The Mark MILLAR Official Thread

[Dr Tactics]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

Indeed, it seems to be entirely different.

Blogs and news sites are erroneously reporting that Millar is in charge of Fox's superhero movies and 'supervising' them.

But he is a creative consultant who, from what i understand, will be consulted when needed and perhaps chime in on other occasions when he feels he has a point to make. He'll probably attend meetings, meet with the talent on upcoming films, cast his eye over the script.

However, I don't know exactly how much influence Whedon would have either.

Which is why Whedon has such a GOOD JOB. He consults the other directors, writes and directs the biggest movie on the slate (Plus the TV show).. But as you said hopefully his voice on decisions are heeded or like before It'll seem like they're too many bakers in the kitchen and hopefully they're not making their own version of Chocolate Cake.

Only time will tell

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by Dr Tactics

Which is why Whedon has such a GOOD JOB. He consults the other directors, writes and directs the biggest movie on the slate (Plus the TV show).. But as you said hopefully his voice on decisions are heeded or like before It'll seem like they're too many bakers in the kitchen and hopefully they're not making their own version of Chocolate Cake.

Only time will tell

Yep, I hope Millar is able to get his voice heard. Then we might not get odd character choices or important characters wasted or unused.

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

I agree with these various points.

The stepbrother link to Xavier is a bit forced, and has now been swept aside by Charles having Mystique as a sort of step-sister in the house. I don't mind that, to be honest.

That was one of the lowest points for me considering how easy it was for her to leave the man who took her in as a child with a bullet in his back caused by the man she left with all because he said she was pretty in blue. (spoiler alert)

Suspending my disbelief ran at the MAX Setting at that point.

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

I agree entirely Juggernaut should be a Hulk/Thor level threat. But at least he looked better than Blob in XMO: Wolverine (who was fine in the early scenes when he was just big and not blobby, but didn't look right when they made him the Blob).

Yeah, about that...when do the rights to King Hippo revert back to Nintendo anyway?

[YoungPrime]

Originally Posted by Dr Tactics

Which always made me wonder why the press compared Millars job with Whedons. He doesn't have near the decision making power of what Whedon has with Marvel

The press didn't....

He did.

"The job at Fox is officially 'Creative Consultant' and if there's a comparable job, I guess it's probably what Joss is doing over with Marvel Studios," Mark Millar~ http://splashpage.mtv.com/2012/10/10...antastic-four/

[EnDz0n3]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

The press didn't....

He did.

"The job at Fox is officially 'Creative Consultant' and if there's a comparable job, I guess it's probably what Joss is doing over with Marvel Studios," Mark Millar~ http://splashpage.mtv.com/2012/10/10...antastic-four/

Oh Mark...

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

That was one of the lowest points for me considering how easy it was for her to leave the man who took her in as a child with a bullet in his back caused by the man she left with all because he said she was pretty in blue. (spoiler alert)

I also was against this retcon (that Xavier and Raven grew up as step siblings) especially when there was no relationship hinted at in the previous films. Although I have to admit the scenes between McAvoy and Lawrence worked, I wish they would limit the whole everyone's related/know each other to a minimum. This is not Spider-man The Animated Series!

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

The press didn't....

He did.

"The job at Fox is officially 'Creative Consultant' and if there's a comparable job, I guess it's probably what Joss is doing over with Marvel Studios," Mark Millar~ http://splashpage.mtv.com/2012/10/10...antastic-four/

Well in some ways it is comparable in reaching beyond a single film. I can see why he said that. And it also puts a good (reassuring) spin on things.

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

That was one of the lowest points for me considering how easy it was for her to leave the man who took her in as a child with a bullet in his back caused by the man she left with all because he said she was pretty in blue. (spoiler alert)

Suspending my disbelief ran at the MAX Setting at that point.

At that point, the bullet had been removed and it wasn't known Xavier was paralysed.

I don't think they could have handled it any other way. It was a pivotal scene in which the future alliances were forged and formed. Would it have worked for her to have stayed with Xavier and been one of the first X-Men? Maybe, maybe not.

[Dr Tactics]

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

At that point, the bullet had been removed and it wasn't known Xavier was paralysed.

I don't think they could have handled it any other way. It was a pivotal scene in which the future alliances were forged and formed. Would it have worked for her to have stayed with Xavier and been one of the first X-Men? Maybe, maybe not.

Well based on who she became in the X-Films making her Xaviers Pet-Sister was a bad decision from the door really but nothing we can do about it now.

I wanna know when her and Azael will get it on so we can get a little Nightcrawler that she gives birth to then, abandons and then show no maternal emotions when she sees him in X-2.. Gheez, How are they gonna explain how she turned so cold?

