a similar release schedule to Uncanny X-Men and X-Men, with 18 issues in its first year and possibly double shipping?
Thorne: With what I'm making Marcus draw already, I shudder to think what his reaction would be to having to draw EIGHTEEN issues in 12 months. How Gail and David Marquez are even doing that...? Yikes, man.
Can we expect the character design sheets for the team to be released?
Thorne: This far out, I doubt it. I'm certainly not allowed to.
Any chance we'll see Hellion make appearances in your X-Force series?
Thorne: I hate to break hearts, but not in the near future. But there are a bunch of other X-Books dropping so it's not unlikely he can show up in one of them.
Will Sage's past be explored in your run, and what are your thoughts on her real name not being Tessa?
Thorne: As far as I'm concerned, Tessa is her real name. Time will definitely be spent on Tessa.
Can you provide any teases about Forge's dynamic with the strong female characters in the team?
Thorne: Forge is... not a nice man. A good man? Absolutely. Nice? Not even close.
Will any character experience a sudden change towards villainy, similar to Beast's heel turn in Ben Percy's run?
Thorne: I write heroes. I have no interest in turning them into monsters. But there are heroes and there are heroes.
Will Rachel's chronal abilities and her identity as Askani still be a focus in your X-Force series, considering her development in recent years?
Thorne: Hmm. Them Phoenix girls got a lot of juice, that's for sure. Rachel's powerset and its effects are something we will definitely be exploring. Saying more constitutes a spoiler. PSIONICS are a weird breed, even compared to other mutants.
Was your Forge-led book pitch in 2020 intended to tie into the Krakoa era, or was it more era-agnostic?
Thorne: Era-agnostic. ALL my pitches have to be independent of whatever's currently going on in a given universe because I am, like everyone else, a minimum of three months behind whatever's going on in the ongoing story. Usually more than three.
Does Surge still rely on her gauntlets to control her powers, or has she overcome that need?
Thorne: She still needs them.
I'm somewhat worried about the creative direction, as it appears to be incorporating elements introduced by Tini Howard, which many feel negatively impacted characters like Betsy, Rachel, and others. How do you address these concerns?
Thorne: The canon is the canon but this is a FRESH start. Whether you loved or hated any previous run on the title, one thing I can promise is this book will not be any of those books. Oddly enough, just like real human beings, writers are not interchangeable. We're presenting our own show, not duplicating somebody else's.
Will Forge continue to address real-world issues such as housing crises, poverty, and climate change as he did pre-Fall of X?
Thorne: New mission. New team. New obstacles. New villains. Many, many new dangers. Issue #1 will tell you what you need to know. Once again, there will be no spoilers. You'll have to actually read it to find out.
What made Surge stand out among the available Academy X crew for inclusion in your X-Force team?
Thorne: I liked Nori. I liked all the NEW XMEN ACADEMY kids. The thing I like about her is she is a grappler, not a hider. Her response to trouble is to punch it in the mouth. Yeah, she had some bigotry issues to work out but those were, I think, the result of ignorance rather than malice. (Yes, there's a difference.) And then Krakoa happened and we're on the other side of all that. I thought it would be good to check in with Nori to see how she's grappling with all that.
Will Forge's invention of Surge's power control gauntlets come into play in the story, perhaps with an upgrade?
Thorne: I would say Forge is always giving folks helpful gadgets.
Can we expect any connective tissue with other X-books in your series, such as specific characters or storylines?
Thorne: There's some. But, in the case of X-Force, it won't be obvious.
Who is Tank, and how do they fit into the X-Force team?
Thorne: I'm not disclosing Tank's identity until it's right for the story. Even if somebody guesses right.
Can you offer any hints about the villains we can expect to see in your X-Force series? Will they be new or classic villains?
Thorne: No hints, but I generally try to do two things in corporate comics fiction: 1) Access the rich and amazing lore of the universe I'm being allowed to play in. 2) Keep Moving Forward. I am not a fan of nostalgia. The vibe is "Warriors" (Imagine Dragons song used to promote the League of Legends 2014 World Championship).
With Betsy as Captain Britain, there are numerous story threads available to explore, correct?
Thorne: My name is Geoffrey Thorne and I endorse this observation.
Would you lean more towards the characterization of Betsy Braddock as written by Chris Claremont, Rick Remender, and Cullen Bunn, as opposed to her portrayal during the Krakoa era?
Thorne: Alas, I am not those men. All I can promise or provide is the From the Ashes era Betsy.
Did you originally pitch the idea for this X-Force series back in 2020?
Thorne: Nope. I've been thinking about it since 2020. It was conceived and pitched early this year without knowing anything about what would happen after Krakoa or how Krakoa would end.
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
13 comments:
its givin da adventures of psylocke n pheonix
wit forge tess surg n tank
dis will b da 💣
💥
I like how he thinks, still cautiously optimistic
I really like his attitude. Class act.
Marcus To made the X-Force uniforms he can put the Captain Britain colors on Betsy's and it will be fine.
Why would he do that? No one is demanding those ugly, garish union jack colors again.
They are ugly with the hat mask and call Marcus To make a beautiful uniform for Betsy like this new
Interesting. One of the previous rounds of questions had Thorne very subtly implying that Betsy was no longer Captain Britain. This time, he seems to imply that she is still CB. I guess we shouldn't deduce anything yet. His answers are pretty good, though; he manages to reveal NOTHING and still have us interested.
One thing he does seem to indicate now is that Tank is not a new character, but rather someone we know under the mask. I have no idea of who he could be (Cable would be a good fit, this being X-Force and all, but Tank doesn't seem to have a technorganic arm and Cable could never manage to keep that arm covered), but he looks cool. If Betsy weren't dating Rachel nowadays, I could see her flirting with him and vice-versa.
@FSaker Tank is an original character at least the research I did on this roster registers him as an Ironheart villain. In case the writer used Tank as a red herring for an old X-Force member I would choose Colossus. If not I would make it a secret identity for Blob. Blob and Betsy were a ship I never thought of how really good it is.
if a luv triangle happen who you ship? da adventures of psylocke & phoenix or blobsy
@Jaime Braz, that was just a guess of mine. Tank may indeed be a completely original character. It's just that Thorne implied that he may actually be someone we already know - personally, I would prefer if Tank is a brand new character.
@FSaker a possibility Tank might be a retroactive character like Gambit was created after the events of Morlock Massacre only to focus his origins around that time period as the hidden key to disaster. Tank gives off antiheroic presence the same or even greater to that of Gambit.
@Fred Duan let us agree to put the Captain Britain costume to rest in peace. It has become a symbol of Betsy mischaracterization and her worst version to ever exist both visually and from a story point in Marvel Comics. Marvel can keep calling Betsy Captain Britain if they so persist without the dreadful sight of it.
Agreed personally.
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