C2E2 2012: Marvel's Next Big Thing Panel Reveals Gambit and Thor Crossover
With C2E2 2012 winding down on its last day, that didn’t mean there wasn’t still room for a few big announcements from Marvel. A packed, standing room crowd filled the room at the publisher’s Next Big Thing Panel to reveal some new series, big crossovers, and more. Attending the panel were Director of Communications Arune Singh, Talent Director C.B. Cebulski, Editors Sana Amanat and Daniel Ketchum, and writers Dennis Hopeless, Kelly Sue Deconnick, James Asmus, and Cullen Bunn.
But that’s not what you’re here for, right? You’re here for the news! Big scoops! Etc, etc:
- DeConnick on Captain Marvel, launching in July: “My pitch was Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeager. We’re helping Carol find her way back to her swagger. We are introducing into issue two, the female equivalent of the Howling Commandos: the Banshee Squadron.”
- DeConnick will also be writing Avenging Spider-Man in July with issue #9, teaming up Carol Danvers with Spidey. Art will be by Terry and Rachel Dodson. DeConnick said she had no notes for the artists other than, “Oh, page seven! Neat!”
- Jamie McKelvie will be the new artist on Matt Fraction’s Defenders starting with issue #8 in July, taking over for the Dodsons.
- Thor and Journey Into Mystery cross over for a nine part story called “Everything Burns,” starting in August, written by Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen. It features the return of Surtur, and a huge status quo shift for Thor and Loki. Art by Alan Davis and Carmine Di Giandomenica, and we’ll have an interview with the team about this soon!
- Bunn on Captain America & Hawkeye #632: “It’s everything I could possibly want to do in a team-up book. Captain America and Hawkeye are the Tango and Cash of the Marvel Universe.” He clarified that in the four issue arc, the duo fights dinosaurs, which, you know, awesome.
- Bunn is also taking over Wolverine with issue #305 in April, which is this month, you guys. “I decided to be as cruel and vicious to him as possible. I’m bringing Dr. Rot back. [Wolverine] finds out that Dr. Rot is not alone... He has a family of his own.”
- New ongoing ‘Gambit’ series from writer James Asmus and artist Clay Mann, starting in August. “This book focuses on the two most important aspects of Gambit: that he’s sexy; and that he’s the pre-eminent bad-ass thief of the Marvel Universe,” said Asmus. He also added that Gambit’s head-sock is gone, and he’ll be trying to steal some of the weirder items in the Marvel Universe, from Norn Stones, to crazy tech. We’ll have a longer chat with Asmus up on the site soon!
After that, the panel opened to Q&A. As usual, here’s some highlights:
- What’s up with Jubilee? Ketchum said that they like to take characters off the board for a bit sometimes, so when they come back, it’s more exciting. He added that, “We have no dearth of ideas for Jubilee. When she reappears, it will be one of these awesome ideas.”
- Any plans for Runaways? Cebulski: “Because next year is the tenth anniversary, we have some ideas we’re talking about, I think fans are going to be very, very pleased.”
- DeConnick told a story about Editor Steve Wacker calling her on the phone, after over a year of pitching and working on a Ms. Marvel series, to say, “You’re not writing Ms. Marvel...” To which DeConnick said, “Oh, okay, I guess I understand how this works.” “...Because you’re writing Captain Marvel!” continued Wacker. “I’m going to kill you,” responded DeConnick.
- Asmus, when asked whether a certain lady would be showing up in Gambit, said, “I would be an idiot if I didn’t bring Rogue into this, but I want to earn it.”
- No plans for Brian K. Vaughan or Joss Whedon to come back to Marvel to write comics, but Cebulski added that they call them every few months to leave the door open.
- Asked about more “X-Club,” Ketchum said that sales on the trade would really determine whether Marvel could do more with the team.
- Kelly Sue DeConnick would not confirm - or deny - that she’s having talks to the X-Office about doing something with Mystique, but didn’t want to say more for fear of getting in trouble. The implication was that it might be it’s own series, not just the shape-shifting mutant turning up in Captain Marvel... But we’ll just have to stay tuned for more on that.
And that was it! We’ll see you back here for more wrap-up on the final day of C2E2!
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