[The Infernal]

Since the part in First Class where Xavier insists Mystique should go with Magneto has been mentioned, I think I'll weigh in with my opinion.

I too think that part was one of the weaker moments in the writing. It did seem to me at the time more that Xavier was saying you should go with Magneto (the guy who wants to be a terrorist) 'just because' rather than any real recognition of where she belongs or her the state of her relationship with Magneto. I personally didn't get the impression she was quite there yet in terms of being ready to follow Magneto blindly.

Not to mention I find it hard that Xavier wouldn't simply try to guide Mystique to a better path rather than into the arms of a would-be terrorist.

Though saying that, I think the scene could have worked better if you had Mystique still shocked and visibly shaken, but more unsure of what to do yet still ends up leaving with Magneto (but without being told to). I think that way you could introduce a hardened Mystique in the sequel and reveal that her guilt (and Magneto's guidance) lead her down that path as a good explanation of how she ends up like her X1 self.

[def28]

Originally Posted by The Infernal

Not to mention I find it hard that Xavier wouldn't simply try to guide Mystique to a better path rather than into the arms of a would-be terrorist.

Yeah, I had a problem with that as well. IT kinda came off as being a safe way to connect her lightly to X1 incase FC was the last prequel.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by YoungPrime

That was one of the lowest points for me considering how easy it was for her to leave the man who took her in as a child with a bullet in his back caused by the man she left with all because he said she was pretty in blue. (spoiler alert)

Personally, I thought that Raven's choice was not really about which man to stick with, but rather what kind of life she wanted for herself (which IMO gets ignored in these kinds of discussions too often). She went with someone who was offering her a chance to live outside of society that would not accept her, where she wouldn't have to hide herself in order to fit in, and those things would have tremendous appeal to her. And I think it's totally natural that people will often find that they have more in common with like-minded people who they may not have known for very long, rather than their families/siblings that they grew up with.

I thought that Raven's relationship with Charles and Erik was a good way to highlight the differences between their respective ideologies, and also the different experience of the mutants whose appearance is affected by the mutation as opposed to those who don't look outwardly different. I don't know if it was ever covered in the comics, but I'd find it (unfortunately) quite natural if the mutant society itself had that class division between the mutants who fully look like humans and those who don't.

But I agree that Charles/Raven relationship doesn't gel with the original trilogy at all; there's nothing to directly contradict it but there's absolutely nothing to support it either. Which is another reason why I think that trying to explicitly connect FC with the original trilogy is a tad too late.

[Loganbabe]

But it wasn't as if Charles was safe and sound and Raven was just making an ideological choice. Charles was seriously injured. No matter how many differences you have with your family, you don't leave someone you care about in that situation. Never. It was awful, like discarding a piece of trash that it's not of use for you anymore.

And as for Charles telling Raven to go, well, he was the one in shock. He wasn't thinking clearly and it's obvious he didn't feel strong enough to fight for her, not after all the emotional distress of Shaw's death, the missiles and the fight with Magneto, plus a bullet at his back. And to top it all, Charles probably sensed Raven hesitating and looking longingly towards Magneto instead of running towards him. If I were Charles, I wouldn't want Raven near me, too.

[EnDz0n3]

I hate to play devil's advocate since I was against the Xavier/Raven-tacked on relationship on FC but Mystique abandoning Xavier at his lowest of lows, losing the use of his legs, almost harkens back to how Magneto, in turn, abandons her after she is accidentally cured.

I don't know if this was their intent but it sort of works.

[Mrs Vimes]

I totally understand when people call Raven's actions selfish or terrible, I just don't understand why they think that her actions are implausible. Not all people put their family first before their own interests/ideologies in real life either, so I don't see why the assumption that Raven would just naturally forget all about herself and what she wants.

As for Charles, well his relationship with Raven was always about him being in charge and taking care of her. So even when he's down and injured, he's still looking out for her. He knew what she really wanted to do and that she'd be miserable if she stayed.

[Gabe99]

From Newsarama 2007:
WW: CHICAGO - MILLAR & HITCH TALK FANTASTIC FOUR

It may be the one of the most anticipated new projects from a creative grouping since the Police reunited for their new concert tour, or Ben & Jerry created Chocolate Chop Cookie Dough...

The comic book superstar pairing of writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch lives again, this time on Marvel's Fantastic Four..

No, not Ultimate Fantastic Four ... Not a large-scale FF limited series ... The monthly Marvel Universe Fantastic Four.

The duo take over the reins of the series in early 2008 with plans to return the series to the top of the Diamond sales charts, and by the sounds of things, they don't plan on leaving for a while...

And oh yeah, and they plan on it being monthly!

