Get ready, true believers, as Marvel has a ton in store for you next year. At their NYCC panel, Marvel: Next Big Thing, the comics giant brought out a stellar line-up of writers to discuss their upcoming projects and where your favorite heroes will find themselves next.
Editors note: check out all the art revealed at this panel here.
Gerry Duggan and Al Ewing were the first creators to take the stage at the panel. “The X-Men are best when their backs are against the wall,” Duggan said, and expect to see plenty of that with Fall of the House of X (“X”) and Rise of the Powers of X (“ten”). Just like his previous images for HOX/POX and X of Swords, Mark Brooks’ promotional image features nuggets of information hinting at what’s to come.
Ewing spoke about the upcoming series Resurrection of Magneto. “When we killed Magento, there was a plan, and this is the culmination of that plan,” Ewing said, referring to the character’s fate in the pages of X-Men Red. He said this is no egg resurrection — referring to Krakoa’s resurrection protocols — but will be much darker and more difficult. Will he continue to be an ally or return as the X-Men’s greatest foe? We’ll have to wait until January 2024 to find out.
Chip Zdarsky was up next to preview Avengers: Twilight. “I’ll go raw for you,” he said, referencing him taking off his mask. He then had the crowd “boo for Batman” before being reined in to discuss Twilight. He started writing it in 2019, and the story features a lot of Nazis. “I didn’t realize how many Nazis would be around now [in the real world],” he said. It takes place in the future and features all-new Avengers whom Zdarsky hopes will bring in the “action figure money” for him. Zdarsky closed his time at the panel by giving a section of the audience a round of high fives before bolting through the doors.
Johnathan Hickmana and Valero Schiti joined the stage to discuss their work on G.O.D.S. Hickman wrote the bible for it “four or five years ago,” and Schiti has been drawing it for about a year. “The feeling is ‘fear,’” Schiti said when asked what it’s like to draw something entirely new for Marvel. “Now it is ‘tired.’” They showed off new covers for G.O.D.S. issues #3-#5 before turning to Hickman’s other big Marvel project: the Ultimate line.
Ultimate Invasion is just the start, and its events will usher in a new line of Ultimate comics. Hickman, of course, will be taking on Spider-Man, which he calls “Ultimate Peter B. Parker,” referring to the beloved Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel. He said it was a book he never thought he’d write and called it “midlife Peter.”
In describing Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men, Hickman said it is “such a unique take” on the characters. “You can’t even pitch it.” He and editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski teased more Ultimate books to come by drawing attention to the moon featured on the cover of Ultimate Black Panther. Ultimate Moon Knight, anyone?
Rounding out the panel was Jed McKay to preview his upcoming event, Blood Hunt. “Probably the biggest thing I’ve ever done, and what comes out of this is even bigger,” he said of the project. It’ll bring together the Avengers, Tigra of the Midnight Mission, Doctor Strange, Miles Morales, and Blade in a fight against vampires, and McKay teased Dracula as a potential antagonist.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.