Yesterday Marvel revealed that the fan-favorite X-Man Nightcrawler would at last be making his return to the pages of Marvel Comics in a brand new series called Amazing X-Men.
To get the skinny on this new series and Kurt's return, I had a quick chat with writer Jason Aaron, who will be bringing us Amazing X-Men alongside artist Ed McGuinness this fall.
IGN Comics: Amazing X-Men is coming after the Battle of the Atom event. Is this a series that forms from specific events that occur in that crossover?
Jason Aaron: Amazing X-Men will definitely reflect the changes in the landscape of the X-Men universe wrought by Battle of the Atom, but no, this new series doesn’t spin out of those events. This opening arc is actually something that I’ve been building toward ever since Wolverine and the X-Men #1. This story will explain why there have always been Bamfs running around the Jean Grey School. What are they? Where did they come from? What kind of mischief have they been up to all this time, hidden within the walls of the school? The answers to those questions will of course lead us back to Nightcrawler, the much beloved and very much dead former X-Man.
IGN: So Amazing X-Men sounds like, at least in the initial story you’re telling, the actual tale of how Nightcrawler returns to the living. So often we see characters just return and find out the how later on, but it sounds like you’re going from point A to B. Why is this an important journey for the other X-Men to take?
Aaron: Well, Nightcrawler’s not back in the land of the living just yet. Instead this story sees Wolverine put together a team of big time X-Men to go after his old pal, in order to help him fight in a war that’s currently raging beyond the realm of the flesh, all across the regions of the afterlife. The villain: none other than Nightcrawler’s own red-skinned teleporting father, Azazel, who’s being reimagined here as basically a sword swinging pirate of the afterworld, complete with flying pirate ships and a motley crew of undead ne’er-do-wells. With all of the afterlife in chaos, from the bloody rivers of hell to the misty gardens of heaven and everything in between, it seems even a dead man like Nightcrawler can be in danger.
IGN: What qualities do you think makes Nightcrawler an essential member of the X-Men?
Aaron: Nightcrawler’s attitude and personality together really set the tone for this entire series right out of the gate. Within the first few pages of Amazing X-Men #1, we see Kurt with a sword in each hand, teleporting like crazy, fighting off an army of evil undead pirates, and loving every second of it. His swashbuckling sense of adventure is what Amazing X-Men is all about. But Nightcrawler is also of course a deeply spiritual man, and his struggle in this arc will by no means be all fun and games. Just in general, Nightcrawler was always the heart and soul of the X-Men. He was my favorite mutant, hands down. And I’m just thrilled to finally have the chance to write an epic X-Men adventure with the guy at its center.
IGN: Wolverine and the X-Men has become known for its endearing cast and its quirky tone. How would you describe Amazing X-Men in terms of what it offers to the X-line?
Aaron: I love writing stories about the Jean Grey School, but this new series is all about X-Men being X-Men. This is Wolverine leading his band of merry mutants on the biggest, grandest adventures I can think of. Basically I want this to seem like an ongoing X-Men event book. Every month, nothing less than the fate of the Marvel Universe will be at stake. And the Amazing X-Men are the only ones who can save it.
IGN: Are you still going to be writing Wolverine and the X-Men?
Aaron: That’s the plan, yes. Wolverine and the X-Men will continue to focus on the Jean Grey School and the students and teachers who populate it, while Amazing X-Men will be about X-Men out in the world, having adventures and being… amazing.
IGN: Anything you want to add?
Aaron: Two words: Ed. McGuinness. One of the most exciting and dynamic comic artists working today, and believe it or not, this is his first ever X-Men series. Lucky me. His art on this series makes my eyes drool. Or maybe that’s called crying. All I know is that it’s awesome.
Oh also, one more word: Firestar! Amazing X-Men: it’s like Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Only with more friends and less of that pesky wall-crawler.
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. He often wonders whatever happened to Billy's RadBug.
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