We spoke with Hitch and Millar this week about why's and what’s of their latest partnership…

Newsarama: Okay fellas, it doesn’t take a very skilled interviewer to come up with this question, but considering your profiles, both individually and as a tandem, one can assume that you had a lot of options (perhaps limitless if you wanted to create something brand new), so why the Fantastic Four, and why now?

Mark Millar: What's interesting is how close this came to not happening. It really was a fortunate accident for us.

The plan had always been to follow The Ultimates with an X-Men relaunch where I would write the three main X-books and we were going to have Hitchy plus two other artists on these books for a year. I plotted my stories way back in 2004 so this is something we'd been planning for ages. We were very enthused, spoke about it on the phone almost every day and just kind of took it for granted this is what we were launching in January 2008. But last year someone casually mentioned that JMS was leaving Fantastic Four and they didn't have a new creative team in place. I tried to block it out of my head, but for the rest of the call I was just nodding and pretending to be listening, thinking how great it would be to write the real Fantastic Four book. This is like getting the keys to the family car as far as the Marvel Universe is concerned. Maybe even more than Spider-Man.

I couldn't stop thinking about it and phoned Hitchy, who surprised me by being equally excited. We spoke for about three hours, building each other into a frenzy and then called Marvel. We wanted to shelf the X-Men plans and do Fantastic Four instead. Mike Marts (former X-Men editor) was very good about it, understanding we had to follow our mojo. And so we called Tom Brevoort and everything clicked into place beautifully. I started writing the book before Christmas an Hitchy started drawing shortly after he finished Ultimates 2 in the New Year. He had a few weeks to build up his drawing muscles again, but he's been working very consistently since about February, I think and pretty much bang on schedule.

Bryan Hitch: The timing worked I guess. We'd planned to go over to rehoot (new technical term) the X-franchise and sort of had that in our diaries for a couple of years or so as Mark said but after the heavy lifting we'd both done on Ultimates and Mark had done on Civil War we both wanted to take the comic book equivalent of a beach holiday. I'd loved Mark's run on Ultimate FF, it seemed so full of life and a real counterpoint to the density and claustrophobia of Ultimates and I was really quite jealous that Greg Land got to draw it. The book seemed like it was in the same breathless, big scale, relentless mode of our separate runs at Authority and I really fancied something like that after Ultimates. Sort of a plate cleanser.

I remember us chatting in the summer last year and it came up in conversation that FF was maybe going to be available and we both seemed to hit on doing it and by the end of the call a tentative suggestion had become an enthusiastic urge. It really got me through the last two issues of Ultimates too as I couldn't wait to start it. That double-sized crazy last issue was the fastest I'd worked on the Ultimates in years and was maybe a sign that I'd been a bit down and burned out for a while; slogging rather than enjoying myself as I once had. A spring had returned to my artistic step! Of course once Ultimates was penciled by Christmas I still had six weeks of other non-comics stuff to clear off my desk but I can't wait to start drawing every day now; it's just the most fun stuff I've worked on in a long, long time.

NRAMA: Okay, so you’re both excited about the Marvel Universe Fantastic Four. But still, why the monthly series, as opposed to your own limited series of whatever length you chose, which again one has to imagine Marvel would have been amenable to?

MM: Well, there are probably three reasons for this. One is that when you do a special project you can't really roll your sleeves up and operate on the book. You're essentially just borrowing the characters from the current writer and promising not to interfere with his plans. And there were some very fundamental things we wanted to do with the direction of the book which meant the main book or nothing. But as people who grew up with an enormous love for the book, there's something (and this will sound weird) very satisfying about flipping through your run of FF comic-books and seeing your run alongside the Byrne and Kirby issues. It feels nice to be part of the lineage.

Also, the Fantastic Four was billed as “The World's Greatest Comic Magazine” and it's been a while since it really lived up there in the top ten. Again, there's that little fanboy part of us that wants to put the book right up there on the front-lines of the Marvel Universe. Other than a few spikes for events of promotions, it's only sold around an average 45-50K these past ten years and we wanted to just put it up there with the Avengers and Spider-Man books again. They told us the Avengers characters were dead and we shouldn't do Ultimates before we started, but we knew it would work and we feel the same charge here. When you love something it's contagious. We want this to be the book everyone is reading again.

NRAMA: Since you already mentioned Kirby, give us your take on the revered first 100 issues? Is this for you – as it is many creators – the Marvel Holy Grail? How does that legendary run, inform your plans (if at all)?

