When youre part of a superhero team that has been around since 1963, the odds that all teammates survived to the present are pretty low. In the X-Mens case, theyve seen their fair share of casualties. Over the years theyve lost Changeling, Thunderbird, Banshee, and Jean Grey (more than once), just to name a few. The great news about living in a comic book universe, though, is that characters can and often do come back from the dead. And this October, many dead mutants will rise in Marvel's Necrosha.
Announced at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Necrosha is a story that writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have been brewing since 2007 in the pages of New X-Men. The tale features the immortal psychic vampire Selene, who amasses some undead mutants for a very specific and nefarious plan. The event will crossover with the New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy titles for some corpse-tastic fun!
Fans have had questions since the announcement, and lucky for them, theyve been able to send those queries right here to X-POSITION. Weve received our largest volume of email ever, and writers Kyle and Yost ended up wrestling with a mountain of missives. Naturally, they tackled your questions with grace and aplomb.
CBR: Andre4000 sent in one of several emails that happened to notice a similar theme between Necrosha and another dead superhero event taking place this summer.
With Blackest Night going on at DC, you guys are bound to get comparisons between that event and Necrosha as both deal with powered individuals rising from the grave. Is that a concern for you guys as youre writing? Or did you have this planned out so long ago that none of it makes a difference?
CRAIG KYLE: Im someone who doesnt care what those guys across the street are doing. Im not saying that to throw out a nasty statement, its just that Im a Marvel boy through-and-through. What does matter to me though is [Blackest Night writer] Geoff Johns he and I have been really dear friends for many years and what this comes down to, really, is unfortunate timing.
Weve been planning this storyline since New X-Men, and I know Geoff has been planning his story for a long time too. Wed never do anything to take away from his storyline, and even if I tried, when it comes to a guy like Geoff Johns, were not going to get in his way and were not going to hurt the great work he does. The situation is what it is. If people follow both storylines, theyll have nothing but great stories to read. Sometimes, great minds think alike and thats what this really comes down to.
CHRISTOPHER YOST: Well said. The bottom line is, regardless of what we say, someone may go ballistic over the two books having similar storylines. And while thats fair, I would say that a) our story hasnt started yet, so they dont really know what it is. And b)
see a).
What about the X-Men team from Deadly Genesis? What are the odds that the teammates of Vulcan and Darwin that died Sway and Petra will be making an appearance in Necrosha?
YOST: Its a possibility. I mean, if theyre dead and important to an X-Man, then theres a chance that Selene will use them against the X-Men.
As Necrosha allows fans to entertain the possibility that deceased favorites might return, Josh Canavan wrote in with a few characters that hed like to see.
With the Necrosha event coming up soon, I'm sure we are going to see a ton of the kids that got blown up in the bus in New X-Men come back (like your favorite character, Tag). Does this mean that the kids that are still alive are going to be playing a big role in this event (like Surge, Mercury, Rockslide, etc.)? Also, are we going to see a Loa vs. zombie Wallflower fight over Elixir's affections? I would happily buy a mini of that!
YOST: So would I! But to your question one of the people listed there is definitely going to be seen. Beyond that, were not going to restrict ourselves to characters that weve killed
as massive as that number is. Theres over forty years of great X-characters available to us. But, yeah, you may well see some of the kids you knew and loved like Tag and DJ or maybe not. Were not going to tell you right now, though.
KYLE: Well, maybe not Tag, because even in death, those powers are still silly.
If mutants with silly powers wont be coming back, does Filthy Mutie have cause for concern regarding his beloved Maggot?
Without giving too much away, can you tell us anything about Selene raiding the remains of the Neverland mutant camps? Will all of those Maggot fans finally have their day?
YOST: Has anyone specific aside from Maggot been confirmed to have died there?
KYLE: Hm
YOST: The bottom line is Selene has a very specific purpose for who shes resurrecting at the outset. And as Necrosha opens, youre going to see what that reason is. And then beyond that, she even has a much, much larger plan in mind. Basically, she has reasons for who shes resurrecting, and if a person fits within those reasons yeah, youll see them.
KYLE: And the first of the new resurrections will be seen in X-Force #18.
Speaking of characters returning from the dead, Giselle Haed Kähler was curious about another mutant who has recently resurfaced Psylocke. As Yost will be writing a miniseries about the heroine, Giselle wanted to know more about her new status.
Psylocke always relies on her psi-knife instead of using other aspects of her psi-powers. Now that she's a telepath again as well as a telekinetic (not to mention her ninja skills), can we expect her to use her abilities in more creative ways?
YOST: In the upcoming Psylocke miniseries, shes going to be using her telepathy, her telekinesis, and two katana swords to get the job done. So youre definitely going to see a wide range of abilities and use of those abilities coming up.
One mutant from the past that hasnt reappeared is Feral, but Adam Moschell is holding out hope that this fact will change.
