Good news, everyone! I’ve just gotten off one of the most interesting phone calls ever, and I’m pleased to bring you this absolutely exclusive news piece!
A lot of people have been wondering, now that Blackest Night is over and Siege is almost done, what exactly The Heroic Age and Brightest Day will be about. Both companies have promised that, as nice as those titles are, that this is not going to be what you are expecting at all and the twists and turns have still yet to come. Now, I have received news that both Brian Bendis and Geoff Johns will working on a brand new DC/Marvel crossover, and it’s going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen before!
Those might remember that the first time we interviewed him, Brian Bendis mentioned that there once had been brief plans for a JLA/Avengers crossover as a follow-up to Busiek’s tale, originally to be penned between Brad Meltzer and Bendis. However, since Meltzer is no longer available, the writing duties were given to fan favorite Geoff Johns. Basically, all this teasing we’ve been seeing between the companies has been a rouse. They just didn’t want people to pick up on any of their secret meetings.
So what is the story about? Well, you might remember that we haven’t seen the Scarlet Witch in a while. It turns out that she’s been watching the news of Utopia and seen her father Magneto hanging around with the X-Men, and she’s thinking, ‘REALLY? After all that work I did in House of M, now he’s off being subservient to freaking Scott Summers?’ It just doesn’t make sense to her. So she reforms the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with all these classic baddies and attacks California, and just like in House of M she causes reality to warp so much that it brings the Marvel U and the DCU together. It’s supposedly going to be the single most accurate portrayal of the Scarlet Witch ever, and Marvel can’t wait for the internet message board trolls to get their hands on this book.
That’s not all, though. Those of you who have read Blackest Night know that the Anti-Monitor is back, and is as much of a threat as ever. The Anti-Monitor comes back to Earth through some as of now un-decided way, and begins to wreak havoc. When the world’s collide, he and Scarlet Witch team-up, and it’s up to Hal Jordan to stop them! …well, ok, other people will play a part in it too, but Hal is the star, as Johns is a rather unashamed fan of his and has been ever since he made the character the Spectre in Day of Judgement.
Those wondering about the legitimacy of the project will be pleased to know that this is 100% in continuity. Both writers have huge plans for this book. There were a lot of people Johns wanted to bring back in Blackest Night, but just couldn’t for whatever editorial reason. This is where you’ll be able to see a lot of great characters that he and fans have always loved coming back, though, assumedly being wished back into reality by the Scarlet Witch. Classic characters like Rainbow Raider and Vibe will be back with new purpose, and if we’re lucky DC will let Johns pen Rebirths for both of them. We have also been informed that that the book will be full of high-concepts and drug-like imagery, described as “very trippy,” which is a writing attribute that Bendis specifically is known for. You can also assume that Hawkeye will be dead by the end of it.
On top of this, a lot of people have been asking, ‘Why so many Avengers books? Why put a finale on New Avengers and then bring it back?’ This crossover will actually answer a lot of those questions, and what’s even better than that is that it will give the opportunity to create NEW Avengers teams! There has supposedly been a meeting at Marvel with the sole purpose of thinking of what can be put into this story for new books, and supposedly they’ve come up with 3 new Deadpool titles, as well as at least 4 new Avengers teams: Fantastic Avengers, The Amazing Avengers, the Uncanny Avengers, and the Little Avengers! On top of that, when all this is done, Deadpool will exist in both DC and Marvel. It’s going to be amazing.
The most exciting aspect of the book will be the art, which both writers were incredibly excited to talk about. Inspired by Image United, both writers have contacted some of their favorite artists, and each SCENE in the book will be drawn by a different writer. Johns has tapped in artists like Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, and Gary Frank, while Bendis promises top notch work from Stuart Immonen, Alex Maleev, Mike Oeming and David Mack. It’s easily going to be the most unique comic ever, and we can guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it. We have also been promised that every cover to the book will be done by David Finch, the first of which will be revealed soon.
With the Anti-Monitor and Scarlet Witch teamed-up, we’re told that both Johns and Bendis are promising so many twists and turns that by the end of it, both universes will be uniformly changed forever. With an impressive line-up of artists and two absolute power-house writers, you can be sure that this is going to be a very exciting moment in the two universes. To have a giant company wide crossover like this that’s also specific to the continuity of both universes is quite a feat, but if any two companies can get together and do it, it’d be Marvel and DC.