MM: Yeah, I think those first 100 issues tie with the first 100 Spider-Man comics as the greatest Marvel books ever. But the middle of that run from issue #35 to around issue #60 are just unbeatable in terms of creativity. What made FF work was that you had absolutely no idea what could happen next because it was constantly breaking the rules. Combine this with the endless new characters being introduced as villains and supporting characters and you have something akin to a universe by itself, something the book has been feeding off really for close to thirty years now.

So our plan is to honor those first 100 issues not by imitating the ‘Kirby dots’ or the drawing style or recycling the characters we've seen brought back again and again. We're going to honor them by doing what Stan and Jack did and that's being as new and creative as possible. Naturally, we're going to see familiar touchstones of the FF universe, but we're only doing it when we have something new to say about them. A brand new way of doing them. For the most part though it's going to be new concepts, ideas, and a new supporting cast.

What I loved about FF as a kid is that it was constantly evolving like a real family. People got married, people broke up with their girlfriends and found new ones, friends became enemies, enemies became friends, children were born, and so on. To a boy who had seen Clark Kent gulping and wishing wishing he could tell Lois Lane how he really felt for four decades this seemed incredibly radical and I want to apply that same radicalism to our run. Things are about to move on and the characters are going to find themselves in slightly different situations. It's the only way to keep the book fresh. I want it to feel as new as the book felt in 1965.

NRAMA: How about those first 100 issues for you Bryan? Of course from an artist’s standpoint, Kirby’s contributions both conceptually and from an artistic standpoint are at least equal to Lee’s contributions. Mark just said something to the effect of not coming in and doing “Kirby-dots”, so if not direct visual inspiration, how does that run inspire you as the artists?

BH: We've both said that sometimes it's better to remember the feelings the work inspired in you than it is to go back and look, slavishly follow and attempt to repeat. That's what we feel here. To take the example of "Kirby dots"; that was Jack's specific way of solving a problem, is way of delineating patterns of energy and all pre-computers. So many other avenues are open now that to specifically follow that technique, which may well have been ahead of it's time forty years ago, would date a modern comic.

It's much more important to follow the spirit and intent of the thing than it is to attempt to slavishly reproduce it. I'm not and never will be Jack Kirby or John Byrne (whose run is arguably the equal of Kirby's for fun and invention; more coherent too) but I do remember how it felt when I read that stuff and that's what I want to reproduce. Or try to anyway.

NRAMA: Okay, you’ve both now mentioned Byrne in addition to Lee/Kirby. So let’s just ask about any other stand-out creative eras and let you guys run with it?

MM: I know it's fashionable to knock him right now, but I think Byrne's run actually gives Kirby's a real run for its money. I didn't read it as a kid and stumbled on it a couple of years back, but it's one of the reasons I wanted to do this book. I ate up every page. The storytelling is just beautiful and the radicalism seemed to be back. Again, you just didn't know what was happening next and it felt like the Fantastic Four (something other runs didn't always quite achieve). It was that perfect mix of the everyday and the cosmic that Stan and Jack captured so magnificently. Because the FF was always as much about them trying to find a new nanny for Franklin as fighting the Mole-Man.

The secret to all the best stories is that they're rooted in the ordinary and supped-up to the fantastic. The Baxter Building is a dream version of the house we grew up in, the Fantasti-Car is a dream version of Dad's old Ford and so on. Even Doom is that weird Uncle your Mum and Dad don't speak to anymore. It's got to be rooted in the real world to work and Byrne was very good at this too. He and the original 100 issues are the two perfect runs, but there are others I love too like the Waid/Ringo issues and the ones immediately following Stan and Jack. The very first FF I ever had was a black and white British reprint where Magneto had captured Sue and Namor's bird, keeping them in little tanks and goading the FF and Namor. Calling them poofs or something on the cover. I think this was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema. I never remember the American numbering because I read this stuff years later as a UK reprint, but that run was really definitive for me too. Likewise the Simonson issues. I only got these last week (I was too busy reading DC Comics in the 80s), but these look great.

NRAMA: Conversely Mark, as Bryan mentioned you had a run on Marvel’s newest take on the FF - Ultimate Fantastic Four. What did you take away from that, and how if at all, did that play a part in getting you here?

MM: I got great advice from Stan before I started and I've taken this onboard for the main book. He told me there was no idea too insane for Fantastic Four and that was actually very liberating. Some ideas are too crazy for the Hulk or Spidey or the X-Men, but the FF is where the crazy ideas live and breathe. You have to give them a hook a nine year old can understand, but they can be as wild as you like. This is what led to the Marvel Zombies (something that seemed so unlikely editorial actually laughed when I suggested it) and I've tried to bring that same head to this run too. I've been flying on it since I started and really having a good time. I sent Tom and Bryan the script for our ninth issue last week and I'll be working on ten on the plane home from Chicago.