I read in an interview that you have no story use for the character of Feral, but I feel this is a dreadful mistake. She not only has extreme anger issues on her own, but she has a past rivalry with Wolfsbane that is classic. Wolverine also let her get mauled by Sabretooth, so if she somehow returned, she would have major beef with him. She's an original X-Force member and has past ties to both Domino and Warpath. How could you not want to use her?
KYLE: I think all of these points are incredibly valid
and now hearing them all laid out like this? Chris and I will tell the next X-Force writer that the character must be included in the book. [Chuckles]
YOST: Yeah, I think thats fair. The next writer will be able to tap into that rich history that Adam spoke of, and hell be so happy!
KYLE: But for now, since weve got Rahne do we really need the Rahne knock-off?
As you do indeed have Rahne, FemGeek wants to know what youre going to do with her.
I'm loving the series, but I do have one little bone to pick with you: Wolfsbane has been noticeably absent from the actual team pretty much since it started and has continued to be so. Will Rahne get to play an active role with the team in the near future? And will she be playing a role in the upcoming Necrosha event?
KYLE: See? Thats what we get for trying to edge out Rahne to make room for Feral. [laughs]
Basically, Rahne has never been meant for this team. She put herself in there, and ended up eating her father
which caused her to fight for her sanity. Shes been reeling for awhile, and then Hrimhari popped in, so shes kind of had her own story running alongside X-Forces, but that is going to change very, very soon. Shes been a part of their journey, just more on her own due to all the emotional stuff shes been through.
YOST: The X-Force story and the Wolfsbane story are going to converge, and its going to happen soon.
And as long as were on the topic of animal-like characters, Rick wanted to add one more to the queue
Where is Hepzibah? She's such a great character and hasn't been since trying to figure out how to use a phone to call James in the early issues of X-Force?
KYLE: Where is she? I think shes still trying to get that phone to work
YOST: We always imagined that the next time Hepzibah sees Warpath, shes just going to beat the crap out of him, but Warpath does have a reason for not wanting her around. I mean, what theyre doing its horrible. Hes become something he never thought he would a killer. And he doesnt want her to be part of that. Once she got to earth, there was a change in her life. She used to be a very violent, war-like person and while she still has that to her Warpath didnt want to see her get pulled into this.
KYLE: I would say dont lose hope on seeing her in this series, but when and if they do come back together, the time has to be right for the both of them. And right now is not the time.
If now isnt the time for Warpath to have a girlfriend, does that lend credence to Fadeds idea that a former flame might be coming back?
Warpath has his fair share of loved ones among the dead. What are the odds hell see his former fling Risque or his brother (John Proudstar) during Necrosha?
YOST: Id say the chances are about a thousand percent. I mean, theres a one-in-one chance hes going to see at least one of those guys, if not two.
KYLE: And one of those will be Thunderbird.
YOST: Right. We dont want to be too vague here, but hes going to meet Thunderbird.
One other matter that Sazzle wants cleared up is the type of event Necrosha is can you help him out?
I can't tell you how excited I am about Necrosha! Will this be a crossover in the traditional sense, where the plot follows over into each of the three series? Or will it be a crossover in name only, where the teams from each title don't necessarily meet or interact?
YOST: I would say its a crossover in name only. X-Force is where Selenes plans are going to start and finish, but as you read X-Force youre going to see certain characters and certain plot points that are going to get picked up in New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy. So if you read New Mutants and not X-Force or Legacy, youre still going to get a complete story.
Sure, it will refer to things happening in X-Force, but by and large, youre going to be able to figure out whats going on. Weve been working very closely with Zeb Wells and Mike Carey as they go through their issues, and what theyve got coming up is pretty fantastic. I highly recommend readers check out those books.
KYLE: This is a situation where, if you read all the titles, everybody wins. But if you dont and just stick with the books you already read, I think you still win. Its the degree to which you want to know and understand these stories. I mean, these two very talented guys are giving you two different shades of the story that were telling in our book, so its a pretty great opportunity. But since were just coming out of a crossover where you had to read books you dont normally buy (and vice-versa for the Cable fans), we didnt want to force you right back into a new event, no matter how great Zeb and Mike are.
YOST: The Necrosha one-shot, which comes out in October, has a 22-page X-Force lead-in story, an 11-page New Mutants story, and an 11-page Legacy story. And honestly, after reading Zeb and Mikes stories, I dont know how you dont check out those books. Theyre great!
As you mentioned that youre just coming out of a crossover, Blair R. Campbell wanted to voice some concerns he had about the previous event.
I was a bit disappointed with the Messiah War crossover and I was hoping you could tell me what the point of it was? I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I genuinely don't understand why the crossover needed to happen. In Messiah CompleX, there was a lot that happened, so I think readers were expecting much more from Messiah War. It seems like the whole thing was nothing more than a big circle, and at the end of it both the Cable and X-Force books are basically in the exact same place as they were before the crossover. Did I miss something?
