Ice
Teh Sexy Monkey Queen
[IMGL]http://images.comicbookresources.com/cons/screamawards2006/sm/robert_kirkman1.jpg[/IMGL]Our esteemed dear member and writer, Robert Kirkman (Invinsible, Walking Dead, Marvel Zombies, and more) chats up with Newsarama on all his books, including Ultimate X-Men!
NRAMA: OK, should we switch to talking about Ultimate X-Men?
RK: Sweet!!
NRAMA: You've introduced a lot of new characters, the most recent of which was Cable and other characters who have come back from the future with him. He's working with Hammer, Grizzly, Garrison Kane, and Domino. Is it safe to call these four the Ultimate Six Pack?
RK: Yeah, but I always liked it better when they were called the Wild Pack than the Six Pack. They were originally called the Wild Pack, and then I guess somebody said, "Hey! Silver Sable's got this Wild Pack." And so they changed it to Six Pack. But I don't think there's an Ultimate Wild Pack yet. Is there a Wild Pack? I know Silver Sable was in Ultimate Spider-Man, but who really pays attention to that book? [laughs]
NRAMA: Works for me. Wild Pack it is. So what's the Wild Pack up to?
RK: They're working with Cable and they're going to be doing some cool stuff in this arc. And then we'll be moving on to other stuff when the Cable arc concludes. But I like those characters, and I wanted to kind of throw them in there. I think Cable works best when he's surrounded by other cool characters.
NRAMA: And we met Ultimate Bishop, who has come from the future and is chasing Cable.
RK: Yes. All we know right now is that Cable has come from the future to the past. His mission is to kill Charles Xavier because he believes that, over the next few years, Xavier is going to do something that's going to be very bad for the future of the world. And along the way we also learn that Cable is actually Wolverine in the future.
NRAMA: Yeah! The first clue was that he called someone, "Bub." But man, he's one messed up Wolverine!
RK: Yeah, he's lost his healing factor somewhere along the way and his face has gotten scarred up, and he's lost his left arm. But he's definitely Wolverine. In this future, that's what Wolverine is headed toward.
Bishop is also coming back from the same future, and he believes that Cable is wrong. So he's going to try to save Xavier because he believes Charles Xavier is good for the future. So he's working with the X-Men against Cable.
NRAMA: There are certainly some mysterious things going on in that mansion. Xavier's got secret phone calls going on with Syndicate, and then he just disclosed his love for Jean. And what in the world is going on with Jean? The source of her powers is still a big mystery.
RK: Oh, yeah. You know, that's something that's going to be in the background of the book as long as I'm on the book. That's something I'm going to be building toward as the series progresses. It's not something that's going to be the main focus for a little while. There are going to be new developments in every story arc. That's something big that I want to build toward.
NRAMA: You really played around with the idea of the Phoenix in the last arc, introducing a new religion into the mythos, but while that seemed to be leading Jean down one path, now she's being taken in another direction. Is it safe to assume it's not going to just end up being a parallel of the Phoenix story we saw in the regular 616 universe?
RK: It's going to be vastly different from the way everything played out in the regular universe. Fans of the Phoenix should be paying attention.
NRAMA: Well, we've seen some weird hints of what's going on, like her seeing little -- what are they? Goblins?
RK: Yeah, she's definitely got some things going on in her head that aren't that great, which is something we'll be focusing on a little more after we get the Cable stuff out of the way. The Cable arc is going to be a huge catalyst for where the series is going. There's going to be a huge death in issue #78, which we mention in the solicitation. While I can't say who that's going to be, it's a very important character to the series.
NRAMA: You're a horrible tease. So this death is part of the "huge catalyst" we're reading now?
RK: The death is going to leave lasting change, and it's going to lead to a lot of cool stuff that we have planned. People will be very excited about what's coming.
To read on about his other books, click on the link above.
NRAMA: OK, should we switch to talking about Ultimate X-Men?
RK: Sweet!!
NRAMA: You've introduced a lot of new characters, the most recent of which was Cable and other characters who have come back from the future with him. He's working with Hammer, Grizzly, Garrison Kane, and Domino. Is it safe to call these four the Ultimate Six Pack?
RK: Yeah, but I always liked it better when they were called the Wild Pack than the Six Pack. They were originally called the Wild Pack, and then I guess somebody said, "Hey! Silver Sable's got this Wild Pack." And so they changed it to Six Pack. But I don't think there's an Ultimate Wild Pack yet. Is there a Wild Pack? I know Silver Sable was in Ultimate Spider-Man, but who really pays attention to that book? [laughs]
NRAMA: Works for me. Wild Pack it is. So what's the Wild Pack up to?
RK: They're working with Cable and they're going to be doing some cool stuff in this arc. And then we'll be moving on to other stuff when the Cable arc concludes. But I like those characters, and I wanted to kind of throw them in there. I think Cable works best when he's surrounded by other cool characters.
NRAMA: And we met Ultimate Bishop, who has come from the future and is chasing Cable.
RK: Yes. All we know right now is that Cable has come from the future to the past. His mission is to kill Charles Xavier because he believes that, over the next few years, Xavier is going to do something that's going to be very bad for the future of the world. And along the way we also learn that Cable is actually Wolverine in the future.
NRAMA: Yeah! The first clue was that he called someone, "Bub." But man, he's one messed up Wolverine!
RK: Yeah, he's lost his healing factor somewhere along the way and his face has gotten scarred up, and he's lost his left arm. But he's definitely Wolverine. In this future, that's what Wolverine is headed toward.
Bishop is also coming back from the same future, and he believes that Cable is wrong. So he's going to try to save Xavier because he believes Charles Xavier is good for the future. So he's working with the X-Men against Cable.
NRAMA: There are certainly some mysterious things going on in that mansion. Xavier's got secret phone calls going on with Syndicate, and then he just disclosed his love for Jean. And what in the world is going on with Jean? The source of her powers is still a big mystery.
RK: Oh, yeah. You know, that's something that's going to be in the background of the book as long as I'm on the book. That's something I'm going to be building toward as the series progresses. It's not something that's going to be the main focus for a little while. There are going to be new developments in every story arc. That's something big that I want to build toward.
NRAMA: You really played around with the idea of the Phoenix in the last arc, introducing a new religion into the mythos, but while that seemed to be leading Jean down one path, now she's being taken in another direction. Is it safe to assume it's not going to just end up being a parallel of the Phoenix story we saw in the regular 616 universe?
RK: It's going to be vastly different from the way everything played out in the regular universe. Fans of the Phoenix should be paying attention.
NRAMA: Well, we've seen some weird hints of what's going on, like her seeing little -- what are they? Goblins?
RK: Yeah, she's definitely got some things going on in her head that aren't that great, which is something we'll be focusing on a little more after we get the Cable stuff out of the way. The Cable arc is going to be a huge catalyst for where the series is going. There's going to be a huge death in issue #78, which we mention in the solicitation. While I can't say who that's going to be, it's a very important character to the series.
NRAMA: You're a horrible tease. So this death is part of the "huge catalyst" we're reading now?
RK: The death is going to leave lasting change, and it's going to lead to a lot of cool stuff that we have planned. People will be very excited about what's coming.
To read on about his other books, click on the link above.