NRAMA: Bryan, is your process different from Mark’s? Do you approach this from a purely artistic standpoint, envisioning imagery and layouts in your head?

BH: Well yeah, that's a natural sort of language for me but it's not so much the pictures as the pacing and story beats. The rhythms and tempo before the music's written. The actual notes and tune come when you sit down and start on solving the specific storytelling problems and indulging in the creative side of composition. Mark and I both wanted to write and draw our own comics but he ended up focusing on the writing and I focused on the drawing but it lends each of us a more full point of view.

Comics are a visual storytelling medium which means they aren't radio plays and they aren't poster books. Too many writers never allow room for the visual pacing and too many artists don't apply their incredible drawing skills solely to needs of the story. If you can combine the two, it makes a good read. Mark has a strong visual sense and I have a strong story sense so although we come from different directions we are both on the same journey. No shortcuts, no easy takes; it's the best we can offer, always.

It's almost a perfect creative partnership, which is why we have so much future stuff planned together no matter what else we do separately.

NRAMA: Bryan, let’s stick with you for a moment… You’re fairly well responsible for introducing the term “widescreen” to the comic book industry. You kind of topped yourself in that regard with your what six? Eight page spread (?) in Ultimates 2 #13. That was more like IMAX than widescreen…

BH: Yeah it was pretty wide but please God don't go upping the terms here; I'm not doing that every issue! It's funny but I don't go about trying to 'widescreen' everything I draw, these are terms others have used to describe or label an approach. I just draw stuff how I see it.

IMAX comics, sheesh thanks. Mind you, if there's on Marvel book that could work on that visual scale it's FF.

NRAMA: So not to put you on the spot, but should readers expect the signature layout/perspective style to carry over to FF?

BH: It's certainly going to be familiar enough for those who follow my work but it's a different book so the approach changes to suit what I'm doing. A director like Spielberg can do Schindler's List, E.T., and, say, Catch Me If You Can. Three very different films but all unquestionably his; you can't approach every job the same way, it would be too formulaic but you do bring everything you have to the table every time and hope to hit your marks as fully as possible. You never aim for second best, do you?

NRAMA: Okay then, do you have any new tricks in your bag for the FF?

BH: Oh, I hope so. It would be pretty darn boring if I didn't. You always hope to bring everything you have to the gig and then make it something else, find some new avenues to explore. It's one of the reasons I wanted the book; it's so different from Ultimates and I had to learn a new approach for that project, learn so much about how to draw, perspectives, real world stuff. This is broader, more fun, more grand and spacious; a little lighter perhaps. It still has everything I could want for in storytelling opportunities, design, ideas and great character acting. Breath of fresh air.

NRAMA: As no doubt frustrating as it likely is for you Bryan, we do have to ask about scheduling, since the FF is a series that has been monthly for Marvel’s entire history. From all indications it seems like you’ve been working on this for a while, how would you address reader’s concerns about the FF maintaining its monthly status when your’s and Mark’s run begins?

BH: I'm drawing it quicker. I've been working on it for about five months and am four issues and nine covers in. Mark is writing issue # 10 now so he's galloping nicely. It's actually getting quicker the more into it I get but it's important to note that Ultimates is the only thing I've done that went the way it did. Authority was three weeks an issue and that's what I expected to do on Ultimates; it came as a huge surprise to me that I couldn't do it. Then again there's about three times as much on the page in Ultimates.

Truth to tell, many of the problems with that book weren't with the physical side of drawing it, more the state I got myself into worrying about it. It's different on FF. I don't feel any pressure at all, in fact it's the most liberating work I've done in years.

For better or worse, Ultimates became a magnum opus of sorts and you can't follow it with another one. I can relax. So I'm just setting out to hit the schedule and get some big, bold fun comics out and remind myself that it doesn't have to be hand-wringing, sweating, cursing, worry and poverty to make a good comic. It can actually be good fun, very rewarding and, in the great scheme of world problems, a walk in the park. I'm doing what I love doing: telling stories. It's my goal to win back the reputation I had before I did Ultimates and have a good long, unbroken run at the "World's Greatest Comic Magazine". So far so good. Much, I think, to everyone's surprise.

NRAMA: As you touch on, part of the Ultimates issue was your closeness to the material, that fact that you created it and wanting to go back and continue to edit the art until the public saw it. Correct? Given the FF aren’t your creations, will that play a role in how you approach the pages? Is that why it’s been so liberating?

