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So as detailed a few weeks back, Ed Brubaker wanted to wait until fans could see artist Billy Tans cover to the upcoming new creative teams first issue of Uncanny in full color before talking in more detail about their roster and plans for them. If nothing else, it pretty well answers the question of who the woman is to the left of Xaviers space helmet.
So without further ado
Newsarama: So Ed, now with the image on display, can you tell all who your's and Billy Tans full line-up is when your run begins this summer?
Ed Brubaker: Sort of, mostly. It'll be Nightcrawler, Marvel Girl, Havok, Warpath, Professor X, Polaris, and a character I can't mention yet or I'll spoil the end of Deadly Genesis.
NRAMA: Now you previously mentioned some characters being on the team that aren't necessarily in the cover image..?
EB: Yeah, just one, though, and I'm not saying who it is. Seriously
NRAMA: All right, were easy Can you maybe talk about each revealed character, why you choose them, and/or just a few thoughts on each?
EB: Really, it's about the story I'll be telling, and how all of these characters made sense within it. They each have a specific reason for being part of this team, basically, for the mission they're going on, which is a wild one, and a long one.
As you can see from the preview image, we'll be dealing with the Shi'ar Empire and the Starjammers, and with Vulcan - the 3rd Summers brother and villain of Deadly Genesis.
So, because of that, it's obvious why Xavier will be part of this story, at least as it goes along.
He's got strong ties to the secrets of Deadly Genesis and to the Shi'ar, and through this story, we'll be following his progression after Danger, and House of M, and finally Deadly Genesis.
He's gone through a lot in the past few years, and he's got a lot to make up for.
Nightcrawler is here because he's a team leader, he's got experience with this kind of interstellar action, and because he sympathizes with Professor X, maybe more than the other X-Men do. He's a very forgiving and understanding character. And he's a lot of fun to write.
Marvel Girl has her own issues with the Shi'ar to deal with, obviously, and left over stuff from Deadly Genesis to take care of.
Havok is going along because he's Vulcan's brother, and Corsair's son, and he has to go, while Scott has to stay and run the X-Men, basically. So, it's almost like his duty.
Warpath is part of this as a favor to Xavier, sort of. He's got a lot of similar history to Vulcan, and old anger that he got over, and Xavier hopes that will be an asset in correcting his old mistakes, basically.
And again, because he's a cool character that no one's used in a while, and I like him.
NRAMA: There have been some questions among fans as to what mutant abilities Warpath will have? Can you clarify?
EB: He's got enhanced strength, speed, and senses, according to my sources. He's a badass, too, when he needs to be, and there'll be plenty of occasions for him to show that in our run.
And then theres Polaris. I don't want to say much about her, for fear of spoiling things. But she won't be exactly the Polaris that people know and love, that's for sure.
NRAMA: Ed, since this ties to Deadly Genesis so strongly, for that one fan in Peoria, Illinois that hasn't read it yet, can you perhaps briefly explain what has occurred so far in the series, in terms of introducing Vulcan, and what Xavier did, etc.?
EB: In Deadly Genesis #4, it was revealed that the villain is Kid Vulcan, who was part of a team that Xavier put together to rescue his original X-Men on Krakoa, way back during the events of Giant Size X-Men #1. What happened to this team, though, will be revealed in Deadly Genesis #6, but it was revealed that Vulcan is related, somehow, to Scott and Alex Summers, that he's their brother.
This is a secret that Xavier's been keeping from Cyclops and Havok all these years, as well as keeping the existence of this previous rescue team a secret from the rest of the X-Men.
NRAMA: And your Uncanny plans tie to that strongly?
EB: It's a pretty direct follow-up. When I was offered the gig, I thought - what could I do that would be totally different than anything going on in the other books, that would touch on old Uncanny X-Men glory days a bit, and still leave a lot to explore and have fun with? And I immediately hit on this idea, to do a big cosmic epic X-story, that would really change stuff up and be a lot different than the other books I'm writing, too.
That helps, to have a different genre to work in.
When you take these characters into space, you suddenly have a whole different landscape and genre you're working in, and I love sci-fi, and it's something that's been done in the X-Men before quite successfully. And it's a part of their history that I always dug a lot, as a fan, back in the day. All that Shi'ar and Imperial Guard stuff was just so interesting. There's a whole empire out there, well-realized and waiting for some Shakespearean-style epic drama to unfold.
NRAMA: Will the line-up be officially "in place" when this story begins, or will the story detail how this team comes together?
EB: The first issue sort of explains how they all get together, actually, and begins them on their journey. And every third issue will focus solely on Vulcan and his progress, since they're following him, and then we'll see these two stories come together for the third act, as it were, the big cosmic drama.
It's going to be a lot of fun, and it's going to be a lot bigger and different than what we've seen before in the X-books. Some really startling stuff is planned, that will have huge ramifications throughout the Marvel Cosmos. At least, I hope they do.
NRAMA: On that note, any chance reader will see any cross-pollination with Annihilation?
EB: No. But maybe with a bit of the fallout from it.
I pitched this whole thing before I knew about Annihilation, and [editor] Andy Schmidt and I talked about it, and decided to give each other our space, literally, to play in. And I can't believe that no one has guessed the secret of Annihilation yet. Seriously...
NRAMA: Not sure anyone knew there was one
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Will fans get to see the Brood again?
EB: Do fans like the Brood, even?
NRAMA: No doubt theyll tell us
So finally, you mentioned this being big a few times now. Can you give readers a more specific sense of scale?
EB: Right now, the big arc is going to go 12 issues, which will be a bunch of standalone issues that build on each other, old-school style, basically. By the end of the 12th issue, though, there'll have been big changes in the X-verse... And big ramifications to come