KYLE: Why, yes, there was actually a seventh issue you didnt get and you should have bought that it would have explained everything! [laughs] Look, in fairness, theres a fair number of people who feel the journey wasnt as complete as they would have liked it to have been. But the truth is, its the second chapter of a three-part story.
The elements that did change are things that I think are still waiting to be paid off the changes in Apocalypse, the evolution of Stryfe over the course of this, etc. And there are things that were put into play with Hope and our own teammates that will reap rewards down the road. But looking at it as a singular story because there was much to do it was a tricky tale to navigate.
Chris and I do everything we can to make the fans feel like theyre getting their moneys worth every month, because theres a lot of great books to choose from and the last thing we want to do is disappoint anybody. This is why I offered to buy X-Force #17 from anyone who didnt care for it at Comic-Con if you found me. Fortunately, I didnt buy any books -- but I would have! I had money on me! I think theres still more to come out of this tale, but itll be hard to see the payoff until the story matures over the next year or so.
YOST: Its tricky, because this story is that middle part, and I think history will be the judge
along with every single person on the internet. The bottom line is Messiah War was a big moment for Hope. For X-Force, I think youre going to see some of the fall-out in issues #17-18. They were obviously pulled out of a mission at a very horrible time and its definitely going to put a strain on the relationship between X-Force and Cyclops. And now Elixir obviously knows something about Hope, and thats going to play out in the next couple of months too. So there are little things here and there that are going to be different because of the Messiah War.
The argument is Cable took this little girl into the future to save her, and it hasnt exactly gone to plan. This girls life has been a little rough. Shes seen horrible things, shes been almost killed any number of times my god, shes a little girl! Who knows what shes going to grow up to be? So what are the life experiences that are going to form this messiah?
So, looking back, what Messiah War did was open the possibility that Cable was wrong. I mean, Wolverine said it to him, Hey, youre messing this up. This girl is going to be all jacked up. And when youve got Bishop and Apocalypse and Stryfe, and people dying left and right, and X-Force killing people all around you how does that change a little girl? In the long term, youre going to see the effects of this.
KYLE: And one last little thing, because Chris and I think about this a lot, when we plan the hardcovers for how the X-Force stories come out, Messiah War is going to be its own separate book. So people who have been collecting the book at the hardcover or trade level Volumes One, Two, and Three will be seamless. Youre going to see the leap to the future and the leap back home, and then if you want to chase down the Messiah War, thats something that you can do. But if youre just collecting the X-Force storylines, you can also do that seamlessly.
In whatever ways we can, we try to think of the fans every time were at bat writing and we swing for the fences! Sometimes we get a homerun, sometimes we get a foul, and sometimes we get a kick in the nuts it just depends. We do our best, and thats the short and honest answer.
Hopefully, Necrosha is a homerun for all concerned. So lets move on to our next question about the big event from fan Marge White.
Will Selene's former slave, Friedrich Von Roehm, be making an appearance during Necrosha?
KYLE: Who?
YOST: He had that weird mustache-beard thing and he turned into that vampire dude.
KYLE: Oh yeah. Well, I think weve given her all the lackeys she needs in our current run, right Chris?
YOST: Thats right. Selene has a whole new set of very powerful minions doing her bidding. I dont think she needs S&M vampire-boy at the moment.
KYLE: Youll be seeing more characters from Selenes past in this, but that character is probably one of the few were not bringing back in this run.
YOST: Plus, he wasnt a mutant.
KYLE: True, so who needs him?
Selene might not need Friedrich, but msierra185 was wondering if another male mutant might be making her must have list.
Even though Selene is back in action, when are we going to see Wither again? It's been a long time since weve last seen him and I'm curious what hes been doing since he was with Selene.
YOST: Youre going to see Wither in X-Force #18.
Will there be a confrontation between Wither and his former friends considering that he wasn't there when his friends were fighting and dying?
KYLE: You bet your @$$!
YOST: Absolutely!
Are you guys planning on a one-on-one brawl between Wither and Elixir since they hated each others' guts?
KYLE: Wouldnt that be awesome?
YOST: Wouldnt that be a spectacular meeting? What a great idea!
KYLE: Thats an awesome idea! Thats something we should seriously, seriously consider right, Chris?
YOST: Its so weird the coincidences that shape this book: Wither is part of it, Elixir is part of it
weird.
KYLE: I wish we could say something, but its too soon. But, boy, thatd be great!
Thus concludes todays X-POSITION, but more mutant mayhem is on your way next week when writer Peter David (X-Factor, Wolverine: First Class) joins us. So think up a variety of interesting, well-worded questions, email them to me as quickly as possible, and keep your fingers crossed that your query gets selected. An X-Position in the subject line will go a long ways toward making that happen.
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