BH: I think my neurosis is still well intact but if I've learned anything from that whole debacle on Ultimates is that doing what you describe didn't achieve anything but make the book late and lose me an enormous amount of money. It's been like coming out of a tunnel on FF, all of that angst, fear and worry that drove me to suicidal amounts of tweaking and 'fixing' has vanished to a degree and I seem to be running free. I'm still tweaking and playing, redrawing and adding stuff to get it the best I can offer and I imagine I always will on any project but those that have seen what I've done so far don't see any drop in quality, quite the reverse so I'm confident about getting it out and it being all right.

I'm also going to stop reading the message boards too. No matter how much I labored Ultimates there was always somebody who said: "Is it just me or does Ultimates look rushed..?"

I have such huge and ambitious plans for the next couple of years at Marvel and see this as just the beginning. Get this in on or ahead of time, make it good and build on that work. You'll hopefully see what I mean as we move into next year. A lot of work to do but having established both a good and bad rep on Ultimates I have a strong need to build on the good and make the bad stuff a memory.

NRAMA: Fair enough, I’m sure there are readers who appreciate you again addressing it.

[Gabe99]

From Newsarama 2007:
WW: CHICAGO - MILLAR & HITCH TALK FANTASTIC FOUR

So Mark, switching gears a bit, would you say your plans are “traditional”? Or do they move the FF into new directions?

MM: It's a combination of both. After a period where it hasn't been the traditional FF, Reed, Ben Johnny and Sue absolutely take center-stage in the book for our entire run. So it feels very traditional in that sense.

But we didn't want to do the same old bag of tricks and just re-heat old stories. I mean, we both agreed that if Galactus didn't destroy the Earth the last 30 times he appeared then chances are he'd be thwarted again. The first time you saw the Hulk facing off against The Thing it meant something because they were Marvel's two most powerful heroes and you wondered who was strongest. But if we did that now it would feel stale, like a faded photocopy of an age-old idea. So we want to move everything forward with new threats and new concepts that have you as worried as I felt when I was reading “The Coming of Galactus” on the bus to Scout Camp when I was ten. We want people turning the pages, unable to guess what's coming next.

That also applies to the soap opera element of the book too. A superhero like Sue living with Reed before they got married was pretty shocking back in the days when black people had to give up their seats to whites. A superhero getting pregnant was just unheard of. So we want to play around with the soap opera stuff too and hopefully give something you've never really seen before. Everyone gets beefed up in our first issue and, closer to the time, we'll give details.

NRAMA: So you kind of already took the wind out of the sails of our next question, which was going to be can you name your Four and say a few words about your take on each?

MM: Obviously, it's Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny. I understand why other characters have filled in from time to time and I've really enjoyed what Dwayne [McDuffie] did recently (perfectly complimenting what we set up in Civil War). But it really has to be Ben, Johnny, Reed, and Sue. I like H.e.r.b.i.e. the Robot as much as anyone, but the Fantastic Four are the Fantastic Four.

My take? Well, Reed is not just the most brilliant brain on the planet, but he's also the leader of the team. A natural leader emerging from such a strong set of personalities means Reed has to be incredibly charismatic. They got this a little better in the second movie than the first, but Reed should be the guy who makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end when he walks into the room to solve a problem. He's the JFK of the group, Johnny being Robert Kennedy, Sue being Jackie O and Ben being the Peter Lawford with the street-fighting connections (if you want to get overly literal).

Ben and Reed seem off best friends, but they compliment each other brilliantly. Ben is smarter and more sensitive than everyone thinks and Reed is more physical than he's often portrayed. The first time they met in college (I have the panel clearly in my head) Reed is impressed because he recognizes Ben from the football field. He isn't an egg-head. He's as brave as he's smart and this is why he's Mister Fantastic.

Johnny, as we saw quite brilliantly in the movies, is the comic relief to some extent and often the reason they get tangled up on situations. He's outwardly flash and flamboyant, but again we're talking about a guy who loves his family so much that he's always hanging around and making sure everyone is okay.

Sue is the glue that holds it all together. She's the one with the strongest links to each of them in the sense that her brother and her husband are on this team and her kids are being groomed for the family business. She's the invisible hand behind everything they do and, like most marriages, the one who cleverly makes all the decisions.

NRAMA: Bryan, how about your take on the characters from a design standpoint? What do you immediately think of when you think of the four main characters? A certain physical trait? Do you see an actor or actress in your head?

BH: Always but less so now the treatment is working.

Thinking of someone familiar is a helpful physical starting point, especially when creating new characters but these guys are well established. I'd like to say that I labored over the way I ended up portraying them, honestly, it all came instantly and fully formed. I knew what I wanted to do, how to do it and what it would look like and I couldn't wait to get started. Somebody is going to have to pry this book out of my cold dead fingers. They used to have to do that with Ultimates but that was so they could publish an issue; in this case it's that I'm having such a great time I don't want it to stop. Every issue feels like I'm just at the start of something great and that enthusiasm continues to build and grow.

My wife has never known me not working on Ultimates and thinks I'm a different man; happier, easier to live with; less grumpy and much more relaxed. Her saying that makes me realize how bad I'd let things get on that book. I know we're all happy with the results and those nice hardcovers and omnibus editions will sit nicely on the shelves for years to come but it was a compulsion and not always a good or healthy one.

NRAMA: Okay fellas, so that all asked, any final, parting thoughts to leave readers with at this time?

MM: It's going to be really, really good. We promise you.

BH: It will be really really good, plenty of it, and on time...

Now that we all know what title Millar and Hitch will be going, Newsarama thought you might want another look at all the images from the series Marvel has released to us so far....

[X-Maniac]

Originally Posted by def28

Yeah, I had a problem with that as well. IT kinda came off as being a safe way to connect her lightly to X1 incase FC was the last prequel.

Maybe it could be seen that way. But it was also supposed to be a heartbreaking dramatic moment.

People do make what seem like terrible decisions to sever ties and move on. I don't think what she did was implausible. The whole film was building the idea of her being a little frustrated with the way Charles treated her and the way she had to hide and not be her true self - and she saw that Erik offered a choice more in line with her own thinking. As a young woman growing up and trying to feel comfortable in her own skin, it was the best option for her. And you could see it was a tough choice, as she went to Charles first before going to Erik.

I don't know why people are expecting them to all sit round having a coffee debating who should go or stay with whom. What happened on that beach was the defining moment. It was 'now or never', either 'pee or get off the pot'.

And if it seems a little cruel on her part, she didn't know Xavier was crippled and, even if she did, I can't see her being the sort of person to push his wheelchair, bathe him, etc. Everything was about her and her own issues. She was wrapped up in her own issues because for her own life she was literally wrapped up - in a disguise she created to look like someone/something else altogether.

And that seeming coldness on the beach is maybe a hint at the coldness she exhibits in X1-X3. She's already a runaway and a thief, rejected by her own family. She's damaged and thinks of herself and her own survival first and foremost. I think what happened was the start of the journey towards her X1-X3 version.

For her to stay with Charles and not go with Erik, and be part of the first X-Men, could also have happened and we could have heard Erik say 'I'll come back for you someday Raven, you know it's what you really want.' It could have gone either way, because there was a nailbiting choice involved. This other option would have seemed like less of a set up for the existing films.

I hope they continue to address these choices in the sequel. I don't want her to totally forget Charles and Beast altogether. She isn't yet the cold, hard reptile of X1 to X3. There's a lot more character forming to do yet.

[def28]

Originally Posted by Mrs Vimes

I totally understand when people call Raven's actions selfish or terrible, I just don't understand why they think that her actions are implausible. Not all people put their family first before their own interests/ideologies in real life either, so I don't see why the assumption that Raven would just naturally forget all about herself and what she wants.

As for Charles, well his relationship with Raven was always about him being in charge and taking care of her. So even when he's down and injured, he's still looking out for her. He knew what she really wanted to do and that she'd be miserable if she stayed.

Its not so much Ravens choice that bothered me. Its Charles reaction and the way that scenes handled. It felt rushed for such a dramatic scene and alot was going on. If my childhood friend whos practically a lil sister to me wanted to go with some guy who almost nuked a whole fleet, went against my orders, shot me, almost killed my girlfriend and is talking about taking the world by storm I would not have said go with him cause its what you want. Thats alot of jacked up **** haha. I wouldnt want any of my friends or family around that guy. Mcavoy sold it the best he could for what hes given. Thought there could have been a bit more to that scene for what was set up in their relationship.

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

Maybe it could be seen that way. But it was also supposed to be a heartbreaking dramatic moment.

Maybe if we actually knew that Mystique was more on terms with Mags more sinister pov it would have worked a bit better for me. She just seems harmless and naive. Its a dangerous choice she made but its not played that way for either character. I dont buy that Charles would let her make such a move given her innocence and inexperience. She cant protect herself at this stage in the game. There needed to be a heavier feeling of going down the wrong path. Now everything between Charles and Mags was dead on in that scene. I bought everything those two characters were saying. Just have some issues with him and Mystique.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by def28

Its not so much Ravens choice that bothered me. Its Charles reaction and the way that scenes handled. It felt rushed for such a dramatic scene and alot was going on. If my childhood friend whos practically a lil sister to me wanted to go with some guy who almost nuked a whole fleet, went against my orders, shot me, almost killed my girlfriend and is talking about taking the world by storm I would not have said go with him cause its what you want. Thats alot of jacked up **** haha. I wouldnt want any of my friends or family around that guy.

Yeah but you gotta remember that for Charles, Erik is not just "some guy" or a terrorist; whatever Erik has done on that beach Charles clearly still cared for him a lot or he wouldn't be crying when he tells Erik that they don't want the same thing.

I imagine that not many people would want to pay prison visits to a guy who nearly murdered an innocent girl, threatened their team, got them poisoned and almost made a few hundred (thousand?) people turn into dissolvable goo, either.

Originally Posted by X-Maniac

I hope they continue to address these choices in the sequel. I don't want her to totally forget Charles and Beast altogether. She isn't yet the cold, hard reptile of X1 to X3. There's a lot more character forming to do yet.

Definitely. I thought that Raven showed some bitterness and hardness in FC, and she's quite self-absorbed like many unhappy people are. But she's certainly got a lot to go and I wouldn't want her shoehorned into original!Mystique just yet.

[def28]

Originally Posted by Mrs Vimes

Yeah but you gotta remember that for Charles, Erik is not just "some guy" or a terrorist; whatever Erik has done on that beach Charles clearly still cared for him a lot or he wouldn't be crying when he tells Erik that they don't want the same thing.

I imagine that not many people would want to pay prison visits to a guy who nearly murdered an innocent girl, threatened their team, got them poisoned and made a few hundred (thousand?) people turn into dissolvable goo, either.

Of course, thats what makes the Good guy/bad guy realtionship so interesting in these films. They are extremely smart people and like to challange each other that way instead of brawling it out most the time. Theres alot of layers and respect. Hes still a dangerous SOB in these films, and Charles knows this. Thats why he makes sure hes locked up in these films. Theres a huge difference between visiting someone in Jail and protecting someone your set up to care about from that person.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by def28

Of course, thats what makes the Good guy/bad guy realtionship so interesting in these films. They are extremely smart people and like to challange each other that way instead of brawling it out most the time. Theres alot of layers and respect. Hes still a dangerous SOB in these films, and Charles knows this. Thats why he makes sure hes locked up in these films. Theres a huge difference between visiting someone in Jail and protecting someone your set up to care about from that person.

Well, in X1 Charles knows that Erik is dangerous but he doesn't exactly do anything when he chats to Erik, sans helmet, in the beginning of the film. He just seems to have this undying (and some would say hopelessly naive) hope that Erik will eventually see the error of his ways.

In FC, I think that Charles might have simply realised that he can't go on protecting Raven forever, and that Erik is offering her something he can't, and that she would not be happy otherwise.

[def28]

Originally Posted by Mrs Vimes

Well, in X1 Charles knows that Erik is dangerous but he doesn't exactly do anything when he chats to Erik, sans helmet, in the beginning of the film.

In FC, I think that Charles might have simply realised that he can't go on protecting Raven forever, and that Erik is offering her something he can't.

If I remember correctly they are talking politics and Charles is trying to convince him to not give up. He wants Mags to be good. He doesnt loose faith in people. He should have done the same to Raven. Prof X always fights and stays with his views. Having him loose hope and giving up on Raven seemed out of character. Especially after so many brutal things happened. I can see why they did it, we needed Raven on Mags side by the end of the film. I just thought it couldve been handled much stronger for a characters pivotal turn.

[Mrs Vimes]

But I'm not sure what he could have said to Raven. Don't worry, the human society will accept you? That would sound rather hollow, coming right after having hundreds of missiles shot at them.

[def28]

Originally Posted by Mrs Vimes

But I'm not sure what he could have said to Raven. Don't worry, the human society will accept you? That would sound rather hollow, coming right after having hundreds of missiles shot at them.

He should have tried something. He obviously believes in that. Hes not giving up on the others.

I thought saying "you should go with him" Was a pretty lame line set up just to get Raven on the other side . Like I said I think Mcavoy sells it but in the grand scheme of Prof X its out of character imo. Raven I just didnt dig in this movie, I get her point but its too far from Mystique and they try to rush that last connection to X1 at the end. I think it would have been better if if they held off till the next flick for her to switch sides. Well see, hopefully they make her more of a lethal chick.

[Mrs Vimes]

Originally Posted by def28

If I remember correctly they are talking politics and Charles is trying to convince him to not give up.

If my memory serves right, he tells Erik not to "give up on them". Which, in retrospect, is a strange thing to say since Erik had obviously given up, like, 30 years before.

But then, taking into account the X3 flashback, it seems that the original films make it look like Erik and Charles fell out much, much later than what's shown in First Class. Plus in X1 I remember Charles saying something to the effect of Erik having grown bitter with time. Which again doesn't really match up with First Class because Erik is pretty much cynical and bitter right off the bat when we first meet him as an adult.